Brent Yarina, BTN.com Senior Editor, October 14, 2015
Big Ten Media Day is today, which means it's time for BTN.com to share its annual preseason Big Ten men's basketball predictions.
[ MORE: Dienhart: 12 storylines to watch at media day ]
BTN/BTN2Go will have you covered throughout Thursday's festivities in Chicago.
On TV, our coverage runs from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. ET, beginning with Bo Ryan (Wisconsin). The women?s basketball coaches? press conferences run concurrently, beginning with Matt Bollant (Illinois) at 9 a.m. ET. Here are the BTN2Go links to watch the men's press sessions and women's press sessions live.
This year, eight personalities participated in forming our Big Ten standings, All-Big Ten team and award/season predictions.
Here are the contributors, listed in alphabetical order:
Jon Crispin (@CrispinHoops), BTN analyst
Mike DeCourcy (@tsnmike), BTN contributor
Tom Dienhart (@BTNTomDienhart), BTN.com senior writer
Mike Hall (@BTNMikeHall), BTN host
Sean Merriman (@BTNSean), BTN.com web editor
Shon Morris, BTN analyst
Jess Settles, BTN analyst
Brent Yarina (@BTNBrentYarina), BTN.com senior editor
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Here's how this worked: Every contributor filed his predicted order-of-finish, 1-14, preseason All-Big Ten team, award winners and predictions, from which we added everything up to form one BTN.com preview.
2015-16 BIG TEN STANDINGS
1. Maryland – 9
2. Indiana – 26
3. Purdue – 28
4. Michigan State – 30
5. Wisconsin – 32
6. Michigan – 44
7. Ohio State – 64
8. Illinois – 66
9. Iowa – 69
10. Northwestern – 73
11. Nebraska – 94
12. Minnesota – 96
13. Penn State – 97
14. Rutgers – 112
Note: Teams received one point for first-place vote, two points for second-place vote, and so on.
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2015-16 ALL BIG TEN TEAM
MELO TRIMBLE, Maryland (8 votes)
YOGI FERRELL, Indiana (8)
NIGEL HAYES, Wisconsin (8)
Caris LeVert, Michigan (6)
Denzel Valentine, Michigan State (6)
Receiving votes: A.J. Hammons, Purdue (4)
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2015-16 PREDICTIONS
Player of the Year: Melo Trimble, Maryland (8 votes)
Freshman of the Year: Diamond Stone, Maryland (3) AND Caleb Swanigan, Purdue (3)
Receiving votes: Thomas Bryant, Indiana (2)
Breakout player: Vic Law, Northwestern (2) AND Troy Williams, Indiana (2)
Receiving votes: Bryant McIntosh, Northwestern; Alex Olah, Northwestern; Ethan Happ, Wisconsin (1); Bronson Koenig, Wisconsin (1)
Most underrated player: Malcolm Hill, Illinois (2) AND Shavon Shields, Nebraska (2)
Receiving votes: Rapheal Davis, Purdue (1); Bronson Koenig, Wisconsin (1); Nate Mason, Minnesota (1); Jae'Sean Tate, Ohio State (1)
Sleeper team: Northwestern (3)
Receiving votes: Michigan (2); Iowa (1); Ohio State (1); Purdue (1)
Big Ten NCAA teams: Seven (5)
Receiving votes: Eight (2); nine (1).
Will Northwestern make its first NCAA tournament? No (6)
Big Ten Final Four teams: One (6)
Receiving votes: Zero (1); two (1)
Will Big Ten win first national title since 2000? No (5)
Big Ten's top 2016 NBA Draft pick: Diamond Stone, Maryland (6)
Receiving votes: Melo Trimble, Maryland (1); Caleb Swanigan, Purdue (1)
