Before the season started, I asked five questions about the Big Ten basketball teams. Here is what we know so far and how the conference has been impacted.
1. Can Northwestern continue its historic momentum?
The Wildcats were coming into this season with the target on their heads and that showed in the early season. The good news is that there are no bad losses but the bad news is that Northwestern lost the four toughest games on the schedule. There’s work that needs to be done in league play.
2. With Peter Jok gone, who becomes Iowa’s lead guy?
Sophomore Tyler Cook has been the most consistent player on the team, averaging 13.8 ppg. Yet, nobody has been able to make up for the loss of Jok. This is shown by their 7-6 record in the first 13 games.
3. How will teams rebound after losing star players?
The lack of star power in this league has absolutely hurt everyone, with many close games being lost without a go-to scorer. The same is said for preventing some of the blowouts, as teams do not have a player who can just get a bucket to stop runs.
4. How will the AAU drama affect Illinois’s recruiting?
Right now, there’s only one commit for Brad Underwood’s Fighting Illini team for 2018, top-30 Ayo Dosunmu. For those unaware, there was supposed to be another top-100 player coming in local product Jalen Horton-Tucker but, at the last minute, he chose Iowa State instead.
The speculation was that there were issues with the Cyclones commit and Dosunmu and his camp over Horton-Tucker leaving an AAU team during the high school days. This led to an alleged ultimatum that either Dosunmu or Horton-Tucker would play for Illinois, but not both. The coaching staff made the decision that ended up being played out publicly.
There’s no way to know this for sure, and it’s certainly not unheard of to only have one commit in the fall signing period, but there will be added intrigue as to who Underwood brings in the spring.
5. Does Tim Miles survive this season?
Although the Cornhuskers are only 8-5 (1-1), they have been a very impressive team. The team has played one of the toughest schedules to date and already has a conference win over Minnesota. Nebraska has also been competitive in losses to Kansas and Creighton, so there’s certainly fight in this team.
Next: Big Ten Power rankings (week 6)
Tim Miles’ job could still be in danger at the end of the year, but he’s done a very good job so far. Plus, unless there’s another Scott Frost-like alum that can be picked up, this isn’t the most coveted gig in the world. Nebraska won’t win the Big Ten but will be the ultimate spoiler for sure.