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Big Ten Basketball: Best bets outside of Cassius Winston to win 2020 POY

By Adam Childs

MADISON, WISCONSIN - FEBRUARY 12: Cassius Winston #5 of the Michigan State Spartans reacts in the first half against the Wisconsin Badgers at the Kohl Center on February 12, 2019 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
MADISON, WISCONSIN - FEBRUARY 12: Cassius Winston #5 of the Michigan State Spartans reacts in the first half against the Wisconsin Badgers at the Kohl Center on February 12, 2019 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /
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DES MOINES, IOWA – MARCH 21: Aaron Henry #11, Matt McQuaid #20, Cassius Winston #5, Xavier Tillman #23, and Kenny Goins #25 of the Michigan State Spartans stand on the court during their game in the First Round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament against the Bradley Braves at Wells Fargo Arena on March 21, 2019 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
DES MOINES, IOWA – MARCH 21: Aaron Henry #11, Matt McQuaid #20, Cassius Winston #5, Xavier Tillman #23, and Kenny Goins #25 of the Michigan State Spartans stand on the court during their game in the First Round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament against the Bradley Braves at Wells Fargo Arena on March 21, 2019 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

Cassius Winston returns as the reigning Big Ten Basketball POY and is the odds on favorite to win it again. Which players have the best chance to unseat him from the crown?

Cassius Winston entered last year as what looked like the complement to Joshua Langford. He had tons of potential but appeared to slightly below Langford. But then Langford got hurt and Winston did more than step up throughout not only Big Ten Basketball but beyond as well.

He helped lead the Spartans to a Big Ten regular-season and tournament championship. He would win Big Ten POY and then lead Michigan State to a Final Four appearance when they took down heavily favored Duke.

Winston now returns to a Michigan State team that is again loaded and Langford should be healthy. He is considered by many to be a shoo-in for the top conference honor once again. But it is always tough to win that award two times in a row. Voters may want to see someone else win it and will look for another player that had a great season even if it is not quite as good as Winston’s.

The other thing going against Winston is that the expectations are through the roof and if he doesn’t reach those will it hurt him even if he has an outstanding season. And while unlikely if the Spartans don’t win the Big Ten he probably won’t win it either.

The argument for if that is fair or not is a valid one, but it will happen. So who can win the award if Winston doesn’t? We take a look at who has the best shot from each team. Yes, it is true that probably the whole Michigan State team could be a better bet than anybody on Northwestern but we are still going to give a shout out to each team and their best shot at the award.

We explore each team, their best bet and the chances that it could actually happen.

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