YOU’RE NUTS: WHICH NEW BIG TEN TEAM HAS THE BEST CHANCE TO WIN THE CONFERENCE NEXT SEASON?

Rosters are still in flux and we’ve reached peak mayhem of the transfer portal, but we’ve reached a point where most teams have a pretty good idea of what their teams will look like in the fall.

Most Big Ten teams are still looking to add one or two more players, but even Michigan — which had with four scholarship players left when Dusty May was hired — almost has a full roster. We can kind of start piecing together what the conference will look like.

Last week, Connor and Justin each schemed up a way for Ohio State to get around Ohio’s nepotism laws and find a way that Jake Diebler could hire his brother, Jon. 24% of readers liked Connor’s idea of having Thad Matta adopt Jon so that he technically was not Jake’s brother anymore. 26% of people sided with Justin, saying that the Buckeyes needed to get someone elected to the Ohio General Assembly and change the law.

50% of the readers actually liked both ideas so much, they picked both. Makes sense — they were both foolproof.

After 148 weeks:

Connor- 74

Justin- 55

Other- 16

(There have been four ties)

The Big Ten is expanding with the dissolvement of the PAC-12, picking up Washington, USC, Oregon, and UCLA. Two of those teams have new coaches this year, with Eric Musselman leaving Arkansas for USC and Washington hiring former Utah State coach Danny Sprinkle.

These four teams won’t be picked to win the Big Ten this season, but of the four, which one has the best chance to do it?

This week’s question: Which new Big Ten team has the best chance to win the conference next season?

Connor: UCLA

UCLA is the only one of these four teams to be showing up in any of the “way-too-early” lists. The Bruins are bringing back three of their top four scorers from last year, including guards Dylan Andrews (12.9 PPG) and Sebastian Mack (12.1 PPG). Mick Cronin then went to work in the transfer portal, adding former USC guard Kobe Johnson (10.9 PPG), Oregon State big man Tyler Bilodeau (14.3 PPG), Oklahoma forward Eric Dailey (9.3 PPG), South Dakota State forward William Kyle (13.1 PPG), and former top guard recruit/Illinois guard/Louisville guard Skyy Clark (13.2 PPG).

That’s a lot of talent — especially in the backcourt — for a team that also finished in the top-50 in defensive efficiency last year, despite finishing with 17 losses. It’s also a ton of depth, because Johnson and Clark will likely have to come off the bench behind UCLA’s incumbent starters. Adding Bilodeau was a sneaky add too — a big man who stepped out and hit threes at close to a 35% clip last season.

Andrews more than tripled his scoring output from his freshman to sophomore year and Mack was phenomenal as a freshman, so I expect them to be one of the better starting backcourts in the Big Ten this season.

I don’t think UCLA will be picked to finish top-four in the Big Ten this year, but I could see them being picked to finish five or six, easily. Cronin is one of the best coaches in this league, and has always had more of a midwestern identity to his teams, even after leaving for the west coast.

Washington and USC are both in transition periods right now, so I don’t think either will compete at the top of the conference and either making the NCAA Tournament would surprise me. Oregon has some intriguing young players and will trip up some really good teams with the combo of Jackson Shelstad and Kwame Evans Jr, too. But if any of them over-perform, it’s going to be UCLA.

Justin: USC

I will be honest. More than likely, USC will finish at the bottom of the Big Ten and will not even remotely be in the hunt deep into the conference season. But when you are on the Mussbus, anything is possible.

Former Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman is entering his first year as the Trojans’ head coach. He takes over for Andy Enfield, who left USC for SMU after the season ended.

The Trojans lost a bunch of players, including top guards Isaiah Collier and Boogie Ellis, to the NBA Draft. Freshman Bronny James also declared for the Draft and entered the transfer portal.

However, so far, Musselman has done a good job reloading and retooling in the transfer portal. Former Boise State and Texas Tech guard Chibuzo Agbo is Musselman’s latest addition.

Agbo, a San Diego native, committed to USC Monday. He’s the fifth transfer portal prospect to pick USC in the last four days, joining guard Bryce Pope from UC San Diego, forward Matt Knowling from Yale, forward Saint Thomas from Northern Colorado, and forward Rashaun Agee from Bowling Green.

Agbo could be the most impactful of the group. He was an All-Mountain West honorable mention selection with Boise State last season, and shot a career-best 45.2 percent from the field, averaging 13.7 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. Agbo shot 40.9 percent from three-point range and made 72.2 percent of his free throws. He was one of two players in the Mountain West to shoot at least 50 percent on two-pointers and at least 41 percent on three-pointers.

USC returns some key pieces, and if these transfers all hit, who knows? There is a lot of shakeup in the Big Ten this upcoming season.

2024-04-26T13:08:51Z dg43tfdfdgfd