The Big Ten took the ACC-Big Ten challenge from the ACC for the first time in 2009, and has never given it back as they start their defense Tuesday. Ohio State’s destruction of No. 17 Marquette on the road and Michigan State’s win over No. 1 Kentucky is part of a potentially dominant season for the Big Ten. Defending regular season champion Indiana is the 21st best team in the country, but only sixth best in the loaded Big Ten. Value Add gives four of the 15 preseason All-Conference picks to the Big Ten including Player of the Year Glenn Robinson of Michigan.
The three Value Add projected second team All-Americans are Michigan State’s Gary Harris, Michigan’s Nik Stauskas and Wisconsin’s Sam Dekker. However it is the 18th best player, Mitch McGary, who needs to return for the Wolverines as they have struggled in upsets to Charlotte and Iowa State early.
Wisconsin took care of No. 11 Florida at home 59-53. Iowa’s loss at Villanova does not look bad after Villanova in turn also beat Kansas – on a neutral court.
The PROJECTED Value Add projections below for Conference teams and players are meant to give a GENERAL idea of how good each could be. They are by no means an exact science like the ACTUAL www.valueaddbasketball.com figures: Rank, Big Ten, Value Add
8, Michigan St., 35.17
10, Michigan, 48.34
11, Ohio St., 30.83
12, Iowa, 32.16
18, Wisconsin, 31.46
21, Indiana, 34.67
30, Minnesota, 29.71
35, Illinois, 28.05
80, Purdue, 20.66
97, Nebraska, 16.22
121, Northwestern, 15.16
150, Penn St., 8.32
Preseason All-Conference/Projected Value Add Rank (based purely on average progression from stats prior to this season)
1, Robinson, Glenn, Michigan-SF NBA
6, Harris, Gary, Michigan St.-SG NBA
7, Stauskas, Nik, Michigan-NBA Pros
10, Dekker, Sam, Wisconsin-SF NBA
18, McGary, Mitch, Michigan-C NBA
22, Hollins, Andre, Minnesota-NBA Pros
40, Craft, Aaron, Ohio St.-PG NBA
41, White, Aaron, Iowa-
43, Brust, Ben, Wisconsin-
49, Hollins, Austin, Minnesota-
54, Payne, Adreian, Michigan St.-PF/C NBA
81, Hammons, AJ, Purdue-NBA Pros
135, Vonleh, Noah, Indiana-SF/PF NBA
160, Dawson, Branden, Michigan St.-SF NBA
484, Sobolewski, Dave, Northwestern-PG NBA
807, Ross, LaQuinton, Ohio St.-SG/SF NBA
About these rankings: The player rankings references are the projections (2014 Proj) at www.valueaddbasketball.com. During the season the updated Value Add for each player, which represents how much he has improved his team’s offense and defense, will appear on under the “2014 Act” search no www.valueaddbasketball.com. The team rankings are based 51% of the sum of each players’ projected Value Add rankings and 49% on the team rankings at www.kenpom.com as of November 29. You can follow the inventor of Value Add on twitter @jpudner.
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