Big Ten coaches and the media disagreed on their predictions for who will reign victorious this season in Big Ten hoops. The coaches picked defending conference and national champion Michigan State, while the media sided with Illinois, who returns all five starters from last season s Big Ten Tournament runner-up team. Illini junior Cory Bradford was chosen by both the coaches and the media as the preseason Big Ten Player of the Year. Despite sharing the honors with the Spartans, Illinois still considers Michigan State the team to beat. Michigan State lost three starters off last year s 32-7 title team, including first round picks Mateen Cleaves and Morris Peterson.
Most freshmen come in and they have a year or two to play behind somebody and learn the program.
Those guys don t have time to learn the program. They have to come in and contribute right away. The Spartans are well aware that teams will be gunning for them after winning a national title. However, coach Tom Izzo is not sure how his mix of young players and veterans will respond. We have six guys who played a lot of minutes last year who are back, that s the good news, said Izzo.