Media like MSU, Lucas again
MSU was picked to win the Big Ten by conference media, the league announced today, and Kalin Lucas is preseason player of the year -- a bit of a surprise considering the injury he's trying to overcome.
In addition to this vote, I took part in a couple preseason polls put together by my friends Mike Rothstein (annarbor.com) and Herb Gould (Chicago Sun-Times). Here are those results.
MICHIGAN STATE TOPS SUN-TIMES PRE-SEASON POLL
Michigan State, which received 10 of 11 first-place votes, is the favorite to win the league in this year’s Chicago Sun-Times pre-season Big Ten basketball poll.
Ohio State was a clear-cut second in the voting, with 10 second-place votes. Illinois narrowly edged Purdue for the third. Considering that Purdue was considered a Final Four candidate by some experts, that’s most likely a response to Robbie Hummel’s season-ending knee injury.
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES PRE-SEASON BIG TEN POLL
Pts. Last Year
1. Michigan State (10) 120 T-1st
2. Ohio State (1) 110 T-1st
3. Illinois 90 5th
4. Purdue 88 T-1st
5. Wisconsin 77 4th
T-6. Minnesota 62 6th
T-6. Northwestern 62 T-7th
8. Indiana 44 T-9th
9. Penn State 32 11th
10. Michigan 28 T-7th
11. Iowa 11 T-9th
One newspaper writer who covers each school voted. (Eleven points for first place, one point for 11th place, etc.)
The participants:
Herb Gould, Chicago Sun-Times
Terry Hutchens, Indianapolis Star
Steve Batterson, Quad City Times
Mark Snyder, Detroit Free Press
Joe Rexrode, Lansing State Journal
Myron Medcalf, Minneapolis Star-Tribune
Tina Akouris, Chicago Sun-Times
Bob Baptist, Columbus Dispatch
David Jones, Harrisburg Patriot-News
Jeff Washburn, Lafayette Journal & Courier
Rob Schultz, Wisconsin State Journal
Here's the link to the annarbor.com poll, with some interesting questions and answers to go with it.
