Meet the Big Ten: Illinois
Illini coach Bill Self does not agree with the Big Ten preseason media poll -- he said he thinks his team should be ranked lower.
Illini coach Bill Self does not agree with the Big Ten preseason media poll -- he said he thinks his team should be ranked lower.
At the beginning of last season Wisconsin was working under a first-year head coach in Bo Ryan and had only nine scholarship players on its roster. The Badgers were considered a program with a long rebuilding process ahead of them.
Last season was a bit out of the ordinary for Michigan State. The Spartans did not win the Big Ten Championship for the first time in five years and then, in the NCAA Tournament, they suffered a first-round loss to North Carolina State. The early exit marked the first time they failed to reach the Final Four since the 1997-98 season.
Coach Gene Keady had to change some aspects of the Purdue team if he wanted the 2002-2003 season to go differently than last year's disastrous showing. The Boilermakers finished the season 13-18, and were tied for 8th place in the Big Ten. For Keady and his team, the losing record was unacceptable.
The OSU men's team lost two key players, and all of sudden has dropped off everyone's radar. After winning a share of the Big Ten title and the Big Ten Tournament title, the Buckeyes aren't even expected to finish in the top three of the Big Ten this year.
Last year, Minnesota played the upset kings and busted onto the Big Ten basketball scene. After consecutive wins against Ohio State, Penn State, Indiana and Iowa, the Golden Gophers had the attention of the media and their Big Ten opponents.
The Michigan men's basketball team starts its season in style. By traveling to the Virgin Islands in a non-conference tournament, the Wolverines are kicking off their season the same way they hope to end. In style, with a winning record.
Last season, the IU men's basketball team made an improbable run at the NCAA championship. This year, the Hoosiers aim to do the same.
An hour before Midnight Madness got under way on Oct. 11, as 12,000 IU fans poured into Assembly Hall, freshman shooting guard Roderick Wilmont waited in the wings to make his first appearance in front of a Hoosier crowd.
In the national semifinal against Oklahoma last season, senior forward Jeff Newton stepped onto the court amid cheers from the many hometown faithful who had shown up to support the Atlanta native.
When asked who his go-to guys will be this season, coach Mike Davis doesn't name one or two players, he mentions several.
One kicks the scorers table, slams a basketball and makes it clear to everyone in the stadium that he is frustrated.
Devastating is an adjective that often describes sports injuries. But, last season a major injury was oddly beneficial for the IU women's basketball team.
Coach Kathi Bennett remembers a Christmas when her father, coach Dick Bennett, came home from a horrifying game.
Where to begin? A Big Ten Championship, a berth in the NCAA Tournament, a frightening accident, and a array of emotions ranging from happy tears to sad discussions. All of the following described the 2001-2002 IU women's basketball season.
Coach Kristy Curry of the Purdue Boilermakers said IU finished last season on a momentum swing after winning the Big Ten Tournament.
Like two important pieces to a jigsaw puzzle, center Jill Chapman and guard Heather Cassady completed the team picture for IU. Their prominent roles on the team were fundamental to its success last year and for years to come. They combined to score 43 percent of IU's points last season.
Playing a sport at a Big Ten school is something some high school kids only dream about. For freshman Brigett Branson, a 6'2" forward from Bloomingdale, Ind., that dream came true.
Four years ago, senior guard Tom Coverdale arrived at IU to play basketball, and promptly found himself on the bench. For the 1998 Mr. Basketball of Indiana and a player who averaged 25 points per game in high school, warming the bench was not good enough.
When Mike Davis began his head coaching career at IU, he was smacked with the "interim" label. Critics did not expect him to last past the 2000-2001 season as rumors circulated about who would take the helm full-time once the year was up.