The Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, an annual publication previewing the college basketball season since the early 1980s, was released recently in a digital format. Printed copies will be shipping soon.
Blue Ribbon projects the Wolverines to finish 9th in the Big Ten in Dusty May’s first season.
May is quoted throughout the Michigan preview, praising his newcomers and transfers, noting that he’s “reinvigorated for something new” and excited to see how this team will respond to pressure and adversity.
The predicted order of finish in the Big Ten is as follows:
- Indiana
- Illinois
- Purdue
- UCLA
- Ohio State
- Michigan State
- Oregon
- USC
- Michigan
- Washington
- Wisconsin
- Nebraska
- Maryland
- Northwestern
- Rutgers
- Iowa
- Penn State
- Minnesota
Only three of the 18 Big Ten schools were picked in the top 25 nationally: Indiana (14), Illinois (17) and Purdue (22).
Here are some notes on Michigan, the Big Ten at large, and the national scene from the annual publication:
- Michigan receives ‘B’ ratings across the board for backcourt, frontcourt, bench/depth, and intangibles.
- Braden Smith is the Big Ten Player of the Year. Oumar Ballo is tabbed as the conference’s Newcomer of the Year.
- The All-Big Ten team features Smith, Ballo, Payton Sandfort, Great Osobor and Dawson Garcia.
- The top three Big Ten backcourts are Purdue, Illinois and UCLA.
- The top three Big Ten frontcourts are Indiana, Ohio State and Michigan.
- Smith is a Second Team All-American while Osobor and Ballo were named Fourth Team All-Americans.
- Alabama’s Mark Sears is Blue Ribbon’s pick for national player of the year and Duke’s Cooper Flagg is the pick for newcomer of the year.
Here are the Blue Ribbon Preseason All-American teams:
- First team: Sears, Arizona’s Caleb Love, North Carolina’s RJ Davis, UConn’s Alex Karaban and Hunter Dickinson of Kansas.
- Second team: Auburn’s Johni Broome, Flagg, Wade Taylor IV of Texas A&M, Tennessee’s Zakai Zeigler and Smith.
- Third team: Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner, Gonzaga’s Graham Ike, Robbie Avila of Saint Louis, Houston’s J’Wan Roberts and Iowa State’s Tamin Lipsey.
- Fourth team: Ballo, Osobor, UAB’s Yaxel Lendeborg, Hunter Sallis of Wake Forest and Houston’s LJ Cryer.
The Blue Ribbon college basketball yearbook is available to purchase here.
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kcg
Bart has Rutgers 18th in the country. Blue Ribbon has them 15th in the Big Ten. And I think I understand both cases.
umhoops
Rutgers and Iowa missing the Big Ten Tournament is crazy talk IMO. I guess they have Rutgers in, Iowa out. Either way, I think those teams are too low.
So is Washington and USC in the top 10 I think, especially Washington.
AC1997
Yep - those were the things that stuck out to me too. USC could be anything I suppose, but I’m doubtful. Washington? No way.
I also still don’t trust IU to be a favorite to win the conference. I can’t believe we blew that BTT tournament game against them and kept that program alive when it was floundering.
But the most surprising thing to me might have been seeing Caleb Love and Hunter Dickinson on the first team all-american team…just wild to think about those guys still being around.
umhoops
Obviously they got into the NCAAT that year because of that game but I don’t think you can say that kept them alive when they were floundering. It was Year 1. No one is taking stock over an NCAAT win over Wyoming in the calculus about Woody right now.
Bigrange
I am not sold on IU, although they made a splash in the portal by bringing in better players. I think shooting will still be an issue for them and Woodson is not suddenly going to stop playing through the post. Ballo is a good center shooting less than 50% means he is a liability late in games. I see IU closer to 4-6.
I think the non-conference schedule will give Dusty a chance to see what lineups are best and he will be tighten up the team for conference games. I see Michigan in the 5-7 range of the conference.