Friday, November 8, 2019 // TIPOFF 2019
8B 

Rutgers
The Scarlet Knights enter the 
2019-20 season missing four out of 
five starters from last year’s team 
that finished third in the Big Ten. 
They can hope to fill some of that 
gap with five-star center Maori 
Davenport, and redshirt junior 
guard Arella Guirantes also seems 
poised for a big season — scoring 
27 points in Rutgers’ season 
opener against South Alabama on 
Tuesday. 
Still, replacing four out of five 
starters is no easy task for any team, 
so expect the Scarlet Knights to 
take somewhat of a step back this 
season. They’re almost certainly 
too inexperienced to compete for 
the Big Ten regular season title, 
but coach C. Vivian Stringer — 
entering her 25th season — could 
very well salvage some upset wins 
near the end of the season. With a 
strong enough showing in the Big 
Ten Tournament, Rutgers can still 
definitely find itself an at-large bid 

in the NCAA Tournament. 
Iowa
Coming off a run to the Elite 
Eight, a second place finish in the 
Big Ten and a Big Ten Tournament 
Championship, the expectations 
for Iowa this year are significantly 
lower than last. No team in the Big 
Ten has a bigger hole to fill than 
the hole left by Megan Gustafson, 
the nation’s leading scorer and Big 
Ten player of the year a season 
ago. Iowa also loses double-digit 
scorers Hannah Stewart and Tania 
Davis from last season’s team. 
But the Hawkeyes still have 
reason for optimism this year in 
large part to the return of all-Big 
Ten guard Kathleen Doyle and an 
experienced, successful coach in 
2019 Naismith National Coach of 
the Year Lisa Bluder. This season 
will be a true test for a program 
that has had so much success 
throughout Bluder’s tenure, but 
Iowa has the potential for another 
top-three Big Ten finish. 
Purdue
Looking for a team that could 
surprise in the Big Ten? Look no 
further than the Boilermakers. 
Purdue has two players named to 

the preseason all-Big Ten team 
in Ae’Rianna Harris and Karissa 
McLaughlin 
and 
returns 
all 
five starters. The Boilermakers 
finished near the bottom of the Big 
Ten last year, but this year’s team 
is much more experienced. While 
they haven’t gotten much national 
attention, their No. 5 ranking in 
the preseason Big Ten coaches poll 
shows that Big Ten coaches think 
they can be a threat.
Ohio State
The Buckeyes put up a flat 10-8 
conference record last season, 
earning them fifth place in the Big 
Ten. This season, they will have 
to make the most out of a young 
roster that features only three 
upperclassmen. Fortunately, they 
scooped up the fourth-ranked 
recruiting class in the country, so 
the talent is there. 
Among returners, sophomore 
guard Janai Crooms is poised 
to take a step up offensively this 
season, while the addition of junior 
transfer 
wing 
Braxtin 
Miller 
adds depth to an already talented 
position group. Still, Ohio State is 
just too young to compete at the 
top level of this year’s Big Ten, so 

expect the Buckeyes to remain in 
the middle of the pack. 
Nebraska
Nebraska 
comes 
into 
the 
season with its seven top scorers 
returning in coach Amy Williams’ 
fourth season. With four seniors, 
the team has an abundance of 
experience after their 14-16 overall 
record last season, including a 9-9 
finish in the Big Ten, where they 
managed to hold games close. The 
Cornhuskers will be able to attack 
opponents 
in 
many 
different 
ways and without worrying about 
having to play tired players — in 
their first game of the season, 
11 players played ten or more 
minutes. 
Northwestern
While the Wildcats are likely a 
tier below the top Big Ten teams, 
they do return all-Big Ten first-
teamer Lindsey Pulliam, a player 
who can give any team trouble on 
any given night. Injuries derailed a 
fast start to the season, but a 21-15 
finish and an impressive run to the 
WNIT championship game give 
Northwestern confidence that it 
can compete with the best of the 
Big Ten this season. A relatively 

weak 
non-conference 
schedule 
could make it difficult for the 
Wildcats to get an at-large bid in 
the NCAA Tournament unless 
they finish at the top of the Big 
Ten, but they could steal a couple 
of wins from the Big Ten’s best.
Bottom Tier
Penn 
State, 
Wisconsin 
and 
Illinois finished as the three 
worst teams in the Big Ten last 
year, finishing 5-13, 4-14 and 2-16 
in the conference, respectively. 
Penn State brought in the No. 18 
recruiting class in the country in 
2019, but it’s still hard to imagine 
the 
Nittany 
Lions 
competing 
beyond the middle of the pack this 
year. Don’t expect much change at 
the bottom of the standings. 
Outlook
Michigan has the talent to 
compete with the top tier of the 
Big Ten this year, but it’s hard to 
see them finishing higher than 
second, barring a collapse from 
the Terrapins. The Wolverines’ 
ceiling is a top three finish in the 
conference, but a slip or a few 
untimely injuries could see them 
sliding back into the middle tier of 
the Big Ten.

BIG TEN
From Page 7B

KEEMYA ESMAEL/Daily
The Rutgers basketball team has lost four of its five starters from last year’s team, which finished third in the Big Ten. But in C. Vivian Stringer’s 25th year at the program’s helm, the Scarlet Knights could make noise.

