Indiana ranked preseason No. 13 by The Sporting News

  • 09/16/2016 1:14 pm in

We recently shared preseason projections from the Athlon Sports college basketball preview and the Lindy’s Sports college basketball preview, which had differing opinions on Indiana.

Now the third preseason college magazine preview magazine out this fall, published by The Sporting News, is on newsstands. Here are some notes on Indiana and the Big Ten at-large from the annual publication.

· The Hoosiers are one of four preseason top 25 teams from the Big Ten at No. 13 nationally. Wisconsin is No. 8, Purdue is No. 10 and Michigan State is No. 11.

· Three Big Ten players were on the publication’s preseason All-America teams. Maryland’s Melo Trimble was first team, Michigan State’s Miles Bridges was second team and Indiana’s OG Anunoby was third team. The complete first team is Josh Jackson of Kansas, Duke’s Grayson Allen, Villanova’s Josh Hart, Oregon’s Dillon Brooks and Trimble.

· The projected order of finish in the Big Ten is as follows: Wisconsin, Purdue, Michigan State, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Maryland, Iowa, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Minnesota, Nebraska and Rutgers.

· Three IU players are listed among the league’s top 10 players: Anunoby is No. 3, James Blackmon Jr. is No. 5 and Thomas Bryant is No. 7.

· Freshman Curtis Jones is the league’s fifth best newcomer behind Bridges, Michigan State’s Josh Langford, Minnesota’s Amir Coffey and Iowa’s Tyler Cook.

· Associate head coach Tim Buckley is ranked as the Big Ten’s third best recruiter.

· Blackmon Jr. is listed as Indiana’s difference-maker: “If Blackmon Jr. is completely healthy, he should be one of the Big Ten’s top scorers, thanks to a diverse game that includes long-range accuracy and the ability to get to the basket.”

· Three Indiana non-conference opponents are ranked in the preseason top 25 by The Sporting News: Kansas (No. 3), North Carolina (No. 7) and Louisville (No. 12).



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