Northwestern men’s basketball is officially back. With practice opening this week and the season set to tip off in about five weeks, the Big Ten finally released the long awaited conference schedule.
This article will take you through Northwestern’s opponents and make some predictions
The December games
At Wisconsin (Wednesday, Dec 3)
Vs. Ohio State (Saturday, Dec 6)
Wisconsin returns All-Big Ten Honorable Mention John Blackwell and the vastly improved
Nolan Winter. The loss of John Tonje’s 20 points a night will hurt, but bringing over the experienced Nick Boyd (San Diego State) should ease the pain. Boyd was the leading scorer on a somewhat disappointing Aztec team, but also brings invaluable experience from his underdog run to the Final Four with Florida Atlantic in 2023.
Ohio State was one of the worst teams in the Big Ten last season, but it returns arguably its three best players, headlined by All-Big Ten second teamer Bruce Thornton. Devin Royal and John Mobley Jr. give the Buckeyes a formidable returning guard trio. Josh Ojianwuna (Baylor) is the most important newcomer, providing some much needed interior defense and bulk.
Prediction:
82-93 L at Wisconsin
74-67 W vs. Ohio State
Life Before L.A.
Vs. Minnesota (Saturday, Jan. 3)
At Michigan State (Thursday, Jan. 8)
At Rutgers (Sunday, Jan. 11)
Vs. Illinois (Wednesday, Jan. 14)
Vs. Nebraska (Saturday, Jan. 17)
This is the moneymaker part of the schedule and the ‘Cats need to stack some wins.
The new regime in Minnesota is led by former Colorado State head coach Niko Medved. There are some fun pieces here, including wicked fast guard Langston Reynolds (Northern Colorado). Chansey Willis Jr. (Western Michigan) led the MAC in scoring a year ago and Cade Tyson was a dominant force at Belmont for two seasons before a poor season for North Carolina a year ago. Kai Shinholster may not play much, but he formed a dynamic duo with Jake West at William Penn Charter last year.
Freak of nature Coen Carr leads a large cohort of returning talent to Michigan State from a team that made an Elite Eight run a season ago. Carson Cooper and Jaxon Kohler return as a dynamic frontcourt duo alongside Carr and Jeremy Fears Jr. remains the facilitator of the whole operation. To supplement some of the lost talent, Tom Izzo brought in Kaleb Glenn (FAU) and Trey Fort (Samford), who led their teams in scoring. Izzo also added two top-100 freshmen out of the DMV in Cam Ward and Jordan Scott who should both see playing time.
Ace Bailey felt like the nail in the coffin of Northwestern’s tournament hopes in Evanston last year, going for 37 points, six rebounds and three blocks. There is nobody in the same stratosphere as Bailey on Rutgers’ roster this year and the ‘Cats need to take advantage of the worst Big Ten roster for an imperative road win. (Obligatory mention of incoming transfer Darren Buchanan Jr. (GW) and my favorite dunk of all time. Volume on.)
The Wildcats have won their last three home matchups against the Fighting Illini, with each of the last two coming in electrifying overtime fashion. Kylan Boswell, Ben Humrichous and Tomislav Ivisic return from an inconsistent but very talented roster. Head coach Brad Underwood brought over Ivisic’s brother Zvonimir (Arkansas) to give Illinois a very fun, offensively creative frontcourt duo, albeit with some defensive questions. Andrej Stojakovic (Cal) has a chance to be the best newcomer in the Big Ten this year and will slot in beautifully to this ultra-big lineup.
If Rutgers was the nail in the coffin for Northwestern’s tournament hopes last season, Nebraska was six feet of dirt. Brice Williams and Juwan Gary led a wild comeback in Evanston but both men are gone and the Huskers should again be a bottom half Big Ten team. Rienk Mast returns from a season-ending injury, Pryce Sandfort (Iowa) made a shocking move to Lincoln this summer and should slot next to Connor Essegian on the wing. 6-foot-10 Ugnius Jarusevicius (Central Michigan) was awesome last year, scoring over 16 a game.
Predictions:
78-63 W vs. Minnesota
57-73 L at Michigan State
64-60 W at Rutgers
87-88 L vs. Illinois
75-65 W vs. Nebraska
Hot and Cold
At USC (Wednesday, Jan. 21)
At UCLA (Saturday, Jan. 24)
Vs. Penn State (Thursday, Jan. 29)
Vs. Washington (Saturday, Jan. 31)
Terrance Williams II is the only impact returner for a USC roster with major turnover. Chad Baker-Mazara (Auburn) transfers in alongside standout freshman Rodney Rice (Maryland). The Horizon League ships over a pair of transfers with forward Amarion Dickerson (Robert Morris) alongside the 7-foot-3 Gabe Dynes (Youngstown State), whom Northwestern targeted in the portal. Alijah Arenas is the highest profile freshman.
UCLA landed perhaps the best transfer portal player of the year in Donovan Dent (New Mexico), which should be enough to keep the Bruins in contention for the Big Ten title. Tyler Bilodeau and Skyy Clark return to supplement the senior Dent, along with Trent Perry and Eric Dailey Jr. Xavier Booker (Michigan State) stays in the conference.
Penn State will struggle this year with the loss of Ace Baldwin Jr. and not much in the way of replacement. Kayden Mingo is by far the most exciting name on the roster as a consensus top-40 freshman and the highest recruit in the history of Penn State basketball. The Nittany Lions have a stunning eight players listed as true freshmen, making them the only team younger than Northwestern in the Big Ten.
Washington head coach Danny Sprinkle brought over four intra-conference transfers, including both Desmond Claude and Wesley Yates III from USC. The other two big names coming in are Quimari Peterson (ETSU) and Jacob Ognacevic (Lipscomb). Both players won their respective conference’s Player of the Year awards. The 6-foot-1 Peterson led the SoCon in points, steals and three-point percentage while the forward Ognacevic ranked second in the country in total points while shooting 58% from the floor and over 40% from three.
Prediction:
71-78 L at USC
63-82 L at UCLA
87-64 W vs. Penn State
75-77 L vs. Washington
Roadrunners
At Illinois (Wednesday, Feb. 4)
At Iowa (Sunday, Feb. 8)
Vs. Michigan (Wednesday, Feb. 11)
At Nebraska (Saturday, Feb. 14)
Fran McCaffery is out and Ben McCollum is in. The coaching sensation took the job in Iowa City after one year at Drake, where he coached the Bulldogs to a No. 11 seed and a first-round win over Missouri. McCollum brought most of his roster with him from Drake. The big name is Bennett Stirtz (Drake), who profiles as one of the three best point guards in the league (alongside Dent and Braden Smith) and one of the ten best in the nation. Alvaro Folgueiras (Robert Morris) was the Horizon League Player of the Year and provides both size and shooting for an undersized roster.
Michigan is, along with Purdue, the frontrunner for the Big Ten title. The roster is absolutely stacked with incoming transfers. Elliot Cadeau (UNC), Yaxel Lendeborg (UAB), Morez Johnson Jr. (Illinois) and Aday Mara (UCLA) are all big-time players. Lendeborg got serious first round hype in this NBA draft cycle, so another dominant year at the college level should see him go in the top 30. Mara and Johnson are both young but showed major flashes, while Cadeau has his flaws but should be a slight upgrade from the outgoing Tre Donaldson. The returning players supplement the roster beautifully. Roddy Gayle Jr., Nimari Burnett, L.J. Cason and Will Tschetter all fill valuable off-ball roles.
Predictions:
68-93 L at Illinois
58-61 L at Iowa
81-95 L vs. Michigan
70-64 W at Nebraska
The Home Stretch
Vs. Maryland (Wednesday, Feb. 18)
At Indiana (Tuesday, Feb. 24)
Vs. Oregon (Saturday, Feb. 28)
Vs. Purdue (Wednesday, Mar. 4)
At Minnesota (Saturday, Mar. 7)
Former Texas A&M bench boss Buzz Williams takes the helm after Kevin Willard’s unceremonious departure, but there isn’t a lot of talent to work with. Pharrel Payne (Texas A&M) is a wrecking ball inside and should form a nice pick-and-roll duo with Myles Rice (Indiana). Solomon Washington (Texas A&M) did the little things well for the Aggies last year.
Like Iowa, Indiana finally got a long overdue coaching change with Mike Woodson’s retirement leading to another former Drake coach taking over. Darian DeVries is the new head man and, again like Iowa, the roster is filled with intriguing mid-major talent. The best player is Darian’s son Tucker (West Virginia), who has followed his father from Drake to West Virginia and now Bloomington. Tayton Conerway (Troy) was the Sun Belt Player of the Year last year, Jasai Miles (North Florida) led the Ospreys to a few early-season, high-profile wins and Reed Bailey (Davidson) was a versatile stretch big. The best incoming mid-major player should be Lamar Wilkerson (Sam Houston State), a 6-foot-6 graduate student who is a career 40% three-point shooter. Wilkerson is a two-time C-USA First Team selection and will give Indiana the shooting it has desperately needed the last few years.
Oregon won’t be nearly as deep as last season, but Jackson Shelstad and Nate Bittle still reside in Eugene, so the team will be a tough out. Shelstad keeps taking leaps and Bittle was a double-double machine last year. Outside of those two, Kwame Evans Jr. is the main returner. TK Simpkins (Elon) should provide secondary scoring after putting up 16.4 points a contest last year. Sean Stewart (Ohio State) and Devon Pryor (Texas) are both high-major transfers who could take a leap. Dana Altman is at his best late in the year.
Nick Martinelli’s senior night will be against a Purdue team that is overwhelmingly likely to be in the top 10 come March 4. Smith, Fletcher Loyer and Trey Kaufman-Renn are the big three. Smith may be the preseason favorite for the Naismith Award on the heels of a First Team All-American season last year. C.J. Cox and Gicarri Harris were impressive freshmen a year ago in complementary roles. Oscar Cluff (South Dakota State) gives Purdue some interior presence that was lacking a season ago, as does the return of 7-foot-4 center Daniel Jacobsen after suffering a season-ending injury last November. Omer Mayer is the big name freshman, entering with an overqualified pedigree after spending last season with Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Predictions
79-77 W vs. Maryland
68-74 L at Indiana
70-73 L vs. Oregon
80-97 L vs. Purdue
66-74 L at Minnesota
Outlook
Final conference record prediction: 7-13
The schedule is pretty favorable for the ‘Cats, who drew Nebraska and Minnesota as the teams they play twice (plus Illinois, which will happen every year). However, the Big Ten could be the best league in the country and it’s difficult to see more than seven or eight wins given the youth and inexperience on Chris Collins’ roster.
