Big Ten basketball preseason honors announced, Wisconsin shut out

With basketball season rapidly approaching, both the Wisconsin men’s and women’s teams have exhibition games this weekend, the Big Ten Conference announced their preseason honors earlier this week. With both Badgers teams expected to have down years this season there was no Wisconsin representation on any of the lists.

However, we should probably familiarize ourselves with the players we will be disliking strongly as they shoot/dunk/dribble over/on/past our players. First things first, the preseason players of the year.

Men’s: Illinois junior center Kofi Cockburn
Women’s: Iowa sophomore guard Caitlin Clark (coaches); Michigan senior forward Naz Hillmon (media)

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And here is the preseason men’s All-Big Ten Team (players in all caps were unanimous selections and there are 11 players instead of 10 due to a tie):

KOFI COCKBURN, JR., C, ILLINOIS
Andre Curbelo, So., G, Illinois
TRAYCE JACKSON-DAVIS, JR., F, INDIANA
Keegan Murray, So., F, Iowa
Eric Ayala, Sr., G, Maryland
HUNTER DICKINSON, SO., C, MICHIGAN
Caleb Houstan, Fr., G/F, Michigan
E.J. LIDDELL, JR., F, OHIO STATE
JADEN IVEY, SO., G, PURDUE
Trevion Williams, Sr., F, Purdue
Ron Harper Jr., Sr., G/F, Rutgers

Cockburn was the only player in the country last season to average at least 15 points and nine rebounds while shooting at least 60 percent.

Cockburn, Jackson-Davis, Dickinson, Liddell and Williams earned first-team All-Big Ten honors in 2020-21, while Harper Jr. was a third-team selection and Ayala was named honorable mention. Curbelo was tabbed the Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year in 2020-21 and Dickinson claimed Freshman of the Year honors. Curbelo and Dickinson were joined on last year’s Big Ten All-Freshman Team by Murray and Ivey.

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On the women’s side, both the coaches and the media picked all-conference teams:

2021-22 COACHES PRESEASON ALL-BIG TEN TEAM

Grace Berger, Sr., G, Indiana
Mackenzie Holmes, Jr., F, Indiana
CAITLIN CLARK, So., G, Iowa
Monika Czinano, Sr., F/C, Iowa
Diamond Miller, Jr., G, Maryland
ASHLEY OWUSU, Jr., G, Maryland
Leigha Brown, Sr., G, Michigan
NAZ HILLMON, Sr., F, Michigan
Nia Clouden, Sr., G, Michigan State
Veronica Burton, Sr., G, Northwestern

Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

2021-22 MEDIA PRESEASON ALL-BIG TEN TEAM

Grace Berger, Sr., G, Indiana
Mackenzie Holmes, Jr., F, Indiana
CAITLIN CLARK, So., G, Iowa
Monika Czinano, Sr., F/C, Iowa
Diamond Miller, Jr., G, Maryland
Ashley Owusu, Jr., G, Maryland
Leigha Brown, Sr., G, Michigan
NAZ HILLMON, Sr., F, Michigan
Nia Clouden, Sr., G, Michigan State
Veronica Burton, Sr., G, Northwestern

Lmao, the only difference between the two teams is that the coaches think Maryland’s Ashley Owusu is a unanimous selection while the media aren’t so sure. The coaches and media also picked the top five teams in the conference for the women’s side and, well, they agreed there too!

1. Maryland
2. Indiana
3. Iowa
4. Michigan
5. Ohio State

Per the Big Ten’s press release:

Those same five programs were ranked in the top 20 of the preseason Associated Press poll released Oct. 19 — No. 4 Maryland, No. 8 Indiana, No. 9 Iowa, No. 11 Michigan and No. 17 Ohio State — marking the first time in conference history the Big Ten had four top-15 teams and five top-20 teams in the preseason AP poll. It’s also the first time the Big Ten has had three top-10 teams in any AP poll since Feb. 9, 2004, and the first time the conference has had five top-20 teams in any AP poll since the final 2013-14 survey.

Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

The Badgers are not represented on any of these preseason lists and, well, to be perfectly honest that is 100% fair. The women’s team is predicted to be one of the worst in the conference this season (although their trajectory is firmly pointed up) and the men’s team is rebuilding and, at best could finish in the top-eight of the conference.

If any Badgers make the postseason versions of these teams, things will have gone spectacularly right, so let’s cheer for that!