Star Miles Bridges expecting to announce Thursday night he's returning for his sophomore year means one thing: Michigan State will NO DOUBT be the team to beat in the Big Ten going into 2017-18.
The Spartans were already returning stud post Nick Ward, Tum Tum Nairn, Gavin Schilling and former high-profile recruits Joshua Langford and Cassius Winston. Tom Izzo is also adding McDonald's All-American center Jaren Jackson Jr. and four-star forward Xavier Tillman.
This is a projected top-five squad that not only will be the favorite to win the conference title but should be in the national championship discussion as well. But who is the way-too-early projected top Big Ten team behind the Spartans? The Gophers.
Yes, Richard Pitino has built a potential title contender after going from eight to 24 wins this year.
Sure, it is meaningless at this point. But the very, very early top 25 rankings from SI.com, ESPN.com, Sporting News, Yahoo.com, Fox Sports and others almost unanimously pick Minnesota as the team most likely right now to compete with Michigan State for the top spot in the Big Ten.
Part of the reason the Gophers are currently hot stock (projected as high as No. 10 nationally by college basketball analyst Seth Davis) is because all of their top players are expected back. Guys like All-Big Ten first team guard Nate Mason, All-Big Ten third team forward Jordan Murphy, All-Big Ten freshman guard Amir Coffey and Big Ten defensive player of the year Reggie Lynch should return even better. And of course, more depth on the perimeter is on the way with the addition of four-star guard Isaiah Washington and three-star guard Jamir Harris, who will both play in the Jordan Brand Classic regional game Friday in Washington D.C.
No Gophers have declared early for the draft or even had to make an announcement like Bridges that they're returning to school.
But several Big Ten teams are waiting to see what their top players are going to do – officially. There were 12 Big Ten players on the 2017 NBA Draft early entry list as of Thursday afternoon. College players have until April 23 to declare early for the draft and until May 24 to remove their name and still play college ball again.
Purdue's waiting on Caleb Swanigan, Vince Edwards and Isaac Haas. Indiana's waiting on Thomas Bryant and James Blackmon Jr. Michigan's waiting on D.J. Wilson and Moritz Wagner. So until those players make their official decisions known, it certainly looks like Michigan State and Minnesota are the favorites in the Big Ten next season.
