Wisconsin men to be a major player

Wisconsin, the defending Big Ten Conference regular-season and tournament champion, figures to be a major player again, but there are several challengers.

Wisconsin and Michigan State both advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16. Purdue and Indiana were NCAA tournament teams.

Ohio State won the NIT championship.

Following is a capsule look at the teams by order of last season's Big Ten finish:

Wisconsin (31-5, 16-2)

Junior guard Trevon Hughes is the returning leading scorer (11.2) and is joined in the lineup by 6-foot-7 senior forward Marcus Landry (10.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg), who was the Most Outstanding Player in the Big Ten tournament. Both players received All-Big Ten recognition.

Jason Bohannon received the league's Sixth Man of the Year award as a sophomore who provided a spark off the bench.

Coach Bo Ryan was named as the Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year.

Purdue (25-9, 15-3)

Robbie Hummel, a 6-8 forward, became the first Purdue freshman to earn All-Big Ten first team honors. Hummel averaged 11.4 points and 6.1 rebounds. He was second in the league in 3-point percentage (44.7) and third in free throw percentage (86.5).

Sophomore guard E'Twaun Moore led the 2007-08 Boilermakers in scoring (12.9).

Junior guard Chris Kramer was the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. Junior guard Keaton Grant (11.2 ppg) was voted as the team MVP.

Indiana (25-8, 14-4)

Tom Crean takes over as the Indiana head coach after nine years at Marquette where he averaged 20 wins per season and made five NCAA tournament appearances.

Indiana has no returning starters and only two lettermen back.

The losses included D.J. White, the conference player of the year, and Eric Gordon, the conference freshman of the year.

Returning lettermen are 6-7 senior Kyle Taber (1.3 ppg, 2.5 rpg) and sophomore guard Brett Finkelmeier (0.3 ppg).

Michigan State (27-9, 12-6)

Coach Tom Izzo enters his 14th season with 305 wins and an NCAA championship on his resume.

Raymar Morgan, a 6-8 junior, averaged 14 points and 6.1 rebounds as an All-Big Ten second team selection. Sophomore point guard Kalin Lucas scored 10.3 points a game and received all-conference honorable mention recognition.

Ohio State (24-13, 10-8)

Eight new faces dot the OSU roster, including a pair of high school All-Americans -- 7-footer B.J. Mullens and 6-5 guard William Buford.

David Lighty, a 6-5 junior, is the only member of the Buckeyes with two seasons of experience. Lighty averaged 9.0 points and 3.6 rebounds a game.

Evan Turner, a 6-7 sophomore, contributed 8.5 points and 4.4 rebounds per contest. Turner scored 20 in the NIT championship game victory over Massachusetts.

Minnesota (20-14, 8-10)

Coach Tubby Smith's transition from Kentucky to Minnesota was a smash success. The Gophers were 20-14, an 11-game improvement from the 2006-07 season, and went to the NIT.

Junior guard Lawrence Westbrook (8.5) is the top scorer back. He is joined by 6-7 senior Damian Johnson (7.1 ppg, 4.7 rpg) and 6-4 sophomore Blake Hoffaber (8.4 ppg).

Gopher recruit Devron Bostick, a 6-5 junior, was the national junior college player of the year at Southwestern Illinois College.

Penn State (15-16, 7-11)

Senior forward Jamelle Cornley is a 1,000-point career scorer. The 6-5 forward averaged 12.1 points and 6.0 rebounds.

Coach Ed DeChellis has five of his top six scorers back, including 5-11 sophomore Talor Battle (10.2).

Danny Morrissey (7.6 ppg) is the top 3-point shooter at 36.9 percent while point guard Stanley Pringle averaged 6.9 points and 2.3 assists.

Iowa (13-19, 6-12)

All-Big Ten guard Tony Freeman completed his eligibility, leaving senior forward Cyrus Tate and sophomore forward Jarryd Cole to serve as captains of a young team of Hawkeyes with five freshmen, three sophomores, three juniors and two seniors.

The 6-8 Tale averaged 8.3 points and 5.4 rebounds while the 6-7 Cole was scoring 6.6 points through 13 games when a knee injury ended his season.

Jake Kelly, a 6-6 sophomore guard, is a returning starter who scored 7.3 points a game.

Illinois (16-19, 5-13)

The Illini made a late push as the No. 10 seed in the Big Ten tournament and advanced to the finals before losing to Wisconsin. A streak of nine consecutive NCAA tournament appearances ended, but coach Bruce Weber felt his team was good enough to be one of the final 65.

Michigan (10-22, 5-13)

Manny Harris ranked third in the Big Ten with a 16.1 scoring average as a freshman. The 6-5 guard was an all-conference second team selection.

Six-foot-eight junior DeShawnn Sims averaged 12.3 points and 5.4 rebounds.

Coach John Beilein expects better shooting from a team that was last in the conference at just 39.5 percent.

Northwestern (8-22, 1-17)

All five starters are back, including all-conference honorable mention players Kevin Coble and Craig Moore.

Coble, a 6-8 junior, led the Wildcats in scoring (15.9) and rebounding (5.4) for the second consecutive season. He scored 37 in a game against Indiana.

Moore led the Big Ten in 3-pointers made (92-242) while averaging 13.4 points.

-- Information from www.bigten.cstv.com