As I am a hoops sicko, I also subscribe to Eamonn Brennan's substack newsletter (formerly college hoops beat writer for The Athletic). This morning he fired out the B1G edition of his "Better Know a Conference" series. Fun fact he raises: 15 of the 18 B1G teams are ranked inside of KenPom's preseason top 60, and none will start outside of top 100. Instead of straight power rankings, he has arranged teams in tiers - He has the Cats listed in the "Intriguing" tier alongside Nebraska and USC. Sharing below his blurb on NU, as you are sickos as well. While it isn't a long writeup, I'm always interested in outsider takes from well-informed college hoops reporters:
--
In the summer, writing about the draft from a college watcher’s perspective (obviously), we chuckled at Oklahoma City taking Brooks Barnhizer in the second round:
Turns out Barnhizer had a productive preseason with OKC, got on the floor on opening night, and “has some real stuff we value,” Mark Daigneault told reporters. It’s already happening!
Point being: Barnhizer is a big loss. Fortunately, Nick Martinelli exists, and remains. (We have a soft spot for Martinelli based entirely on his surname and our own unrelated fandom.) Northwestern’s roster is notably less pocked by transfers than many other teams in this tier, which is an occupational hazard: Schools with real-deal academic requirements tend to find it more difficult to get certain guys eligible on short notice. But the bargain works both ways, and Martinelli is good enough that elevating the guys around him, alongside a few marginal transfers (Jayden Reid from South Florida, Max Green from Holy Cross) should at least keep NU in the same competitive-and-maybe-a-bubble-team-if-things-break-right zone they’ve existed in for most (if not all) of Chris Collins’ incredible tenure.
--
In the summer, writing about the draft from a college watcher’s perspective (obviously), we chuckled at Oklahoma City taking Brooks Barnhizer in the second round:
Turns out Barnhizer had a productive preseason with OKC, got on the floor on opening night, and “has some real stuff we value,” Mark Daigneault told reporters. It’s already happening!
Point being: Barnhizer is a big loss. Fortunately, Nick Martinelli exists, and remains. (We have a soft spot for Martinelli based entirely on his surname and our own unrelated fandom.) Northwestern’s roster is notably less pocked by transfers than many other teams in this tier, which is an occupational hazard: Schools with real-deal academic requirements tend to find it more difficult to get certain guys eligible on short notice. But the bargain works both ways, and Martinelli is good enough that elevating the guys around him, alongside a few marginal transfers (Jayden Reid from South Florida, Max Green from Holy Cross) should at least keep NU in the same competitive-and-maybe-a-bubble-team-if-things-break-right zone they’ve existed in for most (if not all) of Chris Collins’ incredible tenure.
