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ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 25, ISSUE 2 49 f M E N ' S B A S K E T B A L L : B I G T E N P R E V I E W BY STACY CLARDIE SClardie@GoldandBlack.com B o Ryan doesn't care if the preseason talk is how good his Wisconsin team will be this season, com- ing off its first Final Four since 2000. It won't change the way he prepares or what he ex- pects from the Badgers, he said at Big Ten media day in mid-October. "It really doesn't affect when we're doing our transi- tion defensive drills," Ryan said. "I don't think my guys are thinking about that. Our guys live in the moment, or at least we're trying to. They're trying to get better." The rest of the league certainly will need to if they want to keep pace. Michigan State and Michigan both made Elite Eight appearances last season but lost considerable talent and production from those teams. Some middle-of-the-pack teams, though, could get a boost from more experienced rosters, and the teams at the bottom certainly will want to fiercely fight to distance themselves from last season's performances. "I think it's going to be a really good league again," Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "We've had a lot of suc- cess here of late. But time will tell. Non-conference is ALL BIG-TEN Here are Gold and Black's preseason picks for All-Big Ten Name Yr./Pos. School First team Frank Kaminsky Sr./F Wisconsin Branden Dawson Sr./F Mich. State Yogi Ferrell So./G Indiana Terran Petteway Jr./F Nebraska Caris LeVert Jr./G Michigan Second team A.J. Hammons Jr./C PURDUE Aaron White Sr./F Iowa Rayvonte Rice Sr./G Illinois D.J. Newbill Sr./G Penn State Sam Dekker Jr./F Wisconsin Third team Andre Hollins Sr./G Minnesota JerShon Cobb Sr./G Northwestern Spike Albrecht Jr./G Michigan Shavon Shields Jr./G Nebraska Shannon Scott Sr./G Ohio State Player-of-the-Year Kaminsky, Wisconsin Coach-of-the-Year John Groce, Illinois Wisconsin Frank Kaminsky simply is another in a line of uncommon big men for the Badgers, and his versatile game helped land him as the league's preseason Player-of-the-Year pick. Wisconsin Clear Favorite Rest of pack ready to 'fight'