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VOLUME 26, ISSUE 2 57 the Big Ten heading into the 2015- 16 season. THE TOP OF THE HEAP The teams with the best chance, on paper, to vie for the league ti- tle and be nationally prominent in 2015-16 (alphabetical order). Indiana: The Hoo- siers bring back most of their key pieces from a good, but flawed, team from last season, the dismissed Hanner Mosquera-Perea aside, but IU can deal with that loss seamlessly, especially consid- ering how much he was hurt last season. Incoming freshman big man Thomas Bryant fills a gaping void in the middle and senior point guard Yogi Ferrell should be one of the best guards out there, but the upside of this team lies in the per- sonal improvement Troy Williams and James Blackmon Jr. make. If experience provides those guys added maturity, toughness and consistency and IU establishes im- proved chemistry, look out. Indiana has to get better defen- sively. Maybe having some size to rely on makes them better auto- matically, but the Hoosiers did lose their only notable rim-protector from last season in Perea. Last season, IU mostly just had to out-score and out-shoot oppo- nents to be successful. The formu- la won't change dramatically now. Maryland: The odds- on favorite, most like- ly, to win the league and a popular presea- son No. 1 pick nationally, the Terps will miss forward Dez Wells, but only to a point if all goes as planned. Sophomore point guard and pre- season Big Ten Player-of-the-Year Melo Trimble can be phenomenal and incoming big man Diamond Stone is a cream-of-the-crop, im- Tom Campbell In what may or may not be his last season, Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan has to replace a lot of talent, but veterans Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig provide a good base.