While MSU did not make the NCAA Tournament last year, they did advance to the semifinals of the WNIT, before losing to Oregon.
Despite winning 17 games last season the Wolverines did not go to post-season play, mainly because of its 6-10 conference record. This year, they return four starters.
Of the 24 McDonald All-Americans, two of them are on Iowa's team.
Illinois reached the second round of the WNIT last season and returns three starters from a 15-14 squad.
The Hoosiers will look to continue their magical run from last season. They will have to replace Jill Chapman and Heather Cassady, team leaders from last season who graduated. Looked upon for the job will be sophomore guard Jenny DeMuth, seniors Kristen Bodine, Allison Skapin, and Jill Hartman. Last season, IU made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1994-1995. They open the regular season versus Wofford in the Hampton Inn/Fazoli's Classic on Friday Nov. 22 at 6 p.m.
By the time the IU basketball team started the Big Ten season last year, the Hoosiers were 7-5, and drawing critical responses from their fans.
The newest edition of Instant Replay in the NFL has been intact now for three and a half seasons, and made officiating much better than in its absence. But, there are certain areas where the system needs to be…overturned, if you will. League officials need to look back to why they reinstated instant replay in the first place -- it was an opportunity to assure that the correct call was being made by the referees on the field. There are instances, however, even in the new system where that is simply impossible.
With senior midfielder Ryan Mack returning from ACL surgery to reclaim his spot as IU's number two scorer and adding strength to an already potent offense, one question plagued the coaching staff entering the season. How would the Hoosiers fill the holes left behind by starting backs Ryan Hammer and Josh Rife and goalkeeper Colin Rogers? The three were pivotal members of the nation's top defense. IU led the country in goals against average and shutout percentage last season.
Dan Rather closed the CBS Evening News for a brief period in 1986 with a bizarre one-word epigram: "courage." People had no idea what he meant. Some people thought he was condescending. Others thought he was crazy. I thought back to that when I was watching the Arete Awards for Courage in Sports on CBS this past weekend. The Arete Awards aired right after the Colts' most recent debacle. What a contrast they probably provided to those who did not change the channel. In case you missed it, the Colts got booed while losing at home to Tennessee Sunday.
NEW YORK -- Randy Johnson won his record-tying fourth straight National League Cy Young Award on Tuesday, a unanimous pick over Arizona teammate Curt Schilling. Johnson will earn an additional $4 million because of the award. He received all 32 first-place votes and 160 points from a panel of the Baseball Writers' Association of America to win his fifth Cy Young Award, one short of Roger Clemens' record.
Two scholarship players released At Tuesday's press conference, coach Gerry DiNardo said that he had released two players, but he declined to give specific names. The two players are believed to be senior linebacker Ron Bethel and sophomore fullback Jason Sullivan. Both players' names have been removed from the team's online roster. Bethel started against Ohio State and Wisconsin.
Since Bill Carmody took over the helm at Northwestern, the Wildcats have improved drastically.
Coach Jerry Dunn had his work cut out for him last season with only one senior on the Penn State roster. A youth movement was necessary, and Dunn's freshmen and sophomores logged nearly two-thirds of the Nittany Lion's minutes.
Iowa began last season as a favorite to win the Big Ten, and was ranked in the top five nationally. But the Hawkeyes fell flat on their face during the conference season, finishing 10th with an underachieving 5-11 record. They were not invited to the NCAA Tournament, and were beaten in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament by Louisiana State.
Illini coach Bill Self does not agree with the Big Ten preseason media poll -- he said he thinks his team should be ranked lower.
At the beginning of last season Wisconsin was working under a first-year head coach in Bo Ryan and had only nine scholarship players on its roster. The Badgers were considered a program with a long rebuilding process ahead of them.
Last season was a bit out of the ordinary for Michigan State. The Spartans did not win the Big Ten Championship for the first time in five years and then, in the NCAA Tournament, they suffered a first-round loss to North Carolina State. The early exit marked the first time they failed to reach the Final Four since the 1997-98 season.
Coach Gene Keady had to change some aspects of the Purdue team if he wanted the 2002-2003 season to go differently than last year's disastrous showing. The Boilermakers finished the season 13-18, and were tied for 8th place in the Big Ten. For Keady and his team, the losing record was unacceptable.
The OSU men's team lost two key players, and all of sudden has dropped off everyone's radar. After winning a share of the Big Ten title and the Big Ten Tournament title, the Buckeyes aren't even expected to finish in the top three of the Big Ten this year.
Last year, Minnesota played the upset kings and busted onto the Big Ten basketball scene. After consecutive wins against Ohio State, Penn State, Indiana and Iowa, the Golden Gophers had the attention of the media and their Big Ten opponents.
