Big Ten Basketball Preview Part 4: The Contenders

Now we are getting to the business end of the conference. These teams all have the talent to make a run at the Big Ten title and make a deep run in the tournament. They also have real question marks and flaws to keep them from being considered favorites. In case you missed any of the previous team previews, find them here:

Part 3: The Middle

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Part 2: Tournament Hopefuls

Part 1: The Bottom Feeders

7. USC

Predicted Starting Lineup

Rodney Rice, Super Senior, 20.3 ppg/3.3 rpg/6.0 apg/1.2 spg in 6 games

This is Rodney Rice’s fifth year of college basketball, despite only playing more than eight game in a season once, two years ago for Maryland. Before that, he had his freshman season cut short by ankle and hand injuries and sat out his sophomore season after leaving Virginia Tech weeks before the season started. Last year, he transferred to USC and got off to a blistering start before suffering a season ending shoulder injury. Rice is a smooth shooter and big guard defender at 6-foot-5, but the assist numbers seem likely to be inflated playing weaker competition early in the season.

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KJ Lewis, Senior, 14.9 ppg/5.1 rpg/2.5 apg/2.1 spg at Georgetown

While the scoring numbers look good as a higher volume player on a bad Georgetown team, Lewis makes his NIL on the other end of the floor. Lewis will be one of the best perimeter defenders in the conference, with size and length to harass the best guards in the Big Ten. Offensively he is not special, but can be dangerous in the open court if the Trojans play up tempo.

Alijah Arenas, Sophomore, 14.1 ppg/2.9 rpg/2.1 apg in 14 games

Gilbert’s progeny had a rough start to his college career, as the highly touted prospect had a scary car accident that put him in a medically induced coma. After recovering from the injuries suffered in the accident, Alijah tore his meniscus and missed nearly three months of his freshman season. When he came back, USC was starting to fall apart (star player Chad Baker-Mazara was dismissed…

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Publish date : 2026-10-23 03:14:00

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