Fifteen Big Ten Players make CBS Top 101 Players in College Basketball List

The college basketball season is upon us and what better way to get through the final days of the off-season than another list. College Basketball’s premier network, CBS, released their annual list of the top 101 players in the country recently. The list is littered with Big Ten ballers.

While you read countless training camp updates and loath over scrimmage box scores, we want to give you something to debate. According to CBS, these are the top players in the Big Ten and where they rank among every player in America.

CBS Top 100 (and one) College Basketball Players in 2016-2017: The Big Ten

• 14 - Melo Trimble (Maryland)
• 17 - Thomas Bryant (Indiana)
• 19 - Nigel Hayes (Wisconsin)
• 26 - Miles Bridges (Michigan St.)
• 28 - Malcolm Hill (Illinois)
• 32 - Bronson Koenig (Wisconsin)
• 38 - Ethan Happ (Wisconsin)
• 41 - James Blackmon (Indiana)
• 43 - Peter Jok (Iowa)
• 49 - Eron Harris (Michigan St.)
• 51 - Caleb Swanigan (Purdue)
• 57 - OG Anunoby (Indiana)
• 84 - Vince Edwards (Purdue)
• 95 - Derrick Walton Jr. (Michigan)
• 101 - Jae’Sean Tate (Ohio St.)

By now, I’m sure nobody is saying “I would have ranked it the exact same way.” If you are, you’re probably a CBS contributor. The list obviously warrants debate.

The competition for the Big Ten’s top representative was steep. Three players rank inside the top 20 and all of them are in the discussion for the Big Ten’s best player. Earlier this off-season, the BTPowerhouse contributors complied a similar list, ranking the conference’s best players. The general consensus here was Wisconsin senior Nigel Hayes being the best player. The man who rocked this sign on College Game Day still falls at number 19, but seeing him as the conferences third best player was puzzling.

Also noticeable is the lack of freshman on the list. Miles Bridges is the lone Big Ten freshman representative in the top 100. He, along with three other highly touted recruits, are part of one of Tom Izzo’s best recruiting classes in recent history. At season’s end, the Big Ten’s All-Freshman team will still be very talented and many players could make this list in 2017-2018 as sophomores.

There are some notable omissions from the list. Players such as Zak Irvin (Michigan), Isaac Haas (Purdue), Corey Sanders (Rutgers), Bryant McIntosh (Northwestern), JaQuan Lyle (Ohio St.) and Josh Langford (Michigan St.) could all easily have made the bottom half of the list. Once the list winds down, the margin between players becomes more and more slim. This second tier of Big Ten players are still household names to fans of their schools and could make a much more important list, the NBA Mock Draft.

For those who want the complete rankings, you can find them here