Big Ten Conference Basketball Preview
After a successful SEC Preview, it's time to preview another loaded conference: The Big Ten! Rankings and analysis per team, all available below:
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Introduction
As a fun way to prepare for this upcoming college basketball season, I’ll review the nation’s top conferences before doing deep dives on the less-heralded conferences as we move closer to the start of the season!
All of my college basketball-related content can be found here. Let the rankings begin!
Rankings
1. Indiana
I’m all-in on the Hoosiers this year. Coach Woodson and his staff replaced Kel’el Ware with an All-American caliber big man in Oumar Ballo. On top of that, they addressed their much-needed improvements in guard play with a dynamic scoring guard in Kanaan Carlyle and Myles Rice, who are both entering their sophomore year.
Having a frontcourt-heavy constructed roster puts more importance on decision-making and playmaking, which was one of this team’s main struggles last year on top of their below-average shooting. Another vital aspect of Indiana’s improvement is to pair Reneau with a defensive-anchoring center in Ballo, who can take pressure away from Reneau by fully committing to defending the opposing five.
Trey Galloway and Luke Goode are the complementary pieces that round out a title-contending Hoosier team. Bryson Tucker’s freshman production is the icing on the cake for Coach Woodson, who’s entering a ‘Big Ten title or bust’ type of season.
2. UCLA
Depth is vital to make improvement more feasible. However, in UCLA’s case, last year’s disaster was a combination of many factors that will not play a part anymore. By relying less on incoming freshmen and acquiring key pieces from the transfer portal, the Bruins have a good base to be a legitimate contender in their Big Ten debut season.
Tyler Bilodeau is among the underrated names of Big Ten transfers, but his ability to stretch the floor is one of the missing ingredients. To take away pressure from its guard play, adding another top-tier shooter alongside Stefanovic and WCC-standout Dominick Harris will ease things up for Andrews as a creator. Kobe Johnson and Skyy Clark add another scoring punch to separate UCLA’s guard play from the other top teams in the Big Ten.
Stefanovic and Andrews will lead the scoring column for this group, who replaced freshmen still adapting to college basketball with upperclassmen bringing in tons of needed experience. In a more physical Big Ten game, that’s the recipe for success.
3. Purdue
Despite not having Zach Edey anymore, it’s clear that Purdue’s guard rotation of Fletcher Loyer and Braden Smith is the best in the conference, both in quality and the longevity and consistency of how familiar they are with the playing system.
On the other hand, Mason Gillis’ departure to Duke is another blow for Coach Painter. That puts more pressure on Camden Heide, who’s set for a sophomore leap. His presence as a closeout-attacker and paint-touch generator takes away pressure for Loyer and Smith, while Myles Colvin serves as a good backup. There is enough depth for Purdue on that end.
The X-factor for the Boilermakers is Trey Kaufman-Renn’s increasing offensive scoring load. Highly touted freshman Daniel Jacobson will play good minutes. That’s a given. However, it’s asking for much to expect the same level of impact Zach Edey had from him and Caleb Furst in the frontcourt. It’s clear: Kaufman-Renn’s leap is what this team needs the most, and I am not sure if that will happen!
4. Illinois
Illinois lost a majority of its starting minutes and went for a recruiting haul in Kasparas Jakucionas, Morez Johnson, Will Riley, and Tomislav Ivisic. All four names are looking like contributors for the Fighting Illini, as connecting pieces such as Corey Booth, Kylan Boswell, and Ty Rodgers will give Coach Underwood much-needed continuity in a period of adjusting for the incoming group of freshmen.
This team has serious offensive potential. Despite an expected regression, Coach Underwood’s winning culture at Illinois will be put on display, as we’ll likely see another title-contending team after last year’s run that ended in the Elite 8. So it’s the coach’s value that makes them a top-5 team, with freshman Will Riley and Morez Johnson being my expected most impactful newcomers on this team.
5. Oregon
Welcome to the Big Ten! Oregon managed to bring back their dynamic freshman duo of Jackson Shelstad and Kwame Evans, Jr. They will be the key players on this team, where the Ducks did well by bringing in experience with TJ Bamba, Brandon Angel, and Ra’heim Moss.
Coach Altman has had over 20 seasons for over a decade long now. Continuity, while making the right additions via the portal is the way to build a feasible winning team. And that’s what the Ducks are.
One of the contenders to win Newcomer of the Year will be their JUCO stud, Dezdrick Lindsay. At 6’6”, he’s one of the best defenders in junior college basketball, while being an effective and creative interior scorer. Remember the name!
6. Michigan State
Jaden Akins. That’s the majority of why I am so high on Michigan State. Coach Izzo is a developing coach, and we all know he doesn’t like to acquire guys via the portal. With Fidler suiting up an acquired Spartan, their starting five will gain another scoring punch, alongside Xavier Booker, Tre Holloman, and Coen Carr, who are all ready to take on more minutes and usage. On top of that, Jeremy Fears will take on the role of the playmaking point guard and get rewarded with more ball touches.
Entering his senior year, Akins can be the number one option for his Michigan State Spartans. Each year, he sacrificed for the greater good, and now Coach Izzo will reward him by making it his team. Akins staying loyal says a lot about his character, but also about the program that one of the greatest legends of college basketball has set up.
7. Ohio State
The Buckeyes never made it past the Round of 32 in Coach Holtmann’s seven-year tenure. But they got hot immediately after Coach Diebler took over. After starting as a video coordinator over a decade ago, Ohio State has one of their guys for who they can now reserve a good chunk of NIL money to spend on the roster.
And that’s what happened. Their veteran guard rotation of Meechie Johnson and Bruce Thornton gives them one of the best duos in the conference. They combined that with highly-touted but underwhelming freshmen Aaron Bradshaw and Sean Stewart, who are now hungry to prove themselves on another high-major program. On top of that, they get back Ques Glover, who missed a whole season because of injury.
With the amount of talent and a coach who has proven that he can immediately respond after a strong run late in the season and a good outing at the Big Ten Tournament, the Buckeyes are in for a big season. Based on the aforementioned, I have them as one of the overachievers.
8. Michigan
The Wolverines have had a couple of bad years basketball-wise, but also in the recruiting column. Counting on Caleb Love who decided to go to Arizona, while losing Lee Aaliya and Christian Anderson, Jr., Michigan had no other choice than to focus on the transfer portal after bringing in the successful Dusty May.
And that’s what they did. Vladislav Goldin, Danny Wolf, and Roddy Gayle, Jr. make them one of the more talented teams in the conference. Especially when you factor in good rotational pieces in Tre Donaldson and Sam Walters, who have experienced the sweet taste of playing winning basketball.
One of this team’s challenges is their frontcourt. There’s too much talent in that regard, leaving them to play with a lineup that contains Wolf and Goldin. With Gayle, Jr. and Nimari Burnett leading the scoring column, it comes down to how well this team will mesh early on in the season.
Regardless of the amount of talent, I am cautious in raising expectations. Michigan needs to take this step by step and prove they can qualify for the NCAA Tournament again after having two consecutive appearances in the NIT.
9. Nebraska
The Cornhuskers built an experienced roster despite missing last year’s standout, Rienk Mast, who medically will redshirt his senior year. Bringing in the versatile forward Büyüktuncel from UCLA while adding a sharpshooter in Connor Essegian. That gives them a needed offensive boost whilst also adding depth to the frontcourt with Washington transfer Braxton Meah.
Coach Hoiberg installed a winning culture in Nebraska, finishing last year as the third seed in the Big Ten, and qualifying for the NCAA Tournament. Gavin Griffiths will gain more usage after a promising freshman campaign. However, the core of Brice Williams and Juwan Gary will again have to carry the scoring load for the Cornhuskers, who will need to figure out how they will adjust to other teams getting much better whilst not fully replacing last year’s standout in Keisei Tominaga.
10. Maryland
Losing Jahmir Young and Donta Scott is a tough burden for Maryland. However, by adding a key transfer in Ja’Kobi Gillespie, whilst DeShawn Harris-Smith has had a promising summer, Maryland has enough firepower to replace Young. That’s not the case for Scott, whose departure will lead to Julian Reese getting his well-earned usage booster in the Terrapins’ frontcourt.
However, regardless of the level of excitement Derik Queen’s addition has brought to Maryland, relying on underclassmen in such a talented conference is a risk. Rodney Rice is a promising scorer who can fill in for a part of Young’s production, but this roster looks better on paper than it is in reality. With the lack of true depth in case of injuries alongside the departure of one of the better point guards in college basketball, Maryland is yet again in a tough spot as their margin for error is less than the aforementioned teams.
11. Iowa
A lack of depth is the reason behind Iowa finishing outside of the top ten. They have two All-Conference level players Owen Freeman and Payton Sandfort. But losing Ben Krikke and Tony Perkins will put too much pressure on Josh Dix, who’s set to receive more usage for the Hawkeyes.
One of Coach McCaffery’s recruiting wins of the last few years is Seydou Traore, who has had a fantastic year at Manhattan, finishing in the MAAC All-Rookie First Team. His plus-sized guard play will complement Dix’s improved production. That leaves Iowa in the hands of Owen Freeman, who can ascend to an All-Big Ten level, but the margin of error on top of Ben Krikke’s offense not fully being replaced puts Iowa in a tough position compared to their peers.
12. Rutgers
Despite Rutgers’ historical recruiting class with Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, their team is not built to play winning basketball in the Big Ten. College basketball keeps getting older, as also explained in the conference guru Joe Jackson’s graph, and the Scarlet Knights couldn’t replace one of the best defensive guards in Mawot Mag and an All-American caliber big man in Cliff Omoruyi, who are also both seniors.
Harper and Bailey will be productive and will likely keep their top-5 status intact this upcoming season. But that won’t lead to Rutgers playing winning basketball. Bringing back Jeremiah Williams was essential, but that won’t make them a top-10 team in the conference.
13. Washington
The guards Koren Johnson, and Sahvir Wheeler, alongside Braxton Meah in the frontcourt all left the program. To finish the disastrous summer, their star wing Keion Brooks is also not a part of the Huskies anymore. That forced Washington to make quick decisions, and despite adding a potential All-American in Great Osobor, they failed to build a competitive roster.
DJ Davis from Butler and Mekhi Mason from Rice are good transfer additions on paper but still have to prove their worth in a loaded Big Ten conference. This team lacks depth on all cylinders, where Tyler Harris and a highly-touted Zoom Diallo will be two underclassmen who will make the most out of their opportunity to play.
Coach Danny Sprinkle has had success with Osobor at Utah State and Montana State, and thus will likely find a way to be competitive. However, with the way the Big Ten got much better in recent years, they’ll likely finish far behind the first 10 teams.
14. USC
The Trojans secured themselves one of the best coaches in college basketball. But even the best ones need a year or two to fully set up a winning team. Coach Musselman didn’t inherit a good team, as Boogie Ellis, Isaiah Collier, and Kobe Johnson all left the program while also losing Vincent Iwuchukwu in the process.
That forced USC to build up from scratch, securing the rights of high-end talent in Desmond Claude and Saint Thomas, who will both be key players in the Trojans’ Big Ten debut season. Bryce Pope was one of the most productive guards on the West Coast last year and will be joined by Terrance Williams II who was one of Michigan’s very few consistent factors last year.
The Trojans lack depth but will have a promising core of seven players, whereas Chibuzo Agbo gives them another scoring punch. Their duo of talented underclassmen guards Wesley Yates II and Isaiah Elohim will eventually find spot minutes to focus on a bigger role at USC for the 2025-26 season.
15. Northwestern
This is one of the selections I might regret. The Wildcats have proven that coaching and building the right way around key players bring you success. Coach Collins has two consecutive 12-8 records with NCAA Tournament appearances in both years. For this upcoming season, they bring back Ty Berry and Brooks Barnhizer who will lead the team in usage and ball touches.
However, the rest of the conference was impressively better, while also welcoming four new schools. The decision to move Northwestern to the last four programs in the conference is not fully compensating for losing Boo Buie. That’s putting more pressure and eventually everything to trusting the program’s system by letting returning players take the big roles.
Don’t get me wrong, that’s one of the beauties of college basketball, but in the era of the transfer portal, the amount of talent on a roster matters as well, and that’s where Northwestern will likely lose against the aforementioned programs. One of my watches on this team will be incoming freshman KJ Windham.
16. Penn State
The Nittany Lions have lost ten players from last year’s roster, that includes Qudus Wahab. Regardless of bringing in Freddie Dillione from Tennessee, while also securing the rights of a promising freshman in Miles Goodman, Penn State will have thin depth on top of a senior-heavy roster without true outlier talent.
Ace Baldwin, Jr. and Zach Hicks will lead the group for Coach Rhoades, who’s entering his second year in the College Township. Despite his recent success at VCU, the lack of roster improvement will likely make Penn State one of the lower-ranked teams in the Big Ten.
17. Wisconsin
After losing a college star in AJ Storr to Kansas, the Badgers also failed to hold onto Chucky Hepburn (Louisville) and Connor Essegian (Nebraska). They came nowhere close to replacing the aforementioned players in both the transfer portal and recruiting from the 2024 class.
That leaves a thin roster with Max Klesmit and Steven Crowl as the two main offensive options. Wisconsin will likely fall apart from last year’s 11-win performance when they finished fifth in the conference.
18. Minnesota
I’m sorry, Minnesota fans. The Golden Gophers are finishing last on my Big Ten preview. After a promising year, Elijah Hawkins and Pharrel Payne had, they moved to the South to join Texas Tech and Texas A&M. That leaves Dawson Garcia and Mike Mitchell, Jr. as the two main scoring options.
The disappointing part for the future is that Minnesota brought in eight transfers, who are all seniors or graduate seniors. There’s no clear improvement path for the future and heavily relying on the transfer portal makes it a tough season for Coach Johnson.
Finalizing Summary
To summarize the piece, here’s the list for my 2024-25 Big Ten Basketball Preview:
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