B1G basketball preseason power rankings

In 2021, a record 9 Big Ten teams were selected for the NCAA Tournament, but the impressive league depth didn’t matter much once the Big Dance started.

Only Michigan advanced into the second weekend, before being bounced in the Elite Eight by UCLA.

While this season might not bring the kind of depth that will see more than half of the league make the tourney, it might see more teams advance further, because the league — at least here in early November — seems strong at the top. Michigan and Purdue are ranked in the top-10 nationally and front-runners to vie for a Big Ten title, with anticipated challenges from Illinois, Ohio State and perhaps Maryland, and maybe others.

Let’s take a look at where the 14 Big Ten teams stack up at the start of the season:

1. Michigan

Hunter Dickinson looks around at practice and sees a ton of new teammates. Luckily for him and coach Juwan Howard, they’re a talented group of newcomers.

While Dickinson, one of the best of the best in the Big Ten, will remain the centerpiece, Michigan’s ceiling will more than likely be determined by the freshmen, including potential star Caleb Houstan, a versatile 6-8 forward who will try to fill the void left by the departure of Isaiah Livers.

But Michigan’s isn’t only about its youth; graduate student Eli Brooks is back to lead the backcourt, which gets a boost as well from incoming graduate transfer Devante’ Jones, who was the Sun Belt Player of the Year last season at Coastal Carolina, where he scored 19.3 points per game.

2. Purdue

One of Matt Painter’s 3 potential candidates for B1G Player of the Year — guard Jaden Ivey, and big men Trevion Williams and Zach Edey — will come off the bench, which is telling to how deep the Boilermakers are at the start of this season.

Ivey has a chance to turn into a big-time star as only a sophomore, and he’ll help keep some defensive attention away from Williams and Edey inside. The trio has a good support system as well, with veterans Eric Hunter Jr. and Sasha Stefanovic and underclassman Brandon Newman, but all three need to shoot the ball better than they did a year ago.

And if Purdue is to compete for a Big Ten title, its defense needs to take a step forward, an odd thing to say about a Painter-coached Boilermakers team.

3. Illinois

The Fighting Illini got a gigantic boost when Kofi Cockburn decided to come back to Champaign for one more season. It automatically gives Brad Underwood’s team credibility and turns what would have been a rebuilding year into a potential championship one.

Replacing the contributions of Ayo Dosunmu won’t be easy, but at least Underwood has veterans to turn to, such as super seniors Trent Frazier and Da’Monte Williams, plus excellent sophomore Andre Curbelo, who will run the offense.

With Cockburn and newcomer Omar Payne patrolling the inside, it’s perimeter shooting that the Illini are in need of, and they’ll look to Utah transfer Alfonso Plummer to fill the void. Last season, he scored more than 13 points per game while hitting a Pac-12-best 2.6 triples per outing.

4. Ohio State

Chris Holtmann has a deep and talented roster, led by big man EJ Liddell and Justice Sueing, but the question around the Buckeyes is whether they will be able to shoot the ball effectively enough to take the pressure off the talent on the interior. Had Duane Washington Jr. stuck around Columbus another season, the answer would have been a resounding yes, but without the streaky guard, who moved on to play professionally, they’ll have to seek perimeter shooting elsewhere.

Holtmann did get a steal — literally — when Penn State guard Jamari Wheeler decided to transfer in to Ohio State, giving the Buckeyes a point guard and defensive ace (he was on the league’s All-Defensive Team the last 2 seasons), but he’s limited offensively.

5. Maryland

If Mark Turgeon can put all his new parts together, then Maryland might have the talent to run up the rankings in the Big Ten. Guard Eric Ayala returns, and he’ll be joined by a solid group of transfers in guards Fatts Russell (Rhode Island) and Ian Martinez (Utah) and forwards Qudus Wahab (Georgetown) and Pavlo Dziuba (Arizona State).

It’s almost never about the talent at Maryland, but sometimes getting the Terrapins to play consistently night in and night out, a must for a run at the Big Ten title, is challenging. But Turgeon put together one of his best coaching jobs last season, in turning a Maryland team that was considered an after-thought into one that scored a bunch of upset victories. Maybe he can similarly mold this squad.

6. Indiana

Most new coaches don’t have a player like Trayce Jackson-Davis on their roster in their first season, but Mike Woodson has that luxury at Indiana. Jackson-Davis automatically gives the Hoosiers credibility.

But IU was a mess last season, largely because it had an offense that didn’t function at a very high efficiency. Will it be better now under Woodson? Perhaps, but IU is going to need big things from newcomer Parker Stewart, a sharp-shooting guard who has played previously at UT-Martin and Pitt, and forward Miller Kopp, a familiar name to Big Ten fans after his days at Northwestern.

Woodson needs a point guard; is now the time for veteran Rob Phinisee to step solidly into that role?

7. Iowa

Many want to talk about what Iowa lost after last season, because Luka Garza and Joe Wieskamp were so extremely valuable to the Hawkeyes and made them such a dynamic team offensively. But it’s not as if Fran McCaffery’s squad was left with only 2 cans of Campbells in the cupboard.

Sophomore forward Keegan Murray, who showed flashes in only a limited role last season, will be a much bigger part of what Iowa is doing this season, perhaps the centerpiece. The backcourt is set with point guard Joe Toussaint and super senior Jordan Bohannon.

But newcomers will mean a lot, including big man Filip Rebraca, who had 20 double-doubles and 76 blocks last season at North Dakota, and freshman Payton Sandfort, who could give McCaffery another perimeter shooter.

8. Michigan State

It’s not often that a Tom Izzo-coached team starts the season with expectations as low as this year, but there’s just so many questions about the Spartans.

The big one, because Izzo feels like it was the biggest reason why Michigan State labored so much of last season, comes at the point. But Tyson Walker, a junior transfer from Northeastern, might help to settle down the position, and if not him, then maybe backup AJ Hoggard.

The Spartans have other pieces, like Max Christie, Malik Hall, Joey Hauser, Gabe Brown and Marcus Bingham Jr., and the size and athleticism might make them one of the Big Ten’s best defensive teams. But where do the points come from? Michigan State is going to have to find a way to score, as well.

9. Rutgers

The good: Geo Baker and Ron Harper Jr. are skilled and savvy enough to lead any team in the Big Ten, and the duo will be good enough on some nights to knock off the big boys in the Big Ten. But outside of fellow senior Caleb McConnell and junior Paul Mulcahy, the Scarlet Knights don’t have a lot of other known commodities.

Coach Steve Pikiell is going to need to see a big increase in production from sophomore center Clifford Omoruyi, who will get a bulk of the minutes inside the paint with Myles Johnson having moved on. Rutgers will hope to get a boost up front from newcomer Aundre Hyatt, a 6-6 forward from LSU.

10. Wisconsin

The Badgers roster has 12 underclassmen, including 5 freshmen, so there might be a couple speed bumps throughout the season for coach Greg Gard.

He’ll lean on a couple veterans, including super senior guard Brad Davison and forward Tyler Wahl, the latter of whom will need to take a big step forward if he’s to become the player many thought he would be. Sophomores Ben Carlson and Steven Crowl are likely to get front-court minutes and sophomore Johnny Davis, who was the Badgers’ sixth man last season, might move into a starting role in the backcourt.

But the first player off the bench in Wisconsin’s exhibition was a walk-on, perhaps telling of where Wisconsin is right now.

11. Northwestern

Chris Collins’ team had one of the more bizarre Big Ten seasons in recent memory last year, when the Wildcats won their first 3 games, 2 against ranked opponents, then lost 13 straight before recovering to win their last 3 of the regular season.

He’ll look for more consistent performances this season, and might have the veterans, like juniors Boo Buie and Chase Audige, to get it done. Big man Ryan Young, a reserve most of last season, will have to carry a bulk of the minutes in the paint, but if he can defend and rebound against the league’s great bigs, then that’ll go a long way toward Northwestern’s success.

12. Nebraska

Will Year 3 of the Fred Hoiberg Era bring Nebraska closer to Big Ten relevance? Well, maybe in baby steps.

The Cornhuskers have their most-ever production returning in Hoiberg’s tenure, but that might not mean much, because Nebraska is again going to rely heavily on its newcomers, namely Arizona State transfer guard Alonzo Verge Jr., who averaged 14 points for the Sun Devils last season; freshman guard Keon Edwards, a former 4-star recruit who spent last season at DePaul; and freshman forward Wilhelm Breidenbach.

The youth, including Nebraska’s first-ever 5-star recruit in 6-7 guard Bryce McGowen, will need time to develop, but there might be times this season that the Cornhuskers flash their potential, and on those nights, Big Ten opponents beware.

13. Penn State

For a few days after his hiring at Penn State, Micah Shrewsberry thought he might be working with an entirely new Nittany Lions’ roster in his first season.

But then, at least a few of the PSU players who had been considering a transfer decided to return to Happy Valley, and that’ll make Shrewsberry’s transition from Purdue assistant to PSU head coach much easier.

Shrewsberry will lean on veteran guards Myles Dread and Sam Sessoms, along with forward Seth Lundy and John Harrah, a foursome with starting experience who were PSU’s 3rd-6th-leading scorers last year. Maybe Penn State can get a boost too from newcomer Jalen Pickett, who averaged 15 points per game in his 3 seasons at Siena.

14. Minnesota

Minnesota has a basketball team this season, that’s not a question. But whether the Golden Gophers can win a Big Ten game this season is.

That’s how dire the situation is in Minneapolis, where Ben Johnson takes over a program stung by departures following the firing of Richard Pitino. Johnson had to almost completely rebuild his roster, with only center Eric Curry and guard Payton Willis as healthy returnees from last season.

Minnesota needs power forward Jamison Battle to see his production at George Washington, where he averaged 13 points and 5 rebounds in his 2 seasons, translate to the Big Ten.