B1G posts conference's worst top-10 showing on preseason AP Poll since the 1970s
The Associated Press released a preseason poll for men’s basketball on Monday. The B1G had just three teams make it, but that’s not what stood out.
According to ESPN’s Jeff Borzello, this was the first time that the B1G did not have a team inside the top 10 dating back to 1977. The only teams that were ranked were Indiana (13), Michigan (22), and Illinois (23).
Via @ESPNStatsInfo: This is the first time since 1977 the Big Ten does not have a team in the AP preseason top 10.
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) October 17, 2022
Not even Michigan State was ranked in the preseason poll. The Spartans have become a blue blood under Tom Izzo during his tenure. Purdue was also not ranked after finishing third in the B1G last season, and neither was Iowa.
The top 10 consisted of a lot of blue blood college basketball programs instead. North Carolina, Duke, Kentucky, Gonzaga and others like them were all inside the top 10.
Luckily the season hasn’t even started yet so there’s still a chance that more B1G schools could land in the top 25. The season begins for most B1G schools on Nov. 7.