Big Ten basketball is right around the corner from a return to the hardwood! And, much like the 2024 B1G football season, the 2024-25 B1G basketball season will be a first-of-its-kind season.

The arrival of Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington provides a deeper league than ever before. It also presents some intriguing questions while making it harder to project the season ahead.

All eyes will be on those 4 schools to see how they adjust, and it goes even deeper than that. Two of the West Coast programs (USC and Washington) are making the jump with brand-new head coaches, and another (UCLA) is coming off its worst season under its current head coach.

Among traditional B1G programs, Ohio State and Michigan are also bracing for their first full seasons with new head coaches. Those two rivals will be worth monitoring to see if either — or both — is able to jump out to a hot start the season.

And, of course, Purdue enters the season on the heels of back-to-back league titles but without the monster in the middle named Zach Edey. Nevertheless, the Boilermakers are the preseason favorite, and we’ll have to wait and see if anyone can knock them down.

Now, let’s dive into the preseason B1G Hoops Power Rankings!

18. Minnesota

Minnesota put together a solid season for Ben Johnson last season, but some of that may have been a byproduct of other turmoil around them. It just always seems so difficult to win at Minnesota. And that only increases with a deeper B1G.

17. Penn State

Ace Baldwin Jr. is a legit star, but it’s tough for any one player to carry a team in this league.  Can any of Penn State’s 9 newcomers (4 transfer; 5 high school players) help Baldwin carry the load?

16. Northwestern

Chris Collins was on a serious hot seat before back-to-back trips to the NCAA Tournament. However, now he’s got to keep those positive results rolling after losing some key contributors that were major forces in that 2-year stretch.

15. Washington

Washington makes the move to the B1G with a new head coach in Danny Sprinkle. He has shined at Montana State and Utah State and is bringing 8 transfers into the Huskies. It will take some time to see how they gel.

14. USC

Similar to Washington, USC is moving to the B1G with a new head coach in Eric Musselman and 11 players added via the transfer portal. I wouldn’t be shocked to see the Trojans move up, but there are too many question marks to have them higher right now.

13. Nebraska

Nebraska delivered a long-awaited NCAA Tournament appearance but a March Madness win will have to wait. The Huskers do return some key veterans, and adding Connor Essegian via the portal from Wisconsin is a nice way to account for the loss of Keisei Tominaga.

12. Iowa

Iowa lost 3 big seniors from last seasons squad, but the Hawkeyes are mainly looking for development from the players already within the program. The Hawkeyes added just 2 transfers and neither were highly rated. That’s a gamble in this era, especially considering Iowa missed the NCAA Tournament last season.

11. Maryland

Kevin Willard’s fantastic debut season came crashing back to earth last season. Maryland had a number of veteran pieces but they ultimately didn’t gel efficiently. Can 5 transfer pieces help support Julian Reese in a turnaround?

10. Ohio State

Jake Diebler was a fun story as the interim for Ohio State. Now, he’ll have to show he can handle the full rigors of a B1G program with high expectations. Bruce Thornton returns, but Diebler brought in 5 transfers to remake the roster, including a pair of former 5-star prospects in Sean Stewart (Duke) and 7-footer Aaron Bradshaw (Kentucky).

9. Michigan

As far as first-year coaches go, Dusty May has appeared to make a number of solid moves upon arriving in Ann Arbor. He used the transfer portal to pull in mid-major and power conference veterans alike, including star big man Vladislav Goldin from May’s FAU program. Ex-Auburn PG Tre Donaldson and former Yale big man Danny Wolf are other key pieces that could keep the Wolverines afloat in some crucial B1G games.

8. Wisconsin

Wisconsin was hit especially hard by the transfer portal, losing key contributors Chucky Hepburn, AJ Storr and Connor Essegian to new destinations to go with a handful of other departures. The frontcourt should still be formidable with Steven Crowl leading the way and Max Klesmit will provide stability for the backcourt. If Greg Gard’s evaluation of 3 incoming transfers is correct, the Badgers might be better than expected.

7. Rutgers

Rutgers will be going with a partial youth movement this season, including the No. 2 overall player from the 2024 recruiting class in Ace Bailey. A versatile 6-foot-10 forward, Bailey could take the B1G by storm this season.

6. UCLA

Mick Cronin is coming off his worst season at UCLA and did not add a single 5-star recruit from the high school ranks. He’s banking a lot on a group of transfer pieces this season, but I still think Cronin can get the Bruins to compete at a high level.

5. Oregon

Oregon probably has the most current stability among the Pac-12 teams making the jump to the B1G. Jackson Shelstad can be a star if he makes a Year 2 jump, but the Ducks should be a hard out all season long.

4. Michigan State

Can Tom Izzo figure out the new era of college basketball? If Frankie Fidler delivers, I still find it hard to pick against Tom Izzo in a very winnable B1G this year.

3. Indiana

Indiana returns some key pieces from a season ago and also hit the transfer portal for a group that ranked 2nd in transfer classes per 247 Sports. After a disappointing step back last year, Mike Woodson has the pieces to deliver a breakthrough. If he doesn’t, it will be an uncomfortable offseason.

2. Illinois

I understand Illinois lost a ton of production from last season. However, I am high on Brad Underwood and his ability to adjust to this era of college basketball. He reloaded his team with a nice combination of elite high school players, international recruits and transfer portal pieces for the road ahead.

1. Purdue

It’s pretty simple for me. Until someone keeps Purdue off the top line, I’m going to say this is Matt Painter’s league to run. I know Zach Edey isn’t roaming the paint anymore, but the rest of the league has questions they must address as well. Boiler up.