College basketball AP Top 25: Big Ten lands 4 teams in preseason poll
College basketball is almost back, ladies and gentlemen. The Associated Press Top 25 preseason rankings for the 2024-25 season dropped on Monday and 4 teams from the Big Ten made the cut.
Purdue, as expected, landed the top spot in the conference, coming in at No. 14. Indiana followed at No. 17, flanked by UCLA at No. 22 and Rutgers at No. 25.
Here’s a look at the full top 25:
- Kansas
- Alabama
- UConn
- Houston
- Iowa State
- Gonzaga
- Duke
- Baylor
- North Carolina
- Arizona
- Auburn
- Tennessee
- Texas A&M
- Purdue
- Creighton
- Arkansas
- Indiana
- Marquette
- Texas
- Cincinnati
- Florida
- UCLA
- Kentucky
- Ole Miss
- Rutgers
A few more B1G teams are just barely on the outside looking in. Illinois comes in at No. 26, Michigan State at 32, Ohio State at 33 and Michigan at 34. Maryland, Oregon and Wisconsin also received votes.
If you can’t tell already, the Big Ten is going to be wildly weird this season. Just about every team in the conference has a real shot of making the NCAA Tournament and there are really only 2 tiers of teams across the board. No team really stands out as a true dominant No. 1. For the most part, this initial top 25 seems fair given that fact.
The 2024-25 college basketball season will tip off on November 4, just 3 weeks away.