Purdue is back for more, looking to keep its reign of terror in Big Ten basketball alive for the 2024-25 season.

Led by Zach Edey’s dominance, the Boilermakers captured the outright B1G title in 2023 and 2024. Now entering the first season with 18 teams (and without Edey on the roster), Matt Painter’s program is still the preseason favorite in the conference.

On Wednesday, the full preseason B1G media poll was released. This year, it was a joint effort conducted by The Columbus Dispatch and The Indianapolis Star, and the Boilermakers garnered 20 of the 33 first-place votes.

Purdue’s archrival, Indiana, finished 2nd on the poll with 7 first-place votes. UCLA and Illinois each received 2 first-place votes while Michigan State and Ohio State both received a singular vote.

Purdue’s pursuit of a 3-peat puts the Boilermakers in prestigious company. Michigan State is the most recent program to earn at least a share of the title in 3 straight seasons (2018-20), and the Boilermakers are chasing their own 3-peat from 1994-96 as the last team to win 3 straight outright league titles.

Here are the full order of finish results:

  1. Purdue, 572 (20)
  2. Indiana, 549 (7)
  3. UCLA, 510 (2)
  4. Illinois, 458 (2)
  5. Michigan State, 448 (1)
  6. Oregon, 412
  7. Rutgers, 391
  8. Ohio State, 369 (1)
  9. Michigan, 342
  10. Maryland, 263
  11. Iowa, 249
  12. T-12 Wisconsin, Nebraska, 212
  13. USC, 196
  14. Washington, 158
  15. Northwestern, 153
  16. Penn State, 87
  17. Minnesota, 62

As for preseason Player of the Year, Purdue also takes the top honors with star point guard Braden Smith receiving 27 first-place votes. Only 2 other players received multiple votes the poll.

The Freshman of the Year race is intriguing and headlined by a pair of Rutgers prospects. Dylan Harper (19.5) and Ace Bailey (12.5) dominated the vote while international star and Illinois freshman Kasparas Jakucionis received the other vote.

Fans can see the full polls, including the preseason All-B1G rosters, via The Columbus Dispatch.