Welcome back to Big Ten basketball. Real Big Ten basketball. The kind played in front of frenzied crowds in sweaty, deafening arenas where you can’t hear the squeak of every single sneaker on the floor. And also at Penn State.

After two very strange seasons, you might need help getting up to speed with where things stand in the B1G. That’s what we’re here for.

These are the 10 biggest storylines of the upcoming Big Ten basketball season, as decided by us and disputed by you.

1. Will Michigan end the Big Ten’s NCAA title drought?

Unlike the SEC, the Big Ten treats basketball as football’s equal — and in many cases, as its superior. Yet no Big Ten program has cut down the nets to end a season since Michigan State in 1999. It’s a truly baffling drought given the resources Big Ten schools pour into the sport.

Led by all-America big man Hunter Dickinson, Michigan is the team best positioned to win the B1G’s first national title of the 21st century. Sports books have established Michigan and UCLA with the second-best odds to win it all behind Gonzaga.

2. How well can Illinois reload?

The Fighting Illini assembled their finest team since 2005 last year only to get stuck with the worst NCAA tournament draw for a No. 1 seed since undefeated Wichita State landed Kentucky in the second round of the 2014 tourney.

Illinois brings plenty of talent back, led by Big Ten player of the year candidate Kofi Cockburn in the middle. But Brad Underwood has to find a player capable of stepping up for all-everything wing Ayo Dosunmu, who made the trip back up I-57 to play in the NBA for the Chicago Bulls.

3. Will Mike Woodson finally revive Indiana?

Is Indiana a sleeping giant, or a slayed giant?

Surely it has to be the latter. There is simply too much prep basketball talent in the Hoosier State for the Hoosiers to muddle around for eternity.

Much of college basketball’s national media scoffed when Mike Woodson was hired following multiple failed attempts to lure Brad Stevens. But what the former New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks coach lacks in recruiting experience, he makes up for in basketball knowledge. He also shrewdly added former IU player Dane Fife as an assistant, poaching Fife from Michigan State. Former Ohio State coach Thad Matta was also added on in an off-court position.

At 63, Woodson is long in the tooth for someone asked to revive a program. But the return of the former Bob Knight player to Assembly Hall has been well-received thus far.

4. Will Purdue meet expectations?

The feeling in West Lafayette is that the Boilermakers could reach their first Final Four since 1980. The dynamic of center Trevion Williams and guard Jaden Ivey feels similar to the one Illinois rode to success with Dosunmu and Cockburn last season.

But no matter how good Purdue is in the regular season, there will be questions about this team in March after last year’s dud of a postseason. The Boilers were bounced by Ohio State in their first game of the Big Ten tournament before laying an egg against 13th-seeded North Texas in the first round of the Big Dance.

5. Does Greg Gard need to keep his guard up?

The ice under Wisconsin coach Greg Gard looks to be getting thin, and there are enough lakes in Madison for him to recognize the dangers of thin ice.

A leaked recording of a meeting between Gard and last year’s seniors revealed a high level of discontent within the program.

The good news for Gard, of course, is that those were last year’s seniors. He’ll be able to hit the reset button with this year’s team. But the situation in Madison will bear monitoring all season.

6. The mystery of Michigan State

It’s been exactly a decade since a Michigan State team entered a season in such an uncertain position.

2011 was a dud for the Spartans, who snuck into the NCAA field only to get bounced by UCLA in the first round.

It would take until 2021 for Tom Izzo to have another dud. The Spartans snuck into the NCAA field, only to get bounced by UCLA in the First Four.

In 2012, the solution to a bounce-back season was named Draymond Green. MSU was a 1-seed before losing to Louisville in the Sweet 16.

There doesn’t look to be a player of Green’s caliber on the current Michigan State roster, so it’s unclear what the ceiling is for this group of Spartans.

7. Who is the B1G’s best player?

Last year, there simply wasn’t any debate on this subject. Iowa center Luka Garza was the most dominant force in the Big Ten, averaging 24.1 points and 8.7 rebounds.

This season, there are just about a dozen players capable of vying for that title, as judged by the Big Ten naming 11 players on its preseason all-conference team.

Like Garza, most of this year’s best candidates do their best work inside — Illinois’ Cockburn, Purdue’s Williams, Michigan’s Dickinson, Indiana’s Trayce Jackson-Davis and Ohio State’s EJ Liddell. But there are also quality guards to watch for, like Purdue’s Ivey, Illinois’ Andre Curbello and Maryland’s Eric Ayala.

A newcomer may also find himself in the mix.

Michigan 5-star signee Caleb Houstan is the rare freshman to find himself named to the B1G preseason team — and could be the missing piece that makes the Wolverines national champs.

8. How does Iowa replace Luka Garza?

One does not simply replace the leading scorer in program history. Especially if that program is Iowa, where it took some 30 years for a player of Garza’s caliber to outdo the output of previous record-holder Roy Marble.

The hopes and expectations of Hawkeye fans will turn to wing Keegan Murray, who has been tabbed as an all-conference pick. But that’s a heavy expectation of growth for a player who spent last season as Iowa’s sixth man.

9. Does a top-heavy league have room for a dark horse?

Analytics site KenPom has 4 Big Ten teams projected in its preseason Top 10 — Michigan, Illinois, Purdue and Ohio State. Maryland doesn’t lag too far off the top shelf at No. 18.

So is anyone outside of those 5 teams capable of competing for the conference title?

Don’t bet on it. Though you should count an Izzo team out at your own risk.

And once we get to the Big Ten tournament, keep an eye on Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights aren’t deep enough for a regular-season title. But Geo Baker and Ron Harper Jr. make for an ideal March backcourt.

10. Will the Big Ten prove to be the nation’s best conference?

According to those same analytics, the Big Ten was the nation’s best league for the second straight season in 2020-21. And 2021-22 is poised to be the third straight year that’s the case — a streak we haven’t seen from the Big Ten since 2011-13.

Now the trick is making that depth matter in the postseason. Michigan was the only B1G team to even reach the Sweet 16 last season.