Big Ten Power Rankings: Preseason edition
- Alex Bozich
- 6h ago
The 2025-26 college basketball season begins today and Big Ten play starts in early December with a pair of conference games for each program.
With no shortage of player movement due to the transfer portal, the sport has undergone significant changes in recent seasons.
Here’s our preseason forecast of the Big Ten standings for the 2025-26 season:
18. Rutgers
The Scarlet Knights finished a disappointing 15-17 last season despite having a pair of lottery picks on the roster in Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper.
The outlook for this winter in Piscataway is a bottom-of-the-league finish. Steve Pikiell will be relying on role players like Dylan Grant and Jamichael Davis to fill significant roles. The results are unlikely to be pretty.
17. Penn State
The Nittany Lions are the lowest-ranked Big Ten team in KenPom and Bart Torvik to begin the season. Penn State was a disappointment last season, finishing 16-15 and missing the Big Ten tournament despite having one of the most experienced rosters in the league.
Penn State will struggle to stay out of the league cellar, but will have one of the best young guards in the league in Kayden Mingo.
16. Minnesota
Minnesota fired Ben Johnson last spring and hired a proven winner in Niko Medved, who is also an alum.
Medved did a solid job building a roster for his first Gopher team, which will be led by Colorado State transfer Jaylen Crocker-Johnson, Davidson transfer Bobby Durkin and returnee Isaac Asuma. Cade Tyson, who struggled last season at North Carolina, is a bounce-back candidate on the wing.
15. Nebraska
The Cornhuskers missed the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments last season, but made the most of their postseason by winning the inaugural “Crown” event.
Center Rienk Mast will be one of the best frontcourt players in the league and Pinnacle Bank Arena will make Nebraska a tough out at home.
14. Northwestern
Chris Collins doesn’t play an aesthetically pleasing style, but he generally maximizes the talent on his roster. The Wildcats lost their best all-around player in Brooks Barnhizer and guards Jalen Leach and Ty Berry.
Northwestern will be led by the Big Ten’s leading returning scorer, Nick Martinelli, and will need Indianapolis native K.J. Windham to take a step forward in the backcourt.
13. Ohio State
The Buckeyes have the talent to be picked much higher than this. In fact, this is as low as anyone will pick Ohio State in the preseason.
The reality is that Jake Diebler is unproven as a head coach and the Buckeyes finished a disappointing 17-15 last season with a comparable roster.
12. Maryland
After stops at Marquette, Virginia Tech and Texas A&M, Buzz Williams arrives in College Park with a brand new roster.
The Terps have been banged up in the preseason, but the pieces are in place to make the NCAA tournament. Pharrel Payne can be physically dominant in the post and guards Myles Rice, Isaiah Watts and Darius Adams should comprise a formidable backcourt rotation.
11. USC
Eric Musselman struggled in his first Big Ten season. The Trojans finished 17-18 and squeaked into the conference tournament.
Progress is likely this season in Los Angeles as Musselman added Maryland guard Rodney Rice and Auburn wing Chad Baker-Mazara from the transfer portal.
10. Indiana
Mike Woodson departed last spring after four up-and-down seasons, and the Hoosiers hired Darian DeVries from West Virginia.
After a total roster rebuild last spring, IU won three exhibition games in Puerto Rico and played well in its final exhibition tune-up against Baylor in Indianapolis. Led by Tucker DeVries and Lamar Wilkerson, the offense shouldn’t be a problem. But will the Hoosiers have enough defense and rebounding to win consistently in the Big Ten?
9. Iowa
The Hawkeyes landed on Ben McCollum last spring after the dismissal of long-time coach Fran McCaffery.
McCollum won big at the Division II level and last season, he led Drake to the NCAA tournament. The Hawkeyes will have one of the best guards in the country in Bennett Stirtz, who followed McCollum from Drake.
8. Washington
Last season was a disaster for Danny Sprinkle in Seattle. The Huskies finished 13-18, but Sprinkle completed one of the best transfer portal hauls in the league in the offseason.
Led by former USC guards Wesley Yates and Desmond Claude, along with freshman Hannes Steinbach, Washington has the pieces to finish in the top half of the conference.
7. Illinois
Illinois is No. 6 in the preseason in KenPom and No. 8 in Bart Torvik. Most of the preseason projections have the Fighting Illini near the top of the league standings.
The talent is there for Illinois to finish higher than seventh – and it could easily happen – but replacing Kasparas Jakucionis won’t be easy and there are a lot of new pieces to integrate at key positions. The 3-point shooting – 31.3 percent last season – will have to improve for Illinois to reach its potential.
6. Michigan State
Pick against Michigan State at your own peril. Tom Izzo’s best days might be behind him, but he just won the Big Ten last winter and his teams always defend at an elite level.
There’s a solid nucleus here to work with – Jeremy Fears Jr., Coen Carr and Jaxon Kohler – and Izzo usually pushes the right buttons to get his team peaking by March.
5. Oregon
The Ducks finished 25-10 last season and earned a No. 5 seed in the NCAA tournament. The two most important players from that team are back in Eugene: Nate Bittle and Jackson Shelstad.
Oregon needs more from junior Kwame Evans Jr., a former McDonald’s All-American who is now a starter. Shelstad is currently out with a hand injury, so his status is something to monitor in the coming weeks.
4. Wisconsin
The Badgers have adapted their style of play in recent seasons under Greg Gard and are now one of the more fun programs to watch in the conference.
Gard returns a formidable one-two punch in wing John Blackwell and big man Nolan Winter, a candidate for a breakout in his junior season.
3. UCLA
Mick Cronin addressed his biggest issue last season – guard play – by landing one of the nation’s best in Donovan Dent (New Mexico) from the transfer portal.
The Bruins are likely a tier below conference favorites Michigan and Purdue, but the experience and depth will have UCLA in the league title race.
2. Michigan
Dusty May aced his first season in Ann Arbor and reloaded in the transfer portal with Yaxel Lendeborg, Morez Johnson Jr., Aday Mara and Elliott Cadeau.
The program most likely to challenge Purdue at the top of the league standings is Michigan.
1. Purdue
The Boilermakers were a bit of a disappointment last season, but still won 24 games and reached the Sweet Sixteen.
Expectations are higher this season with the Final Four in Indianapolis. With Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer and Trey Kaufman-Renn all back and the addition of Oscar Cluff, anything less than a trip to Lucas Oil Stadium next spring will be viewed as a disappointment.
See More: Commentary, Big Ten Power Rankings