Illinois Favored to Win Big Ten as Michigan Defends Title

The defending national champion Michigan Wolverines face a conference gauntlet designed to test their depth before March even arrives. With head coach Dusty May departing for the NBA and Mike Boynton arriving from Oklahoma State to lead the program, Michigan was voted third in the SB Nation preseason Big Ten media poll, trailing Illinois and Michigan State.

Boynton inherits a backcourt anchored by Elliot Cadeau, Trey McKenney, and Roddy Gayle Jr., providing immediate continuity for a roster otherwise reshaped by coaching turnover. The 19-1 conference record that powered last season’s national title run sets an exceptionally high baseline, but historical precedent shows that championship programs navigating first-year head coaches rarely replicate those regular-season margins immediately.

Illinois secured the top spot with eight first-place votes following its first Final Four appearance in 21 years. Brad Underwood returns starters Andrej Stojakovic and David Mirkovic while integrating Providence transfer Stefan Vaaks, who averaged 15.8 points per game last season, alongside five-star freshman Quentin Coleman, ranked No. 18 nationally in the 247Sports composite. The Illini finished tied for second in the league at 15-5 last year, winning their first four NCAA Tournament games by double digits before falling to UConn in the national semifinals.

Michigan State claimed the second position and the only other first-place votes in the poll. Senior point guard Jeremy Fears anchors the Spartans after earning First Team All-Big Ten honors during a junior campaign where he averaged 15.2 points and 9.4 assists. Writers selected Fears as the Preseason Big Ten Player of the Year with six of 11 votes, making him the only unanimous First Team selection.

The expanded 18-team Big Ten format, established when USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington joined the conference, continues to compress the middle of the standings. UCLA edged Purdue for fourth place by four points (154 to 150), while USC, Ohio State, Nebraska, and Iowa all received scattered top-four votes. Penn State was projected last for the second consecutive season after compiling a 9-31 conference record over the past two years.

Ohio State sits eighth, mirroring last year’s projection. Head coach Jake Diebler must replace Bruce Thornton, who left for the NBA. The Buckeyes will rely on returners John Mobley Jr. and Amare Bynum paired with McDonald’s All-American Anthony Thompson, the No. 9 recruit in the 2026 class. Thompson was voted Preseason Big Ten Freshman of the Year, receiving six votes compared to three for UCLA late-addition Nikola Kusturica.

Transfer portal acquisitions heavily influenced the lower half of the projections. Indiana’s Markus Burton, formerly of Notre Dame, and UCLA’s Jaylen Petty, previously at Texas Tech, tied for Preseason Big Ten Transfer of the Year with three votes each. Maryland’s Pharrel Payne, limited to 10 games last season by a knee injury after averaging 17.5 points and 7.2 rebounds, earned Second Team All-Big Ten recognition.

USC, Maryland, and Indiana tied as the most frequently cited sleeper teams capable of exceeding expectations after all three missed the NCAA Tournament last season. Indiana was picked 10th overall but received a fifth-place vote, while Maryland, despite a 4-16 league finish last year, appeared as high as sixth on one ballot.

The preseason poll reflects ballots submitted between Sept. 29 and Oct. 13 by writers representing nine SB Nation college sites, one 247Sports outlet, and one FanSided team site. The complete First Team All-Big Ten features Fears, Cadeau, Stojakovic, Mirkovic, and Nebraska’s Pryce Sandfort. The Second Team includes McKenney, Mobley, USC’s Rodney Rice, Payne, and Illinois center Tomislav Ivisic.