By Aidan Joly
When the national championship crown is hoisted in 2025, it will have been a quarter of a century since the Big Ten won a national title, when Michigan State won it all in 2000.
It’s one of those streaks that’s hard to believe. Especially so when the league has had 144 NCAA tournament bids since then, more than any other league in the country.
The record for most tournament bids by one conference in one year is 11 by the Big East in 2o11. National title or not, the league will have a chance at breaking that record this year. Let’s get into each of the 18 teams.
Purdue Boilermakers
2023-24: 34-5 (17-3 Big Ten), lost in national title game
Purdue nearly ended the Big Ten national title drought, but ended up getting blown out by UConn in the national championship game in the program’s second-ever appearance in the national title game.
Two-time national player of the year and the best player in college basketball last year Zach Edey is gone. As is important role player Lance Jones.
Thankfully for the Boilermakers, there will be plenty of returners. Braden Smith, who had 12.0 points and 5.8 rebounds per game as a sophomore, will be expected to make the jump to be the go-to guy. Fletcher Loyer, who had 10.3 PPG as a freshman, will be the number two. Solid role player Trey Kaufman-Renn (6.4 PPG) will also be back.
Role players Myles Colvin, Cameron Heide and Will Berg could also have larger roles.
Coach Matt Painter did not go into the portal at all, but picked up top-100 freshman Gicarri Harris, along with a pair of four-star prospects Raleigh Burgess and Daniel Jacobson. All should see playing time at some point.
Purdue won’t be as good as years past, but still should be a contender in the top half of the league.
Illinois Fighting Illini
2023-24: 29-9 (14-6 Big Ten), lost in Elite Eight
Pretty much every piece from the Big Ten tournament-winning and Elite Eight team, including Terrence Shannon, Marcus Domask, Coleman Hawkins, Quincy Gurrier and Dain Dainja, is gone.
Only two players, role player Ty Rodgers (6.2 PPG) and benchwarmer Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn, are back.
Coach Brad Underwood had to bring in five players from the transfer portal, including Ben Humrichous, who had 14.7 PPG at Evansville, and Tre White, who had 12.3 PPG at Louisville. It also brought in Arizona transfer Kylan Boswell (9.6 PPG), Mercer transfer Jake Davis (9.0 PPG) and Notre Dame transfer Carey Booth (6.4 PPG).
This is a team that will also feature five freshman. Two of them are top-30 ranked in forward Will Riley center Morez Johnson. Four-star prospect Jason Jaksyts, is also here. One interesting freshman is Lithuanian wing Kasparas Jakucionis, who played for FC Barcelona in Spain, averaging 19.2 points and 6.6 rebounds per game for the club’s second team. He will be an interesting player to look at, not one who was on the radar of a ton of programs.
Nebraska Cornhuskers
2023-24: 23-11 (12-8 Big Ten), lost in NCAA first round
Nebraska was one of the biggest surprises in college basketball last season, winning 20 games for the first time since the 2017-18 season and reaching the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2014. It likely saved Fred Hoiberg’s job in the process.
Leading scorer Keisei Tominaga is gone, but the other three leading scorers in Brice Williams, Rienk Mast and Juwan Gary are all back for the Cornhuskers. However, those are the only notable returners.
In the portal, Nebraska got Andrew Morgan, who had 12.9 points per game at North Dakota State, Rollie Webster, who had 9.9 PPG at Utah, and Ahron Ulis, who had 6.1 PPG at Iowa in 2022-23 and did not play last year. Other portal additions have high-major experience, including Gavin Griffiths (Rutgers), Braxton Meah (Washington), Berk Buyuktencel (UCLA) and Connor Essegian (Wisconsin).
The only notable prospect is four-star combo guard Nick Janokski.
Plenty of talent is there for the Huskers. Expect them to be in the tournament conversation all year long. The program has not gone to back-to-back tournaments since four straight appearances from 1991-1994.
Northwestern Wildcats
2023-24: 22-12 (12-8 Big Ten), lost in NCAA second round
Northwestern won an NCAA tournament game for the second straight season to cap off another good year in Evanston.
The Wildcats will bring eight players back from that squad, including double digit scorers Brooks Barnhizer, who had 14.6 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, along with Ty Berry, who had 11.6 points per game. Nick Martinelli and his 8.8 points per game are back, along with important role player Matthew Nicholson.
Two transfers come in. Jalen Leach had 16.2 points per game at Fairfield and seven-footer Keenan Fitzmorris had 10.9 PPG at Stony Brook.
Three-star prospect KJ Windham is the only notable freshman and will surely be a project.
Northwestern has slowly built itself into one of the better programs in the league in recent years. It will look to earn a third straight trip to the NCAA tournament.
Oregon Ducks
2023-24: 24-12 (12-8 Pac-12), lost in Sweet 16
One of the four new additions from the Pac-12 is the final champion from the Pac-12. Oregon ended up reaching the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2021 and won a pair of games.
The Ducks will return six players from that team, five of whom averaged at least 7.3 points per game. Leading scorers N’Faly Dante and Jermaine Couisnard are gone. The responsibility for filling those roles will likely go to Nate Bittle, who had 10.0 PPG, and Jackson Shelstad, who had 12.6 PPG, respectively.
Other players back include Keeshawn Barthelemy (7.9 PPG), Jadrian Tracey (7.6 PPG) and Kwame Evans Jr. (7.3 PPG).
Coach Dana Altman also brought in five players who averaged double digits at their previous stops. That includes Ra’Heim Moss, who had 15.5 PPG at Toledo, Brandon Angel, who had 13.0 PPG at Stanford, Supreme Cook, who had 10.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game at Georgetown, and TJ Bamba, who had 10.1 PPG at Villanova. The fifth is Jayson Williams-Johnson, who did average 14.2 PPG at Division III Muhlenberg, but it was a team that went 8-18.
Top-50 prospect Jamari Phillips is the freshman add here.
Wisconsin Badgers
2023-24: 22-14 (11-9 Big Ten), lost in NCAA first round
Wisconsin had a very solid season and earned a No. 5 seed in the tournament, but the March run ended prematurely with an upset loss in the first round.
This year’s Badgers will return eight players, many of them key contributors to last year’s team. The likes of AJ Storr, Tyler Wahl and Chucky Hebpburn are gone, but a solid trio of Steven Crowl (11.2 PPG, 7.3 RPG), Max Klesmit (9.9 PPG) and John Blackwell (8.0 PPG) are all back. The three will be expected to be the main guys for the Badgers.
From the portal, Camren Hunter missed all of last year, but averaged 16.9 PPG at Central Arkansas in 2022-23. Northern Illinois transfer Xavier Amos had 13.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game last season. John Tonje played sparingly at Missouri.
A pair of four-star prospects, Daniel Freitag – the highest-ranked PG prospect in program history – and wing Jack Robison arrive in Madison.
Wisconsin will be another one of those teams right on the bubble all season. We will see how this group plays out.
UCLA Bruins
2023-24: 16-17 (10-10 Pac-12), no postseason
It was a very disappointing season in Westwood in 2023-24, missing the postseason for the first time since Mick Cronin took over the program in 2019.
This season should be different. The Bruins return three double digit scorers, including leading scorer Dylan Andrews, who averaged 12.9 points per game. Sebastian Mack (12.1 PPG) also returns, as does big man Lazar Stefavonic, who averaged 11.5 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.
UCLA also brings in six transfers, all of whom averaged more than 9.3 PPG at their last stops. Tyler Bilodeau averaged 14.3 points and 5.7 rebounds at Oregon State, Dominick Harris had 14.3 points per game at Loyola Marymount, Skyy Clark had 13.2 PPG at Louisville, William Kyle III had 13.1 points and 6.6 rebounds per game at South Dakota State, Kobe Johnson had 10.9 PPG at crosstown rival USC and Eric Dailey Jr. had 9.3 PPG at Oklahoma State.
Cronin also brings in top-30 guard Trent Perry and top-100 prospect Eric Freeny.
This is a team that definitely should be in the top half of the league and will have a shot at playing in the second weekend.
Indiana Hoosiers
2023-24: 19-14 (10-10 Big Ten), no postseason
It was a disappointing season for the Hoosiers, missing the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2021, the final season of Archie Miller’s tenure.
Much was made about Mike Woodson’s job status, especially so with Indiana alum Dusty May available on the market, but Woodson stays in Bloomington for at least one more year.
For this year’s Hoosiers, they bring back Malik Reneau, who had 15.4 points and 6.0 rebounds per game, Mackenzie Mgbako, who had 12.2 PPG, and Trey Galloway, who had 10.6 PPG.
Indiana also picked up plenty of talent in the portal. The best of the group is Oumar Ballo, who averaged 14.2 points and 10.1 rebounds per game at Arizona as one of the best big men in the nation. Another solid addition is Myles Rice, who averaged 14.8 PPG at Washington State. Guard Kanaan Carlyle had 11.5 PPG at Stanford, and Luke Goode had 5.7 PPG at Illinois. Finally, Langdon Hatton averaged 10.5 points and 7.1 rebounds per gam at Bellarmine.
The only big freshman is top-20 prospect Bryson Tucker.
This should be a great rebounding team. If they can do that, Indiana will have a great chance to make noise in the postseason. It should be much-improved.
Iowa Hawkeyes
2023-24: 19-15 (10-10 Big Ten), lost in NIT second round
Iowa missed the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2018 and settled for the NIT.
The level of continuity here is interesting. The Hawkeyes breathed a sigh of relief earlier in the off-season when leading scorer Payton Sandfort, who averaged 16.4 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, said he would be back after going down to the wire with the NBA. Owen Freeman, who averaged 10.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, is also back, as is Josh Dix, who had 8.9 PPG as a sophomore. Other returners like Brock Harding, Pryce Sandfort and Ladji Dembele may be expected to take on larger depth roles.
Coach Fran McCaffery brought in a pair of transfers. Seydou Traore averaged 11.8 points and 8.2 rebounds per game at Manhattan, and Drew Thelwell had 10.0 PPG at Morehead State.
Forward Cooper Koch is a top-70 prospect, and we will see how much he plays.
Overall, there is some semblance of talent here, but it may be tough for Iowa to get to a point to call itself a tournament lock.
Michigan State Spartans
2023-24: 20-15 (10-10 Big Ten), lost in NCAA second round
The Spartans did just enough late in the season to reach the NCAA tournament and advanced to the second round.
Michigan State does not return a ton of key pieces. Jaden Akins, however, is back after he averaged 10.4 PPG in 2023-24. Tre Holloman, one of the better role guys in the league, is also back. That is it though, meaning guys like Xavier Booker, Jeremy Fears Jr., Carson Cooper and Coen Carr may be expected to take on a larger role.
Coach Tom Izzo brought in three top-100 prospects, the best of which is six-foot-three guard Jase Richardson, ranked No. 24 in the ESPN top 100. Kur Teng is ranked No. 52.
Not much for transfers, but MSU does bring in Frankie Fidler, who averaged 20.1 points and 6.3 rebounds per game for Omaha. Szymon Zapala had 9.8 PPG for Longwood.
There will be better teams in the league, but it is still wise to trust that Izzo will be able to bring it together and have a good season. Michigan State has not missed the NCAA tournament since 1997, 26 years straight being the longest in the nation.
Washington Huskies
2023-24: 17-15 (9-11 Pac-12), no postseason
Another disappointing season in Seattle, missing the NCAA tournament for the fourth straight season, resulted in the firing of coach Mike Hopkins after seven seasons.
The new head coach is former Utah State coach Danny Sprinkle, who only spent one season in Logan after four seasons as coach at Montana State.
The new additions are the name of the game here. Sprinkle was able to get Great Osobor, who averaged 17.7 points and 9.0 rebounds for Utah State last season, to follow him to Washington.
Sprinkle also got a number of players with mid-major success to come to Washington, including North Dakota transfer Tyree Ihenacho (14.5 PPG), Rice transfer Mekhi Mason (14.0 PPG), Portland’s Tyler Harris (12.1 PPG), Oakland’s Chris Conway (10.0 PPG) and Rhode Island’s Luis Kortright (10.0 PPG). They also brought in DJ Davis, who had a breakout season at Butler, averaging 13.5 PPG.
The Huskies return two players, the most notable is Franck Kepnang, who had 8.3 PPG and 5.9 RPG.
Washington brings in top-50 guard Zoom Diallo, along with four-star guard Jase Butler.
Sprinkle is a great coach who should have the Huskies off and running from the jump. We will see how it does against the deep league.
Ohio State Buckeyes
2023-24: 22-15 (9-11 Big Ten), lost in NIT quarterfinals
The Buckeyes, although they did not make the tournament, were one of the bigger surprises in the sport the last few weeks of the season.
Coach Chris Holtmann was fired with the team sitting at 14-11 and 4-10 in league play. Jake Diebler was named the interim and the Buckeyes won five of six to close the regular season, won a Big Ten tournament game and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NIT. All in all, Ohio State won eight of its last 11 games. That was good enough to get the interim tag taken off and he was named the permanent coach between the Big Ten tournament and the NIT.
For this year’s Buckeyes, although the likes of Jamison Battle, Roddy Gayle, Zed Key and Felix Okpara are gone, the team’s leading scorer Bruce Thornton (15.7 PPG) is back in Columbus. As for other returners, Devin Royal and Evan Mahaffey are candidates to take steps up.
A familiar face comes back to Columbus in the transfer portal in South Carolina’s Meechie Johnson, who returns to the program after averaging 14.1 PPG in a breakout season with the Gamecocks. He played two seasons for OSU from 2020-2022.
Micah Parrish, who had 9.3 PPG at San Diego State, Aaron Bradshaw, who had 4.9 PPG at Kentucky and former top prospect Sean Stewart, who averaged 2.6 PPG at Duke, also arrive. Ques Glover also is a new add, he missed all of last year but had 14.7 PPG at Samford in 2022-23.
Top-50 prospect John Mobley and four-star Colin White are the notable freshmen.
The momentum from the end of last year is there. We will see if the team can keep that momentum going this season.
Minnesota Golden Gophers
2023-24: 19-15 (9-11 Big Ten), lost in NIT second round
Albeit the NIT, Minnesota was back in the postseason for the first time since 2019 last spring.
Ben Johnson suffered a big loss in Cam Christie, who decided to go to the NBA after a brilliant freshman season. However, the Golden Gophers do return leading scorer Dawson Garcia, who averaged 17.6 points and 6.7 rebounds per game, as well as double-digit scorer Mike Mitchell Jr. Role player Parker Fox is also back.
Johnson did some good work in the portal. He picked up Lu’Cye Patterson, who had 14.6 PPG at Charlotte, Tyler Cochran, who had 14.4 PPG at Toledo, Frank Mitchell, who was fourth in the nation with 11.6 rebounds per game at Canisius while averaging 12.1 points per game, and Femi Odukale, who had 10.7 PPG at New Mexico State. Brennan Rigsby (Oregon) was a role player for the Ducks.
The only notable freshman is four-star guard Isaac Asuma.
An interesting mix of talent is here. It will look to take a step up from last season.
Penn State Nittany Lions
2023-24: 16-17 (9-11 Big Ten), no postseason
It wasn’t a great go of things for Penn State in Mike Rhoades’ first season at the helm and it ended in the league tournament.
The Nittany Lions saw a lot of pieces leave from last year. However, they have a great piece returning in Ace Baldwin, who averaged 14.2 points per game and averaged six assists per game as well, making himself one of the best ball-handling guards in the league. It will also return a bunch of solid depth and role options in Nick Kern Jr., Zach Hicks and Puff Johnson. D’Marco Dunn is also back. All of these players will need to take steps up.
The transfer class isn’t great. Eli Rice (Nebraska), Kachi Nzeh (Xavier) and Freddie Dillione V (Tennessee) all have high-major experience, but were all depth pieces off the bench at best. Yanic Konan Niederhauser was solid at Northern Illinois, averaging 7.3 PPG.
Four-star freshman Miles Goodman is the only notable freshman here as part of a four-player freshman class.
Ace Baldwin will have to be a dude, the other returners will have to step up, and a couple of the new guys need to emerge. If that doesn’t happen, it may be tough for Penn State to win consistently.
USC Trojans
2023-24: 15-18 (8-12 Pac-12), no postseason
It was a much-hyped USC team in 2023-24 with star Boogie Ellis, the top freshman prospect in Isaiah Collier and Bronny James, the son of LeBron, but it was a major disappointment.
Coach Andy Enfield, amid rumors about his job status, left for the parachute of SMU.
In his place is former Arkansas coach Eric Musselman, who took a parachute to Los Angeles of his own after a disappointing season in Fayetteville.
Musselman basically had to rebuild the entire roster, with only one returning player.
Nine of the 11 transfers brought in averaged in double figures at the previous stops. The majority of them were at mid-majors, including Saint Thomas, who had 19.7 PPG and 9.8 RPG at Northern Colorado, Bryce Pope, who had 18.3 PPG at UC San Diego, and Clark Slajchert, who had 18.0 PPG at Pennsylvania.
However, some of the main contributors have experience at high-majors, including Desmond Claude, who had 16.6 PPG at Xavier, Chibuzo Agbo, who had 13.7 points and 5.1 rebounds per game at Boise State, and Terrance Williams II, who had 12.4 PPG at Michigan.
Josh Cohen (UMass), Rashaun Agee (Bowling Green) and Matt Knowling (Yale) all had double digits at their previous stops. Kevin Patton Jr. came close, with 9.8 PPG at San Diego.
Two top-60 prospects come in, forwards Jalen Shelley and Isaiah Elohim.
This will be a good team. NCAA tournament will be a realistic goal in the first year of the Musselman era in LA.
Maryland Terrapins
2023-24: 16-17 (7-13 Big Ten), no postseason
It was a disappointing season in College Park in year two of the Kevin Willard era, missing the tournament for the second time in three seasons.
A few interesting pieces are back. Julian Reese, who had 13.7 points and 9.7 rebounds per game, is back for the Terrapins. Some solid role players in DeShawn Harris-Smith (7.3 PPG), Jordan Geronimo (5.4 PPG) and Jahari Long (4.7 PPG) are all back as well and will look to take steps up.
Willard brings in a great portal add in Ja’Kobi Gillespie, who had 17.1 PPG at Belmont. Selton Miguel had 14.7 PPG at South Florida and comes to College Park. Tafara Garape (Georgia Tech) and Jayhlon Young (Memphis) both come from good teams. Rodney Rice (Virginia Tech) and Chance Stephens (Loyola Marymount) both missed all of last season.
Willard brings in a five-star prospect Derik Queen, who stands at six-foot-ten, and he should have an immediate role. He is just the third five-star prospect in program history and the first since Diamond Stone in 2015 (remember him?). Four-star prospect Malachi Palmer also arrives.
Rutgers Scarlet Knights
2023-24: 15-17 (7-13 Big Ten), no postseason
It was a disappointing season for Rutgers in 2023-24, but the fortunes should change based on a historic recruiting class.
Rutgers brings in not one, but two of the top five players in this year’s recruiting class in Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper. The program had never had a five-star recruit until this cycle, now they have two. It’s historic for the program. Both will have a large, immediate role.
Those two will surely be paired with returner Jeremiah Williams, who had 12.2 points per game last season. Role player Jamichael Davis is also back.
Coach Steve Pikiell also brought in a number of studs from the portal, including Eastern Michigan transfer Tyson Acuff (21.7 PPG), Merrimack transfer Jordan Derkack (17.0 PPG, 6.0 RPG) and San Diego transfer PJ Hayes (10.5 PPG).
Going back to freshmen, Rutgers also brings in a couple four-stars in forward Dylan Grant and center Lathan Sommerville.
It’s simple. Rutgers is going to have one of the most hyped-up teams in not just the Big Ten, but in the country. Will it deliver?
Michigan Wolverines
2023-24: 8-24 (3-17 Big Ten), no postseason
Last season’s edition of Michigan was nothing short of a disaster. Lots of losing on the court and lots of drama off of it.
Coach Juwan Howard was fired after five seasons at the helm. In his place is former Florida Atlantic coach Dusty May, cashing in on making FAU one of the best small programs in the country, making the Final Four in 2023.
May kept a couple important role players in Nimari Burnett (9.6 PPG) and Will Tschetter (6.8 PPG).
Outside of those two and benchwarmers, it’s an entirely new team. May got Vladislav Goldin, a key piece in those FAU teams, to come to Ann Arbor. He had 15.7 points and 6.9 rebounds per game last year. Also coming to Ann Arbor is Danny Wolf, who had 14.1 points and 9.7 rebounds per game on a Yale team that reached the second round of the NCAA tournament. The aforementioned Roddy Gayle comes to the other side of the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry after averaging 13.5 PPG for the Buckeyes last year. Rubin Jones had 12.1 PPG at North Florida.
Two more players in Tre Donaldson (Auburn) and Sam Walters (Alabama) both have great SEC experience.
Michigan also brings in top-75 prospect Justin Pippen as well as four-star guard Durral Brooks.
This should be a tournament team in May’s first season in Michigan.
AJ Hoops 