Here's where Illinois ranks in Big Ten men’s basketball preseason media poll

With the addition of four West Coast programs, the Big Ten mens basketball race is going to be even rougher and tougher this coming season.

When the dust settles from the 18-team free-for-all, Illinois is projected to finish fourth, according to predictions from conference media.

The Fighting Illini received two first-place votes.

Purdue received 20 first-place votes and is picked to finish atop the conference standings for the third consecutive season, ahead of Indiana, UCLA who left the Pac-12 for the Big Ten, along with Oregon, USC and Washington and Illinois.

Purdue guard Braden Smith, one of three returning starters from last seasons national runner-up team, was tabbed preseason player of the year and named All-Big Ten first team.

Joining Smith on the first team is Iowas Payton Sandfort, Indianas Oumar Ballo, Ohio States Bruce Thornton and Rutgers Dylan Harper.

Ballo, a two-time All-Pac-12 first-team selection at Arizona, and Harper, who is rated the No.

3 player in the 2024 class by the 247Sports composite rankings, were also voted transfer and freshman of the year, respectively.

Illinois' Kasparas Jakucionis, a freshman from Lithuania, received a vote for freshman of the year as well as some all-Big Ten votes.

Kylan Boswell of Illinois received votes for transfer of the year.

He previously played at Arizona.

The preseason poll includes voting from 33 media members throughout the conference at least one beat writer for each team and is conducted by The Columbus Dispatch and The Indianapolis Star since the Big Ten does not release an official one of its own.

Big Ten media poll (first-place votes in parentheses) 1.

Purdue (20), 572 points 2.

Indiana (7), 549 points 3.

UCLA (2), 510 points 4.

Illinois (2), 458 points 5.

Michigan State (1), 448 points 6.

Oregon, 412 points 7.

Rutgers, 391 points 8.

Ohio State (1), 369 points 9.

Michigan, 342 points 10.

Maryland, 263 points 11.

Iowa, 249 points T12.

Wisconsin, 212 points T12.

Nebraska, 212 points 14.

USC, 196 points 15.

Washington, 158 points 16.

Northwestern, 153 points 17.

Penn State, 87 points 18.

Minnesota, 62 points Braden Smith, Purdue (27) Oumar Ballo, Indiana (2) Ace Bailey, Rutgers (2) Kobe Johnson, UCLA (1) Payton Sandfort, Iowa (1) Dylan Harper, Rutgers (19.5) Ace Bailey, Rutgers (12.5) Kasparas Jakucionis, Illinois (1) Oumar Ballo, Indiana (17) Great Osobor, Washington (4) Myles Rice, Indiana (4) Vlad Goldin, Michigan (3) Kylan Boswell, Illinois (2) Tyler Bilodeau, UCLA (1) JaKobe Gillespie, Maryland (1) Saint Thomas, USC (1) Braden Smith, Purdue (64) Payton Sandfort, Iowa (48) Oumar Ballo, Indiana (47) Bruce Thornton, Ohio State (34) Dylan Harper, Rutgers (32) Jackson Shelstad, Oregon (30) Ace Baldwin Jr., Penn State (26) Great Osobor, Washington (26) Ace Bailey, Rutgers (25) Dawson Garcia, Minnesota (23) Also receiving votes: Brooks Barnhizer, Northwestern (19); Malik Reneau, Indiana (19); Mackenzie Mgbako, Indiana (13); Myles Rice, Indiana (13); Kasparas Jakucionis, Illinois (12); Vlad Goldin, Michigan (11); Desmond Claude, USC (7); Julian Reese, Maryland (7); Dylan Andrews, UCLA (6); Brice Williams, Nebraska (5); Jaden Akins, Michigan State (4); Kylan Boswell, Illinois (4); Xavier Booker, Michigan State (3); Kobe Johnson, UCLA (3); Tyler Bilodeau, UCLA (2); Frankie Fidler, Michigan State (2); Owen Freeman, Iowa (2); Ja'Kobe Gillespie, Maryland (2); Trey Kaufman-Renn, Indiana (2); Saint Thomas, USC (2); Meechie Johnson, Ohio State (1); Fletcher Loyer, Purdue (1); Sebastian Mack, UCLA (1).

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