Josh Helmer
May 26, 2024 8:45 pm CT
Like college football and the other fall sports before it, the 2024-25 men’s college basketball season will be a whole new world for the Big Ten conference.
With the additions of Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington into the league, Big Ten play only gets more rugged this season and beyond. Of course, the league has always presented great challenges for the Iowa Hawkeyes and everyone in the conference.
This past season, the Big Ten boasted No. 1 seed and national runner-up Purdue. In total, the Big Ten sent six teams to the Big Dance. Illinois, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Michigan State and Northwestern each earned invites as well.
Like Purdue, Illinois made a deep March run. The Illini collected wins over Morehead State, Duquesne and Iowa State to advance to the Elite Eight before falling to eventual repeat national champion UConn.
Of the new additions, only Oregon played its way into last season’s NCAA Tournament. The Ducks won the Pac-12 Tournament, earned a No. 11 seed in the NCAA Tournament and then topped No. 6 seed South Carolina in the round of 64 before falling in two overtimes against third-seeded Creighton.
In ESPN’s May bracketology update, the Big Ten leads the way in projected NCAA Tournament bids. Take a look at the full set of projected tourney bids for the Big Ten.
Purdue Boilermakers
Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK
Projected Seed: No. 3 seed
Projected Bracket: East (Newark)
Breakdown: Though two-time National Player of the Year Zach Edey moves on, Purdue should still be plenty good with guards Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer back. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi likes Purdue to capture the Big Ten Tournament title.
Indiana Hoosiers
Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports
Projected Seed: No. 4 seed
Projected Bracket: Midwest (Indianapolis)
Breakdown: Indiana cleaned up in the transfer portal, adding guard Myles Rice from Washington State, guard Kanaan Carlyle from Stanford, shooting guard Luke Goode from Illinois and center Oumar Ballo from Arizona. The Hoosiers should be in the mix for the Big Ten regular season and tournament titles if everything goes according to plan for head coach Mike Woodson.
UCLA Bruins
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Projected Seed: No. 5 seed
Projected Bracket: East (Newark)
Breakdown: Like Indiana, UCLA got busy in the transfer portal. The Bruins brought in guards Dominick Harris and Skyy Clark from Loyola Marymount and Louisville, respectively. UCLA also added USC small forward Kobe Johnson and forwards Tyler Bilodeau from Oregon State, Eric Dailey from Oklahoma State and William Kyle from South Dakota State. That group joins a nucleus that features the Bruins’ leading scorer from a season ago, guard Dylan Andrews.
For more information on UCLA, visit UCLA Wire.
Ohio State Buckeyes
Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports
Projected Seed: No. 6 seed
Projected Bracket: West (San Francisco)
Breakdown: Ohio State will be led by guards Bruce Thornton Jr. and Meechie Johnson. Thornton averaged 15.7 points per game last season with the Buckeyes, while Johnson averaged 14.1 points per game last year at South Carolina. The Buckeyes also added Duke and Kentucky transfers Sean Stewart and Aaron Bradshaw inside to go along with San Diego State transfer small forward Micah Parrish.
For more information on Ohio State, visit Buckeyes Wire.
Michigan Wolverines
(Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)
Projected Seed: No. 7 seed
Projected Bracket: Midwest (Indianapolis)
Breakdown: For those on the outside looking in, an Ohio State Buckeye becoming a Michigan Wolverine brings some fun drama. That’s the case with new Michigan Wolverine, Roddy Gayle Jr. Gayle averaged 13.5 points per game last season with the Buckeyes.
Gayle is part of a six-person transfer class for new head coach Dusty May. Michigan also brought in Auburn point guard Tre Donaldson, North Texas guard Rubin Jones, Alabama forward Sam Walters, Yale center Danny Wolf and Florida Atlantic center Vlad Goldin.
May takes over at Michigan after guiding Florida Atlantic to back-to-back NCAA Tournament trips and a Final Four appearance in 2023.
For more information on Michigan, visit Wolverines Wire.
Michigan State Spartans
Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK
Projected Seed: No. 7 seed
Projected Bracket: South (Atlanta)
Breakdown: Death. Taxes. Tom Izzo guiding the Michigan State Spartans into the NCAA Tournament. Sparty has made 26 straight NCAA Tournament appearances, which is a Big Ten record.
MSU brings back guard Jaden Akins, who will look to become the go-to scorer after averaging 10.4 points per game last season. The Spartans brought in one transfer, forward Frankie Fidler from Omaha. The 6-foot-7 forward averaged 20.1 points and 6.3 rebounds per game last year.
For more information on Michigan State, visit Spartans Wire.
USC Trojans
Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK
Projected Seed: No. 9 seed
Projected Bracket: West (San Francisco)
Breakdown: Eric Musselman made waves when he bolted Arkansas for USC. After three straight Sweet 16s, the Razorbacks slumped last season to a 16-17 (6-12 SEC) finish.
Musselman retooled the USC roster with nine transfer additions. That group is headlined by Xavier guard Desmond Claude, Boise State small forward Chibuzo Agbo Jr., Michigan forward Terrance Williams and Northern Colorado forward Saint Thomas.
For more information on USC, visit Trojans Wire.
Rutgers Scarlet Knights
Maria Lysaker-USA TODAY Sports
Projected Seed: No. 9 seed
Projected Bracket: South (Atlanta)
Breakdown: Steve Pikiell has a pair of five-star freshmen coming in as part of its 2024 signing class that will make Rutgers one of the nation’s most exciting teams to watch come together. Shooting guard Dylan Harper out of Don Bosco Prep in New Jersey and small forward Ace Bailey from McEachern High School in Georgia will look to be those five-star freshmen phenoms for the Scarlet Knights.
For more information on Rutgers, visit Rutgers Wire.
Maryland Terrapins
Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports
Projected Seed: No. 10 seed
Projected Bracket: West (San Francisco)
Breakdown: The Terrapins will feature one of the more talented frontcourt duos in forward Julian Reese and five-star signee center Derik Queen. Reese averaged 13.7 points and 9.5 rebounds per game last season.
Illinois Fighting Illini
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
Projected Seed: No. 11 seed
Projected Bracket: Midwest (Indianapolis)
Breakdown: After a run to the Elite Eight, Illinois and Brad Underwood are retooling the roster with point guard Kylan Boswell from Arizona, small forward Tre White from Louisville, forward Carey Booth from Notre Dame and forward Ben Humrichous from Evansville.
Oregon Ducks
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Projected Seed: No. 11 seed
Projected Bracket: South (Atlanta)
Breakdown: After a magical run through last season’s Pac-12 Tournament ended with the Ducks punching their March Madness ticket, Oregon rode that momentum into the round of 32.
Oregon returns talented sophom*ores Jackson Shelstad, Kwame Evans and Mookie Cook back. Plus, the Ducks added guards TJ Bamba and Ra’Heim Moss from Villanova and Toledo and forward Brandon Angel from Stanford.
For more information on Oregon, visit Ducks Wire.
Big Ten Bubble Teams
Last Four Byes: Maryland, Oregon
Last Four In: Illinois
First Four Out: Wisconsin, Northwestern, Nebraska
Next Four Out: Iowa
The Breakdown: Look at the depth of this league. With the new additions, the Big Ten boasts a nation-leading 11 projected NCAA Tournament bids. Plus, Iowa, Nebraska, Northwestern and Wisconsin are all lurking around the bubble.
Iowa will have its chance to crack that bubble and return to the NCAA Tournament. But, the Hawkeyes’ fate will depend upon the growth of sophom*ores Owen Freeman and Brock Harding, junior guard Josh Dix and how well its transfer portal additions of Drew Thelwell and Seydou Traore blend in.
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