Big Ten Preview: 2026-27 College Basketball Predictions & Best Bets Recap
The College Basketball Experience goes through all 18 teams in its Big Ten basketball preview for 2026-27, a year after Michigan won the national title. Noah Bieniek (@NoahB77_) and Troy Chewning (@Troychewning) both pick Illinois to win the league, while Ryan McIntyre (@Moneyline_Mac) rides Tom Izzo and Michigan State.
Last Season Was The Big Ten’s Best This Century
Noah Bieniek calls last season the best Big Ten year this century, and the numbers back him up. Michigan won the league’s first national title since Michigan State in 2000. The conference also had half the Final Four with Michigan and Illinois. It had half the Elite Eight once Purdue and Iowa joined them. Then add Michigan State and Nebraska, and the Big Ten owned six of the Sweet 16. So can it happen again? Noah says you would have to be a little drunk to expect a repeat, but he still sees a strong league.
Ryan McIntyre, better known as Moneyline Mac, framed the whole year as a breakthrough. Nebraska ended its NCAA tournament drought with a Sweet 16 run. Illinois gave Brad Underwood his first Final Four. Meanwhile Ben McCollum took Iowa to the Elite Eight in year one, and Troy Chewning points out that team went 10 and 10 and finished ninth. Michigan also went 37 and 3, even after Purdue beat the Wolverines in the Big Ten tournament final. Then there is the steady tier. Tom Izzo and Matt Painter just keep showing up in the second weekend, and Mick Cronin belongs in that group too.
Dusty May Leaves And Defense Still Wins The League
The biggest coaching story is in Ann Arbor. Dusty May left for the Dallas Mavericks, so Mike Boynton went from interim to head coach. He is on a two-year deal. Troy thinks Boynton gets a Cade Cunningham-level roster every year now, after making one tournament in seven seasons at Oklahoma State. But Noah flags a quieter hire. Boynton brought in former Brown head coach Mike Martin as his offensive coordinator. Brown finished dead last in Ivy League offensive efficiency last year, and Noah is hoping the offense holds up. Out west, Tony Stubblefield steps in at Oregon after Dana Altman’s final season. So the rest of the league kept its coaches, which says plenty about how last season went.
Noah also brought the league-winning trend. The Big Ten champ has had a top-five conference defense per KenPom every season since 2014. Nine of the 10 outright champions in that stretch had a top-three defense. Then he goes a step further. The old Big Ten style of plodding bigs was dying off as new coaches arrived, and he credits that for the tournament jump. But Michigan won it all with two lottery bigs, so now rosters are loading up on size again. Because seven-footers cost the most in the portal, Noah expects the richest programs to keep hoarding them.
Stock Up On USC, Stock Down On Michigan
Noah has fallen for USC and can’t get up. The Trojans’ offense ranked 17th in the Big Ten last year, so it can only get better. Rodney Rice returns after averaging 20 points and six assists while shooting 38.5% from deep. KJ Lewis also arrives from Georgetown, and Elijah Arenas grew into a go-to scorer. Eric Musselman has three McDonald’s All-American freshmen on the bench too. The only hole is at the five, because Eric Ryba is dealing with a foot injury. Troy had USC as his stock up as well, then pivoted to Mick Cronin and UCLA as a top-four or even top-three team.
Mac went east and called Maryland the easiest lock of the night. Buzz Williams teams are always bad in year one, and last season was Maryland’s worst this century. But Payne is back for a fifth year, and the Terps passed the eye test against West Virginia on Sunday. So Mac has them climbing from the basement to the middle of the pack. On the stock down side, Noah dropped Nebraska from fourth to 10th, and Troy also went with Wisconsin. Mac then grabbed the layup. Michigan went 37 and 3, and it lost both its entire frontcourt and its coach to the NBA. He still sees 20-plus wins, just not another 37.
The Big Ten Basketball Preview Title Race: Illinois Or Sparty
Noah and Troy both take Illinois to win the regular season. Noah’s case starts with the trend, because Illinois has posted six top-five Big Ten defenses in the last seven seasons. Brad Underwood has also hit double-digit conference wins every season since 2020. He returns all but two starters from a Final Four team. Noah calls that roster of big shooting Europeans the best on paper in the Big Ten. So the question is the backcourt. Whichever freshman ball handler emerges, the way Keaton Wagler did last year, decides whether the Illini are Final Four caliber again. Meanwhile Troy likes the frontcourt and rebounding enough to buy time while that sorts out.
Mac isn’t buying the Euro hype. He wants Tom Izzo, because Jeremy Fears and Coen Carr are back and Sparty should play faster. Izzo has posted three straight top-15 defenses nationally, and Michigan State led the Big Ten in defensive rebounding two years running. Anton Bonk also arrives from Charlotte, a seven-footer who averaged 10.5 and 8.5 in the American. Then there is Caleb Glenn, back from a torn patellar tendon after shooting 41% from three in 2025. Both Noah and Troy have the Spartans second. Troy thinks Carr is the one who could jump toward Fears’ level and push them over the top.
Michigan, UCLA And The Crowded Middle
Third place splits the room. Noah stays loyal to Michigan, which is running Florida’s title script in reverse with a strong backcourt this time. Elliot Cadeau was Final Four Most Outstanding Player. Meanwhile Trey McKinney shot 38% from three in just 21 minutes a game. He gets more of the ball now that Brandon McCoy is out with a torn ACL. JP Estrella also adds a stretch four who shot 40% from three. But Mac and Troy both slot UCLA third and Michigan fourth. Nikola Kuczerica, a projected top-three pick in 2028, pushed the Bruins over for Troy, and Mac likes Cronin’s continuity.
Noah has UCLA sixth because of defense. Cronin has built a top-25 defense in 12 of the last 16 seasons. But last year’s unit finished 49th with Xavier Booker at the five. Booker and Eric Daly Jr. return up front, so Noah expects Cronin to throw a fit by January. Fifth is where the boards scatter. Troy has USC there, while Mac puts blind trust in Fred Hoiberg and the oldest roster in the league. Noah takes Purdue at five instead. Painter has five straight top-15 offenses and tends to beat low expectations. Then Mac and Troy both land Purdue sixth, even without Braden Smith.
From The Bubble To The Basement
The middle tier is a pile of coaches whose floor never falls out. Noah is the highest on Wisconsin at seventh, citing three straight top-20 offenses under Greg Gard and Nolan Winter at the five. Mac has Ohio State seventh because he thinks Diebler got over the hump last year. But Noah drops the Buckeyes to 12th, since he can’t see Justin Pippen as a Big Ten starting point guard. Indiana sits 10th for both Mac and Troy despite a portal haul led by Marcus Burton from Notre Dame. Mac first had Darian DeVries missing the tournament, then flipped once he remembered the field grows to 76. Iowa lands ninth for Mac and Noah, because they trust Ben McCollum.
The bubble is where it gets interesting. Noah calls it a 10-bid league with Nebraska comfortably in as the 10th, and Mac thinks it could reach 11. Below that, the board gets ugly. Minnesota goes 11th for Noah and Mac, since Torvik has the Gophers returning the most minutes in the conference. Washington has no real five, so Noah has the Huskies 15th. Rutgers also starts the year without its coach, because Pikiell is out for cancer treatment, and the guys are praying for his health. Then Oregon brings up the rear for Mac at 18, while Troy and Noah leave Penn State there.
Tournament Picks, Awards And One Bold Call
Noah’s Big Ten tournament pick is Iowa, a leap of faith he admits he wasn’t prepared for. Troy likes the gamble, guessing McCollum’s tournament win rate sits around 89 or 90 percent. Mac remembered the last Iowa title ended with a loss to Richmond, the year Colby Dant (@thecolbyd) had the Hawkeyes in his Final Four. Troy then takes Michigan and its elite backcourt to win it in Indianapolis. Mac goes full Sparty, so Izzo sweeps the regular season and the tournament on his card. Noah’s bold call is a Michigan State Final Four in its own backyard, a response to Michigan’s title. He also says they won’t win it all. For Coach of the Year, Troy takes Brad Underwood, who Mac says has never won it, and Mac takes Izzo.
Noah splits his vote between Musselman and Boynton, depending on which one finishes top five. Player of the Year is where Noah makes his loudest stand. He takes Elliot Cadeau, the Final Four Most Outstanding Player, because Cadeau proved him so wrong last year. Mac sweeps Fears instead, and Troy calls Fears the safe choice in a perfect spot. Then the Michigan versus Michigan State fight runs right up to the sign-off. Troy says a Spartans title this year would be awesome. But Noah wants no part of it, because he already watched Ohio State answer Michigan’s 2023 football title in 2024.
2026-27 College Basketball Conference Previews
| MEAC | AMERICA EAST | NEC |
| MAAC | BIG EAST | SOCON |
| PATRIOT LEAGUE | OVC | ASUN |
| UAC | BIG SOUTH | SWAC |
| SOUTHLAND | SUMMIT LEAGUE | SUN BELT |
| BIG SKY | HORIZON LEAGUE | IVY LEAGUE |
| CUSA | BIG WEST | CAA |
| PAC 12 | BIG TEN |
Podcast Chapters
00:00 Download the SGPN App Today!
01:04 Big Ten Breakthrough Year Recap
10:53 Coaches & the League Winning Trend
21:13 Stock Up, Stock Down
30:26 Big Ten Regular Season Winner: Illinois or Michigan State
35:44 Michigan and UCLA at Third
40:29 USC, Nebraska, Purdue & UCLA at Six
45:38 Hoiberg, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Indiana & Iowa
51:35 Indiana and Minnesota at 10 and 11
55:19 Maryland, Ohio State & USC at 12 and 13
59:33 Bottom Six: Rutgers, Oregon & Washington
1:07:22 Big Ten Tournament Winner: Iowa and Michigan
1:10:04 Coach and Player of the Year: Underwood, Izzo, Fears & Cadoux
1:14:42 Sign-Off & Socials
