Big Ten Lands 13 Teams in Top 100 of CBS Sports’ Preseason Rankings

While trying to predict what will happen during any given college basketball season is a tricky task, there are a number of sites that try to do just that. And one of the best is CBS Sports, who routinely puts out great coverage on the sport.

Earlier this week, Matt Norlander posted his rankings of every team in college basketball and the Big Ten performed quite well. In fact, nearly the entire conference was ranked among the top 100, including four teams in the top 15. Obviously, that speaks to just how exciting this season should be for Big Ten fans.

Here’s a full look at the Big Ten teams listed below.

Big Ten Teams In 2020-’21 Preseason CBS Rankings:

• No. 4 - Illinois
• No. 8 - Wisconsin
• No. 9 - Iowa
• No. 13 - Michigan State
• No. 23 - Ohio State
• No. 24 - Rutgers
• No. 25 - Indiana
• No. 32 - Purdue
• No. 34 - Michigan
• No. 39 - Maryland
• No. 54 - Minnesota
• No. 63 - Penn State
• No. 97 - Northwestern
• No. 139 - Nebraska

Given how last season went, it really isn’t surprising to see teams like Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa ranked so highly. And with some of the returners for Rutgers, that makes a lot of sense as well.

The biggest takeaway here is how many teams landed in the top 25. Half the conference landed in the top 25 and two other teams (Purdue and Michigan) were just outside of that mark. It’s an incredible achievement, but makes sense given last year’s performance. The Big Ten finished the season ranked as KenPom’s highest rated conference.

Perhaps the most surprising inclusion was Ohio State at 23rd. The Buckeyes lost some of the team’s best players from last season and many believe the team will regress as a result. However, CBS clearly believes in some of the additions and rising players like EJ Liddell. We’ll have to see how that shakes out in the weeks and months to come.

It should be a fun season and if these odds are any indication, it looks like a tight and unpredictable race across the Big Ten this season.