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Nearly Entire Big Ten Ranked Among Top 100 In Preseason KenPom Ratings

The Big Ten showed up well in the preseason KenPom ratings.

By Thomas Beindit
NCAA Basketball: Illinois at Iowa Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

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 KenPom, who uses an interesting analytical model to project teams and predict games.

Earlier this week, KenPom released his preseason ratings entering this season 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 KenPom Ratings:

  • No. 7 - Wisconsin
  • No. 10 - Ohio State
  • No. 12 - Iowa
  • No. 15 - Michigan State
  • No. 17 - Michigan
  • No. 18 - Illinois
  • No. 25 - Purdue
  • No. 26 - Indiana
  • No. 27 - Rutgers
  • No. 35 - Minnesota
  • No. 51 - Maryland
  • No. 64 - Penn State
  • No. 70 - Northwestern
  • No. 118 - Nebraska

Given how last season went, it really isn’t surprising to see teams like Wisconsin, Iowa, and Michigan State ranked so highly. And with some of the returners for Michigan and Illinois, 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 (Indiana and Rutgers) 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 best conference.

Perhaps the most surprising inclusion was Ohio State at 10th. The Buckeyes lost some of the team’s best players from last season and many believe the team will regress as a result. However, KenPom disagrees, putting Ohio State in the top 10 nationally. 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.

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