welcome
Badgers Wire

Badgers Wire

Sports

Sports

Updated Big Ten basketball power rankings for 2025-26 season after NBA draft decisions

Badgers Wire
Summary
Nutrition label

90% Informative

Several key Big Ten basketball players, including Michigan 's Yaxel Lendeborg and Wisconsin 's John Blackwell , withdrew from the NBA draft and will return to school.

With rosters finalized, USA TODAY projects Purdue as the top Big Ten team for the 2025-26 season .

Penn State center Yanic Konan Niederhauser will remain in the draft, dealing a blow to the Nittany Lions .

Nebraska 's end-of-year stretch clouds its 2025 -26 expectations.

The team's ceiling is far from a conference contender, but it has a stable floor around 20 wins per season.

Indiana is a major wild card in 2025 , but coach Darian DeVries' pedigree suggests an NCAA Tournament berth as a possibility.

Oregon Ducks haven't won fewer than 20 games during any year of coach Dana Altman's tenure.

Trojans excelled in the portal this offseason, headlined by Rodney Rice and Chad Baker-Mazara .

Ohio State received a major boost as veteran guard Bruce Thornton withdrew from the NBA draft.