Jon Rothstein is projecting the Big Ten to have a heavy representation in the polls, the veteran college basketball analyst already rolling out his preseason top 45 teams in the nation for the next college basketball season.
One could argue that this is technically more of an offseason ranking than a preseason ranking, after all the college basketball season just finished hours before Rothstein unrolled his list. But semantics aside, Rothstein’s list is thoughtful and insightful.
That is par for the course for the CBS Sports analyst, who has the national champion UConn as the number one team in the nation. No. 2 Purdue, No. 3 Miami, No. 4 Marquette and No. 5 Creighton round out Rothstein’s top five.
A total of five Big Ten teams are in Rothstein’s top 25 and seven current Big Ten teams make the list of 45.
The Big Ten has a heavy selection in this (very early) preseason edition of the Rothstein 45, including two programs set to join the conference in 2024 (UCLA and USC):
- No. 2 Purdue
- No. 6 UCLA
- No. 7 Michigan State
- No. 20 USC
- No. 21 Northwestern
- No. 29 Maryland
- No. 34 Wisconsin
- No. 38 Illinois
- No. 40 Rutgers