Last year, everyone was playing for second place behind the juggernaut SEC as the nation’s best conference. The Big Ten took that personally, though, and loaded up via the transfer portal this offseason. You won't find many star freshmen here — the only top-20 recruit, Alijah Arenas, is out with a torn meniscus — but this league is old, big and stuffed to the brim with excellent coaches.
Adding the last three Drake bosses — Ben McCollum (Iowa), Darian DeVries (Indiana), Niko Medved (Minnesota) — amped up the league’s brain trust on the sideline. As a result, the Big Ten has a chance to usurp the SEC as the best conference in the country this season.
So, here are my Big Ten predictions and futures for the 2025-26 college basketball season.
2025-26 Big Ten Regular Season Title Odds
| Team | Odds (bet365) |
|---|---|
| Purdue | +200 |
| Michigan | +400 |
| Illinois | +500 |
| UCLA | +700 |
| Ohio State | +1000 |
| Michigan State | +1600 |
| Wisconsin | +2500 |
| Oregon | +2500 |
| USC | +2500 |
| Indiana | +2500 |
| Iowa | +3000 |
| Washington | +4000 |
| Maryland | +5000 |
| Nebraska | +8000 |
| Minnesota | +12500 |
| Northwestern | +12500 |
| Penn State | +12500 |
| Rutgers | +12500 |
Big Ten Favorite
Purdue Boilermakers (+200)
The Boilermakers were very good last year, earning a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament and taking eventual runner-up Houston down to the final buzzer. That was an impressive showing for a team that had seen some ups and downs for much of the campaign.
Matt Painter and his team have higher hopes this year, though. With the senior trio of Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer and Trey Kaufman-Renn all back for another rodeo, the Boilermakers were always going to have a high floor.
The offense will be a fireball, and the internal development in West Lafayette is second to none. The difference, then, could be the newcomers, a group meant to address the biggest drawbacks of last year’s Boilers.
Oscar Cluff was the country’s most dominant mid-major big man, and getting his size and rebounding into the fold should bolster a terrible interior defense.
Daniel Jacobsen is essentially a newcomer after breaking his leg early last season, and his immense 7-foot-4 frame appears to address Purdue’s lack of shot blocking perfectly.
Also, Omer Mayer, the highly-touted Israeli freshman guard, can take some playmaking and minutes burdens away from the inimitable Smith.
Michigan Wolverines (+400)
The Wolverines attacked the transfer portal with a clear plan: dominate the paint. Considering the trio of big men that Dusty May brought in, Michigan should do just that.
Yaxel Lendeborg is the headliner thanks to his overwhelming onslaught of size, skill and strength, but the center tandem of Aday Mara and Morez Johnson Jr. is going to control the rim, as well.
Good luck scoring inside against these Wolverines.
The key for Michigan is going to be finding enough spacing and perimeter pop. Elliot Cadeau is an outstanding playmaker, but defenses don't respect his jumper.
Nimari Burnett can shoot, but he needs help from Trey McKenney — a heralded freshman guard — or Roddy Gayle Jr. and LJ Cason, two returnees who couldn't hit a 3-pointer last year.
Illinois Fighting Illini (+500)
The Illini have gotten plenty of attention for their affinity for the Balkans, and for good reason (five players of Balkan descent will make an impact on this team).
Tomislav Ivisic is the headliner, and his twin brother and fellow 7-footer, Zvonimir, is not far behind. Cal transfer Andrej Stojakovic might end up leading Brad Underwood’s team in scoring whenever he's fully healthy. Newcomers to the USA, Mihailo Petrovic and David Mirkovic, round out the quintet.
But don’t count out the other pieces here. Kylan Boswell is a defensive demon, and if he and Ben Humrichous find their perimeter strokes, Illinois could have a top-five offense in the country.
A wild card is Keaton Wagler, an under-recruited freshman who's gotten huge hype this offseason.
Big Ten Best Futures Bet
Illinois Fighting Illini
You just read about what Illinois has on the roster, and I’m buying the upside with Underwood’s team.
Purdue’s defense is leaky enough to cause problems winning this conference, and the Illini have all of the pieces — save for maybe a big-time wing athlete — to take advantage of any slippage from the Boilermakers.
Illinois didn't make any 3-pointers last year (305th nationally in 3-point percentage) and dealt with a litany of injuries and illnesses. The Illini still went 12-8 in the league and finished 17th in KenPom.
If this team is healthy all year, getting +675 (Caesars) on what could be the conference’s best team will feel like stealing.
Wisconsin Badgers
This one (+2500 at bet365) is more of a wager on a high floor and a coach who's come from out of nowhere to share the league title before. See: Greg Gard’s teams in 2020 and 2022.
The Badgers have modernized their offense over the last two seasons, and though the architect of the new scheme — Kirk Penney — returned home to New Zealand, this offense is still formidable.
Gard assembled a strong class of transfers to pair with returning veterans John Blackwell and Nolan Winter, led by San Diego State’s Nick Boyd and Virginia’s Andrew Rohde.
Big Ten Best Value Bet
Iowa Hawkeyes (+3500)
McCollum appears to be on a coaching trajectory to the moon. He dominated Division II, and in his lone D-I season last year, he racked up 31 wins at Drake with a core largely made up of players from his previous stop, Northwest Missouri State.
Potential All-American Bennett Stirtz joined him in Iowa City, and the Hawkeyes found several undervalued contributors this offseason.
McCollum’s patient (read: SLOW) style gives the Hawkeyes a chance against any level of competition.
These odds (+3500 at Caesars) are too long for a team that could give the Big Ten death by paper cuts.
Big Ten Player to Target for Props
Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan
Lendeborg is expected to step into the role vacated by Danny Wolf, last year’s playmaking big man in Ann Arbor. If Lendeborg imitates Wolf’s stat line (13.2 PPG, 9.7 RPG, 3.6 APG), that’s already a fun path to all-conference status.
Lendeborg exceeded all of those numbers at UAB, though, and even with the step up to the Big Ten, I believe he'll be a wildly productive player in this specific system and role.
In two exhibition games, Lendeborg posted stat lines of 31 points and 12 assists against Cincinnati, plus 25 points, 10 rebounds and four assists against St. John’s.
A monster season is coming.
