Michigan basketball (2025-26) and Michigan State (2024-25) have won the past two Big Ten regular-season titles.
While they aren't picked to win it in 2026-27, they'll be close, says a group of media pollsters.
The Spartans were voted to finish second in the Big Ten and the Wolverines were picked third, according to 28 Big Ten voters in a poll conducted by The Columbus Dispatch
, part of the USA TODAY Network.
Illinois received 498 total points and 18 first-place votes, followed by MSU (483, 9) and U-M (436, 1) as every single ballot picked both schools to finish in the top third of the league.
MSU was picked first or second by 27 of 28 voters, while three voters picked U-M in the top two, 16 picked the Wolverines third, and nine others picked them
to finish between fourth and sixth.
MSU, in coach Tom Izzo's 32nd year, is expected to be powered by preseason national player of the year, point guard Jeremy Fears Jr., who averaged 15.2 points and 9.2 assists a season ago. Notable contributors Coen Carr, Jordan Scott, Kur Teng and Cam Ward also return.
The Spartans are expected to be bolstered by transfer Anton Bonke (Charlotte) and a healthy Kaleb Glenn, who transferred to East Lansing last season from Florida Atlantic but missed the entire season after tearing his ACL in summer practice.
MSU also has one of the better crops of freshmen talent in the country, led by five-star big man Ethan Taylor, wing Josiah Jervis and backup point guard (and Fears' heir-apparent) Carlos Medlock. While MSU has a lot to replace with the losses of Jaxon Kohler (BYU) and Carson Cooper (Memphis Grizzlies), Jesse McCulloch is projected to take a notable amount of those minutes and was impressive in a recent exhibition against Incarnate Word, putting up 20 points and five rebounds in an 89-59 victory.
Izzo has led MSU to a nation-leading 28 consecutive NCAA Tournaments.
Michigan, the defending NCAA national champions, has overhauled its roster but is also expected to enter the season in the top 10. Former assistant Mike Boynton Jr. is the new coach and should be led by a backcourt of Final Four Most Outstanding Player Elliot Cadeau and former five-star Trey McKenney, both of whom were picked to be first-team All-Big Ten players in the poll.
[ MUST LISTEN: Make "Hail Yes!" your go-to Wolverines podcast, available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) or watch live/on demand on YouTube. ]
The frontcourt lost three players to the NBA Draft (Aday Mara, Yaxel Lendeborg and Morez Johnson Jr. were all lottery selections) but replaced them in the transfer portal with high-upside pieces in J.P. Estrella (Tennessee) and Moustapha Thiam (Cincinnati). Former LSU big man Jalen Reed should also factor in, after playing just a handful of games the past two seasons due to significant leg injuries (ACL and Achilles).
U-M suffered a notable loss this summer, when five-star freshman Brandon McCoy Jr. tore his ACL during the team's trip to Europe, but the Wolverines got a notable win when Roddy Gayle Jr. won in court and was approved for a fifth year − he's expected to slide into the starting spot on the wing.
U-M also has some backcourt depth with the addition of Kenny Noland (Columbia) who like Gayle won a court case for a fifth-year of eligibility. He led the team with 17.1 points per game in 2025-26 (second best in the Ivy League).
In addition to expected development from Oscar Goodman and Ricky Liburd, U-M is counting on minutes from freshmen McDonald's All-American Quinn Costello and Joseph Hartmann. Marcus Moller and Malachi Brown could also factor in.
U-M has its first exhibition game of the fall on Sunday, Oct. 11, against Eastern Michigan at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor.
Big Ten basketball media poll 2026-27
Predicted order of finish
(First-place votes in parentheses)
1. Illinois, 498 points (18)
2. Michigan State, 483 points (9)
3. Michigan, 436 points (1)
4. UCLA, 375 points
5. Nebraska, 369 points
6. Purdue, 347 points
7. USC, 340 points
8. Ohio State, 324 points
9. Indiana, 292 points
10. Iowa, 264 points
11. Wisconsin, 240 points
12. Maryland, 203 points
13. Minnesota, 168 points
14. Oregon, 147 points
15. Washington, 116 points
16. Northwestern, 88 points
17. Rutgers, 68 points
18. Penn State, 35 points
Tony Garcia is the Michigan beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Neither Michigan nor Michigan State basketball picked to win Big Ten
