Illinois Basketball Tops Ryan Hammer’s Preseason Rankings

The Big Ten will have a new look in 2024, as recent expansion has added four new programs (Oregon, Washington, UCLA, USC) to the conference. Despite some unfamiliar faces on the schedule, many outlets believe that the original members of the league will continue to remain at the top. Some experts therefore believe Illinois Basketball will be the top dog of the Big Ten come first tipoff in November.

Of course, only time will tell how the season will truly unfold. However, it is a positive to have national analysts projecting the Illini click.

College Basketball analyst Ryan Hammer has predicted that Illinois Basketball will be the best team in the conference entering the 2024 season. Despite having a lot of new and unknown talent on the Illini roster, Hammer believes that Illinois is the team to beat. However, other Big Ten powers do lurk closely behind.

Hammer states “I look at Illinois and I see the best team in the Big Ten. To be fair, it’s razor-thin margins at the top.”

My Big Ten preseason power rankings

League is already a giant mosh pit & now there’s 18 teams… will be a mess per usual but a fun one with 10+ tourney teams pic.twitter.com/Lpnr1CtmgW

— Ryan Hammer (@ryanhammer09) October 8, 2024

Hammers Big Ten Preseason Power Rankings

1. Illinois 
2. Purdue
3. Indiana
4. UCLA
5. Rutgers
6. Maryland 
7. Oregon
8. Michigan State
9. Iowa 
10. Michigan 
11. USC
12. Ohio State 
13. Wisconsin
14. Washington 
15. Nebraska 
16. Northwestern
17. Penn State
18. Minnesota 

Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports.

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