With the college basketball season rapidly approaching, we reached out to one of the Big Ten’s foremost ball knowers, Joe Jackson, with a few questions about the league this year.
Some are pretty standard, others are a bit more outside the box. One way or another, this is shaping up to be an exciting year of hoops in the Midwest (and the Pacific Coast and the East Coast and,).
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Follow Joe at @joejacksoncbb on Twitter. Find his work on Feed the Post and YouTube.
Q: Starting out hot, which teams do you believe have a realistic path to winning the Big Ten regular season title?
Joe: Purdue and Michigan are the front runners to me, but both UCLA and Illinois have very realistic paths. Oregon and Wisconsin would be two I’d throw in, but they’ll need things to break their way in order for it to really work.
Q: Of the teams that missed the NCAA Tournament last season, do any stand out as having a strong chance to make in 2026? Separately, are there any teams you think could overperform their preseason expectations?
Joe: Indiana, USC, and Iowa are 3 teams that should have good cases to being able to make the tourney, with all of them having made significant off season moves. Ohio State is another team that could definitely make the tournament, although they may have a few more questions surrounding them and their style.
With the way the Big Ten is, there’s just so many teams lumped together in the middle. I think Wisconsin and Oregon both have good chances to emerge closer to that top tier of teams. Nebraska is a team that’s generally being put near the bottom of the Big Ten, but they have enough pieces to put together a solid campaign
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Q: You close your eyes tonight and wake up on March 27th. Two Big Ten teams are in the Elite Eight. Which two would you guess made it?
Joe: Purdue and Michigan would be the two teams, and I wouldn’t be shocked to see them in the Final Four.
Q: Are there any breakout players you have your eye on? What about players you’re just excited to watch?
Joe: There’s a whole slew of players I can’t wait to watch, but I’ll try and limit it some. Some of the players that could be breakout guys to me are Isaac Asuma (Minnesota), Aday Mara (Michigan), and KJ Evans (Oregon). Some other players I’m really excited to watch are Pharrell Payne (Maryland), Rienk Mast (Nebraska), and Tayton Conerway (Indiana).
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Q: Who do you anticipate will be in the race for Big Ten Freshman of the Year?
Joe: It gets a little weird for Big Ten Freshman of the Year based on what some of the overseas guys get for eligibility. To me though, the top 3 for FOTY will be some order of Hannes Steinbach (Washington), Trey McKenney (Michigan), and Kayden Mingo (Penn State).
Q: You can travel to three Big Ten arenas for that team’s biggest game of the season. Which three?
Joe: Mackey Arena, State Farm Center, Crisler Center
