Updated Big Ten Power Rankings: Where does Michigan Basketball stand?
Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
Purdue went wire-to-wire in the 2022-23 portion of the Big Ten, but failed historically in the NCAA tourney. Zach Edey is returning to the champs. Indiana beat them twice in the regular season but loses its two leaders to the pros.
Michigan State and Wisconsin bring back a plethora of talent, while Ohio State is on the rise. So where does Michigan basketball fall in all of this chaos of the offseason?
Here's an updated look at the 2023-24 Big Ten basketball power rankings following the NBA draft withdrawal deadline.
They arguably have the worst coach in the Big Ten and he somehow survived the axe. They lost one of their up-and-coming players to Ohio State in the portal. Minnesota is trending in the wrong direction rapidly.
With only Tarris Reed and Dug McDaniel as clear-cut starters, Michigan basketball can't get any lower on this list. They have the least returning producers thus far, right by Minnesota. However, if the Wolverines add two more starters in the portal, then fortunes can change for Juwan Howard drastically, otherwise, he's on the hot seat.
They may finish higher than this, but Nebraska men's basketball is the bottom feeder of the league, yearly. Keisei Tominaga is back and his team was the hottest at the end of the regular season. They still finished 12th though. This feels like a year that they can break through into the upper half of the race.
Losing their coach and a wealth of experience has to take its toll eventually. They wisely did a bunch of work in the transfer portal to help rebuild a respectable roster.