Hawkeyes Picked Tenth In Big Ten Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll: Here’s Who They Can End Up Above

An Elite Eight trip for the first time in the 21st century for Iowa Men’s Basketball will lead to roars from a sold-out Kinnick Stadium honoring the accolade.

Head Coach Ben McCollum has brought that energy to Iowa City in his first season.

Unfortunately, the past isn’t the present.

The Iowa Hawkeyes hope to be the successful underdog again, ranked 10th of 18 teams in the Big Ten Conference.

The Hawkeyes were selected eighth in that same poll the season prior.

Then again, although the Big Ten is a deep conference, the parity is unique within the upper half.

Here are some teams Iowa can leapfrog by the time the Big Ten Tournament seeds are final.

Ohio State Buckeyes guard Bruce Thornton (2) moves the ball as Michigan basketball hosts Ohio State at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026 (Jacob Hamilton / MLive.com).

Ohio State (Very Likely, selected 8th):

It feels a tad shocking to see a Buckeye squad ranked so high without Bruce Thornton. The clear identity of last year’s team is now in the NBA with the Houston Rockets after being selected 31st overall in the most recent draft.

Last season, Thornton led the team in points (19.9), defensive rebounds (4.2), and assists (3.9). He was also Iowa’s nightmare in the Big Ten Tournament, knocking the Hawkeyes out in Chicago with 24 points.

Ohio State returns two of five projected starters in John Mobley Jr. and Amare Bynum, with a few key transfers, on top of a 5-star freshman add in Anthony Thompson, who could be an NBA draft pick as soon as after this season.

Thornton was the nucleus of an Ohio State team that already struggled away from home, and it would be shocking to see them improve.

Purdue Boilermakers guard Antione West (1) dribbles the basketball (Imagn Images / Reuters Connect).

Purdue (Likely, selected 6th):

Now, before this causes an outrage, let it be known this isn’t the same Purdue Matt Painter has brought into Mackey in quite some time.

Preseason No. 19-ranked Purdue is outside the top five of the Big Ten preseason poll for the first time since the 2014-15 season.

The defending Big Ten champion Boilermakers lose over 60% of their scoring from last season, with NCAA all-time assist leader Braden Smith and Trey Kaufman-Renn being just some of the notable departures.

Schedule-wise, Purdue travels on the road to the top three teams in the Big Ten Poll: Illinois, Michigan State, and Michigan. They’ll even go on the road against Iowa State in the midst of conference play.

With a tough schedule and giant shoes to fill in the lineup, it’ll be tough for Painter to replicate the same magic he’s presented year after year.

Junior center Samet Yigitoglu guards junior forward Aiden Sherrell during the Cream and Crimson Scrimmage on Oct. 2, 2026, at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington (Ben Harper / The Indiana Daily Student).

Indiana (Could happen, selected 9th):

After previous failures to blossom in Bloomington, the Hoosiers could be a potential candidate for a lackluster Big Ten performance.

Indiana has missed the NCAA Tournament the last three seasons, but there is plenty of optimism after landing the consensus No. 1 transfer portal class in the offseason.

Including names like Notre Dame’s Markus Burton and Villanova’s Bryce Lindsay, the backcourt is going to be lethal and incredibly deep.

With that being said, teams like Louisville and Kentucky each had some of the best transfer classes in the country and had disappointing seasons last year.

There is no question Indiana has a high ceiling, but buying instead of building a team can result in a low floor for Darian DeVries’ Indiana Hoosiers.

Luke Jorden