Big Ten 2026 Season Preview: Expert Picks, Projections, and Key Players

Last season, Dusty May and his dominant Michigan club destroyed the usual preseason think pieces and talking points about why the Big Ten has not won an NCAA Tournament championship in a quarter-century.

The Big Ten led the way with six teams earning a top-five seed in the NCAA Tournament. It had six Sweet 16 teams, two Final Four clubs and the clear best team in the sport. It was the best league in America last year, even if kenpom.com 's ratings favored the SEC.

That's a tough act to follow, but the investment in basketball is widespread across the conference. Contenders like Illinois and Michigan spent over $20 million on their respective rosters. Teams like Maryland and Indiana were spending real-deal money to revamp their teams after missing the NCAA Tournament last year. Outside of a few Big Ten locations, the stakes are high and the investment is real.

Let's dive into some of the Big Ten's best players followed by a preview of each team's strengths, weaknesses, outlook for 2026-27 and predicted order of finish as voted on by CBS Sports' college basketball experts.

CBS Sports Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year

Jeremy Fears | PG | Michigan State

No Big Ten player has ever averaged north of 10 assists in a single season. Fears could change that this season and put his name in the Big Ten record books forever. He's that good.

Oh, and he guards his yard and has grown as a shooter every single year. Fears is way too smart to keep putting his team in harm's way with unnecessary antics. He's promised those days are behind him for good, and if that comes to fruition, Fears' sky-high basketball IQ can become his calling card.

CBS Sports Big Ten Freshman of the Year

Nikola Kusturica | SF | UCLA

Mick Cronin joked that he needed his staff to find him "the biggest, nastiest, vodka-drinking Eastern European" or "some guy that used to wrestle bears in Lithuania."

Well, they found Kusturica.

The Serbian product is only 17 (he can buy Vodka in Serbia in April), but he's got so much game. Kusturica averaged a whopping 24.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists while excelling defensively in the FIBA U17 World Cup. He shined against a Team USA outfit that had Duke's Joaquim Boumtje-Boumtje and a horde of 2027 five-stars including Cayden Daughtry,  NaVorro Bowman Jr. and Beckham Black.

Although Kusturica is young, the 6-9 forward has the tools (and mindset) to be an impact player from the beginning. Kusturica's motor is off the charts. He plays hard every single day of the week and twice on Sundays. His cutting, rebounding and defensive versatility are very valuable. Even on the nights when the shot isn't dropping, he's capable of impacting the game in a ton of ways.

Temper your expectations early for one of the youngest players in the sport, but Kusturica's time is coming soon.

Four more players to watch

David Mirkovic | F | Illinois:  Get ready for The David Mirkovic Experience in Champaign. The 6-9 forward looks poised to transform into a first-round pick as the fulcrum of Illinois' high-powered offense once he returns from offseason foot surgery. Mirkovic played like a Big Ten Freshman of the Year last season, averaging 13.6 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists; he was just overshadowed by the brilliant Keaton Wagler. Now, it's his time to shine. Mirkovic's combination of size, skill, shot-making, passing and fantastic quotes could help him become one of college basketball's true stars in 2026-27.

Elliot Cadeau | G | Michigan:  Fears may lead the country in assists, but Cadeau is the best pure passer in the game. Lobs off the backboard? Sure. Pinpoint, cross-court dots with either hand? Yep. Fullcourt transition outlets? You better believe it. Cadeau truly has every pass in the arsenal. This revamped Michigan roster needs him to be both an elite creator and an elite scorer, while continuing to bring the snarl on defense. With great power comes great responsibility.

Pryce Sandfort | G | Nebraska:  Every time Sandfort takes a shot, everyone in the gym thinks it's going in. Sandfort splashed 129 triples last season, while shooting a cool 70% at the rim. He's a ludicrously good offensive player.

Andrej Stojakovic | G | Illinois:  Terrence Shannon Jr. used the Year 2 transfer jump to turn into an All-American under Brad Underwood, and Stojakovic is hoping to follow that path as well. Stojakovic's slick bully-ball drives are automatic. He can get to the rim in his sleep in an Illinois offense that spaces the floor so sharply. If the playmaking, defense and consistency come along, Stojakovic can assert himself as one of the best wings in this league.

Big Ten predicted order of finish

1. Illinois

Breakdown:  With Dusty May's departure to the NBA, there's an opening for Brad Underwood to become the top dawg in the Big Ten. Getting to the Final Four was historic; returning would be even sweeter and cement Illinois' claim to be the new dominant program. Underwood has retained his entire staff and has a roster that can make a run thanks to an offense that could smash, just using a slightly different recipe.

The special Keaton Wagler is gone, so Illinois will need a little bit more from everybody to replace the lottery pick who came out of nowhere. Sophomore forward David Mirkovic, senior wing Andrej Stojakovic and Providence transfer Stefan Vaaks will be the Illini's best three offensive players. How they mesh will determine whether Illinois is a good team or a great one. If offensive coordinator Tyler Underwood can get all three to play clean basketball, this offense has a chance to be a top-five unit.  Illinois can invert the floor nicely because Mirkovic, Tomislav Ivisic and Zvonimir Ivisic can all shoot 3-pointers. Illinois' bigs are also good passers, and both Ivisic brothers have packed on the weight to be interior enforcers.

Underwood teams always gobble offensive rebounds, and this team should be no different. Add in Vaaks' elite pull-up shooting and Stojakovic's automatic drives, and there are pathways to win both the shot-volume game and the shot-quality game.

Oh, and this roster is enormous. Five-star guard Quentin Coleman stands at a sprouting 6-4. He's the shortest rotation player on the team. That means Illinois' defensive outlook remains a high-floor unit, even though Ben Humrichous and Kylan Boswell will be missed.

If Mirkovic, Vaaks and Stojakovic play at All-Big Ten levels, Illinois has the make-up of one of college basketball's best teams. It is just too big to fail.

Projected starting lineup

- G Stefan Vaaks (Providence transfer) - G Quentin Coleman - G Andrej Stojakovic - F David Mirkovic - C Tomislav Ivisic

Top reserves: F Jake Davis , C Zvonimir Ivisic , G Lincoln Williams, F Landon Davis, G Ethan Brown , G Lucas Morillo, F Jason Jakstys

2. Michigan State

Breakdown : You can win a lot of ballgames when you have a future Hall of Fame coach in Tom Izzo and a basketball genius at point guard in Jeremy Fears Jr.

Michigan State has quietly been stacking good recruiting classes on top of each other and retaining homegrown talent. It has eight former top-65 recruits in the rotation now. That's not nothing. But recruiting rankings don't matter, especially if you don't defend, rebound and run. That's what Michigan State's program is built on. Rebounding shouldn't be too much of an issue with Cam Ward and 7-2 Charlotte transfer Anton Bonke patrolling the paint. Running sure won't be a problem with Fears at the sticks and Carr — the best in-game dunker in college basketball — itching to hang on the rims. The defense should be really good with Fears and sophomore Jordan Scott embracing tough assignments, although MSU will miss big man Carson Cooper, who doused a ton of fires. Bonke isn't close to Cooper defensively, which opens the door for high-ceiling freshman Ethan Taylor to earn minutes.

Depth, defense, rebounding, and an awesome transition attack should keep Michigan State's floor really high, but the ceiling gets enticing because this offense has way more juice than a year ago when Fears was often the only player on the floor who could dribble. Michigan State turned it over 17.7% of the time in Big Ten play. That ranked 16th in the league and frustrated Izzo to no end because it limited MSU's chances to hit the offensive boards. This backcourt has far more creators and shot-makers, with Scott poised for a Year 2 jump, Kur Teng staying steady and talented freshmen like Jasiah Jervis and Carlos Medlock Jr. adding a jolt. Having multiple creators should make everything easier offensively, and don't overlook the return to form of Kaleb Glenn. The 6-7 wing is built like a brick house. He's a starter for a ton of high-major teams, but he's currently slated to come off the bench for a MSU rotation that goes super deep.

If Michigan State's centers are up to the task defensively, the Spartans can win six in a row.

Projected starting lineup

- G Jeremy Fears Jr . - G Jordan Scott - F Coen Carr - F Cam Ward - C Anton Bonke (Charlotte transfer)

Top reserves: G Kur Teng , G Carlos Medlock Jr., F Kaleb Glenn , C Ethan Taylor, F Jesse McCulloch , G Jasiah Jervis

3. Michigan

Breakdown : It's unrealistic to expect Michigan 's sequel to be anything similar to one of the most dominant teams in the modern era of college basketball. This Michigan defense will take a step back after being a ridiculous fortress. That's what happens when you lose three lottery picks in Yaxel Lendeborg, Aday Mara and Morez Johnson Jr., who just happened to be three of the best five defenders in the Big Ten.

Slippage is imminent, but there is a real path to being a top-15 team again because this starting lineup projects to be one of the best in the league, even after a devastating season-ending knee injury to five-star freshman Brandon McCoy. Elliot Cadeau is one of the best five point guards in the sport. Trey McKenney shot 38% from 3-point range, 58% on midrange jumpers and 60% at the rim last year. With a much bigger role, McKenney is poised to chase All-American heights. Rugged defender Roddy Gayle is trying to return to Michigan for a fifth season of eligibility, and he'll start at the 3 if the judicial system concurs. The new-look frontcourt of Tennessee transfer JP Estrella and Cincinnati transfer Moustapha Thiam were hand-picked by Dusty May, who has an impeccable eye for talent. Estrella will be productive, but Thiam could be a menacing two-way star in this scheme, as long as he can chill out on taking every single jumper possible and get back to Hulk-smashing lobs from Cadeau.

That starting five is full of veteran, two-way players who have played a ton of high-major basketball. Michigan's depth questions are obvious, but it won't be that big of a deal, especially if freshman forward Quinn Costello can drill 3-pointers and Danish 7-3 center Marcus Møller continues his upward trajectory to land the backup center gig.

Michigan won't win the National Championship this year because this roster doesn't have Juke Harris (who verbally committed to Michigan before recanting and landing at Tennessee) and McCoy, its dynamic five-star, who blew out his knee before he could play in a game that counts. Two more future NBA players would've made this Michigan roster undeniable. Instead, this is just a really good team that lost its one-of-one coach to the Dallas Mavericks.

It is what it is.

Projected starting lineup

- G Elliot Cadeau - G Trey McKenney - G Roddy Gayle Jr . (if eligible) - F JP Estrella (Tennessee transfer) - C Moustapha Thiam (Cincinnati transfer)

Top reserves: F Jalen Reed , F Quinn Costello, G Ricky Liburd , C Marcus Møller, G Kenny Noland (if eligible), F Oscar Goodman

4. UCLA

Breakdown:  Retention mixed with a couple good transfers and some talented freshmen is the recipe. UCLA copied that blueprint this spring. Trent Perry, Eric Dailey Jr. and Xavier Booker all returned, and UCLA complemented them nicely with automatic

_Originally reported by [CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/big-ten-expert-picks-projected-order-of-finish-preseason-predictions-top-players-to-watch-starting-lineups/)._