Where Michigan basketball stands in 2025-26 preseason Big Ten media poll

The Columbus Dispatch released its ninth-annual “unofficial official” Big Ten Media poll, and Michigan Wolverines basketball checked in No. 2. Twenty eight media members participated in voting.

The Maize and Blue stand behind only No. 1 Purdue, checking in with three first-place votes to the Boilermakers’ 25. No other team received a first-place tally.

Purdue totaled 501 points, while Michigan was at 472. There’s a steep drop-off after the top two, with UCLA (417), Illinois (411) being the next highest.

Michigan graduate guard Nimari Burnett and senior guard Roddy Gayle Jr., the Wolverines’ two player representatives at Big Ten Media Day in Chicago this week, reacted to being picked second in the league.

“My reaction to being picked second is, ‘Thank you,'” Burnett said. “We weren’t picked top whatever last year, so I’m excited to get to No. 1.”

“I would say it’s very important for us to have that respect from people to be at No. 2, but we strive for greatness, such as No. 1. It’s important for us to kind of understand where we are but take a step back and ignore the noise and be able to build on us. And I think that’s kind of where we are.”

Michigan graduate forward Yaxel Lendeborg was named the Big Ten Transfer of the Year. Guard Trey McKenney, meanwhile, received votes as the Freshman of the Year, but that nod went to Penn State’s Kayden Mingo.

Lendeborg was also named preseason first-team All-Big Ten, along with Purdue’s Braden Smith (consensus pick) and Trey Kaufman-Renn, UCLA’s Donovan Dent and Iowa’s Bennett Stirtz. Smith was tabbed as the Player of the Year.

Michigan sophomore forward Morez Johnson Jr. also received votes for All-Big Ten.

Last season, Michigan was picked to finish ninth in the conference and wound up tied second at the end of the regular season, before winning the Big Ten Tournament championship for the fourth time in school history.

Here’s a look at Michigan’s placement in the media poll over the years:

Season	Preseason Big Ten Rank	Postseason Placement	Record (Conf. Record)
2024-25	9th	T-2nd	27-10 (14-6)
2023-24	11th	14th	8-24 (3-17)
2022-23	3rd	T-5th	18-16 (11-9)
2021-22	1	T-7	19-15 (11-9)
2020-21	6	1	23-5 (14-3)
2019-20	5	9	19-12 (10-10)
2018-19	2	3	30-7 (15-5)
2017-18	T-5	T-4	33-8 (13-5)

Big Ten basketball media poll 2025-26

1. Purdue (25 first-place votes), 501 points
2. Michigan (3), 472
3. UCLA, 417
4. Illinois, 411
5. Oregon, 338
6. Michigan State, 360
7. Wisconsin, 328
8. Iowa, 278
9. Ohio State, 272
10. Indiana, 245
11. Washington, 239
12. USC, 227
13. Maryland, 210
14. Nebraska, 149
15. Northwestern, 119
16. Minnesota, 95
17. Rutgers, 54
18. Penn State, 43