Indiana picked to finish 6th in the Big Ten in “official unofficial” media poll

Big Ten media day for men’s basketball is tomorrow in Minneapolis and the annual “official unofficial” Big Ten preseason media poll was released this morning.

The unofficial poll surveys 28 writers from around the conference (two from each Big Ten beat) to get their predicted order of finish for the league.

The panel of writers is also asked to pick their preseason player of the year, preseason all-league first and second teams, preseason freshman and preseason transfer of the year.

The poll is organized by Brendan Quinn of The Athletic and Adam Jardy of The Columbus Dispatch. The Big Ten no longer conducts a full preseason media poll for men’s basketball.

You can access the complete Big Ten media poll results at this link.

Predicted order of finish for the Big Ten (first-place votes in parenthesis)

1. Purdue, 388 (24)
2. Michigan State, 368 (4)
3. Maryland, 304
4. Illinois, 301
5. Wisconsin, 276
6. Indiana, 244
7. Ohio State, 228
8. Northwestern, 195
9. Iowa, 164
10. Rutgers, 147
11. Michigan, 131
12. Nebraska, 90
13. Penn State, 71
14. Minnesota, 33

(Out of a possible 392 votes)

Full voting distribution for Indiana (a full list of the media panel that participated in the poll is available at the bottom of this post):

4th: D. Jones, Washut, McCleary
5th: B. Jones, Carmin
6th: Stevens, Siegel, Osterman, Carino, Austin, Richey, Tachman, Jardy, Greenberg, James, Fuller
7th: Bozich, Fonseca, Quinn, Burkhardt, Werner, Leistikow, Landis, Moore, Potrykus
8th: Couch, Cervantes
9th: Neubert

Preseason Big Ten player, freshman and transfer of the year

Purdue’s Zach Edey was voted Big Ten preseason player of the year, but it was not unanimous. Edey received 27 of a possible 28 votes. The other vote went to Michigan State’s Tyson Walker.

Indiana’s Mackenzie Mgbako was voted Big Ten preseason freshman of the year. Mgbako received 19 votes. Others receiving votes included Maryland’s DeShawn Harris-Smith (5), Michigan State’s Xavier Booker (2), Purdue’s Myles Colvin (1) and Ohio State’s Scotty Middleton (1).

Penn State’s Ace Baldwin was voted Big Ten preseason transfer of the year. Baldwin received 14 votes. Other receiving votes included Michigan’s Olivier Nkamhoua (6), Ohio State’s Jamison Battle (4), Indiana’s Kel’el Ware (2) and Wisconsin’s AJ Storr (2).

Preseason All-Big Ten teams

Players received two points for a first-team vote and one point for a second-team vote.

First team (unanimous selections in all caps)
ZACH EDEY, Purdue 56
Jahmir Young, Maryland 55
Terrence Shannon Jr., Illinois 55
Tyson Walker, Michigan State 46
Boo Buie, Northwestern 45

Second team
Clifford Omoruyi, Rutgers 36
A.J. Hoggard, Michigan State 26
Ace Baldwin, Penn State 11
Keisei Tominaga, Nebraska 11
Coleman Hawkins, Illinois 8

Others receiving votes: Bruce Thornton, Ohio State 7; Julian Reese, Maryland 6; Steven Crowl, Wisconsin 5; Dawson Garcia, Minnesota 5; Braden Smith, Purdue 5; Chucky Hepburn, Wisconsin 4; Xavier Johnson, Indiana 4; Zed Key, Ohio State 4; Mackenzie Mgbako, Indiana 4; Payton Sandfort, Iowa 4; Jaden Akins, Michigan State 3; Connor Essegian, Wisconsin 3; Olivier Nkamhoua, Michigan 3; Tony Perkins, Iowa 3; Jamison Battle, Ohio State 2; Fletcher Loyer, Purdue 2; AJ Storr, Wisconsin 2; Tyler Wahl, Wisconsin 2; Malik Hall, Michigan State 1; Ben Krikke, Iowa 1; Donta Scott, Maryland 1; Kel’el Ware, Indiana 1.

How Alex Bozich of Inside the Hall voted

1. Purdue
2. Michigan State
3. Maryland
4. Illinois
5. Ohio State
6. Wisconsin
7. Indiana
8. Northwestern
9. Rutgers
10. Iowa
11. Michigan
12. Nebraska
13. Penn State
14. Minnesota

Player of the year: Zach Edey, Purdue
Transfer of the year: Olivier Nkamhoua, Michigan
Freshman of the year: Mackenzie Mgbako, Indiana

Preseason First team All-League: Edey, Terrence Shannon Jr., Tyson Walker, Jahmir Young, Boo Buie

Preseason Second team All-League: Clifford Omoruyi, Coleman Hawkins, AJ Hoggard, Ace Baldwin, Nkamhoua

Complete list of voters (two from each Big Ten beat)

Filed to: 2023-24 Big Ten preview