Big Ten Basketball: Updated 2021-22 preseason rankings after NBA Draft decisions

When it comes to the NBA Draft deadline for players to return (July 7th), an argument can be made that no conference was impacted more than Big Ten Basketball. Over half of the teams had at least one player staying in the process until the very end, with a decision that could’ve gone 50/50.

There were also some guys that were either entering the transfer portal or arriving from a different program. Then there was Kofi Cockburn, who was in the NBA Draft process, entered the transfer portal, left the NBA Draft, and became the biggest NCAA Basketball free-agent in recent memory.

The All-American big man was expected to stay in the NBA Draft and not come back to college but instead, became the center of the college hoops world for the past couple of weeks. However, the Illini ended up winning Cockburn back, getting the star center’s re-commitment over Kentucky and Florida State.

This news alone puts Illinois in the thick of the top-25 national conversation, as well as back towards the top-tier of Big Ten Basketball. But they still don’t have star guard Ayo Dosunmu and have a new-look roster overall. And with teams such as Ohio State, Iowa, and Nebraska also suffering recent departures, they may have taken a step backward in the conference hierarchy as well.

So where does Illinois stand in the Big Ten now? And is there a new preseason favorite team to beat? Here’s an updated look at the conference just a few months away from the 2020-21 season?