Big Ten Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2022-23 season
1. team. 482. . . . Hoosiers
Welcome back to the top, Indiana! Not sure anyone expected Mike Woodson to have the Hoosiers as the Big Ten favorite – or at least in the top tier – this early in his tenure, but here we are.
Despite sporting a losing record in Big Ten regular season play, the Hoosiers made a run to the semifinals of the conference tournament last year, enough to make the First Four of the NCAA Tournament. They knocked off Wyoming before losing to Saint Mary’s in the first round.
Among those who moved on from the program in the offseason were guards Rob Phinisee and Khristian Lander. They transferred to Cincinnati and Western Kentucky, respectively.
More notable is who’s back: Trayce Jackson-Davis. The forward flirted with the NBA Draft before deciding to come back for another year in Bloomington. He averaged 18.3 points and 8.1 rebounds per game last season and should be a top candidate for Big Ten Player of the Year this season.
Most of the supporting cast is back too, including Trey Galloway, Miller Kopp, Race Thompson, and Xavier Johnson. Johnson had one of the best distributing seasons in Indiana history last year, but was arrested in the offseason for reckless driving and resisting arrest. It’s not clear what his status is for the season.
Woodson also has a vaunted recruiting class coming in, led by five-star guard Jalen Hood-Schifino and five-star forward Malik Reneau. The contributions of Reneau as a freshman could be an X-factor, but Hood-Schifino should garner immediate minutes.
Strengths and weaknesses of Top 25 teams. dark. Next
Indiana isn’t leaps and bounds ahead of the pack, but Jackson-Davis is probably going to be the best player in the conference and that automatically makes the Hoosiers one of the best teams in the conference. The program hasn’t won a Big Ten title since 2016, but this may be the year.