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Big Ten Basketball preseason power rankings: Where Does Penn State stand?

By Evan Smith

Oct 8, 2021; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry speaks to the media during Big Ten media day at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 8, 2021; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry speaks to the media during Big Ten media day at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Nittany Lions open the Big Ten Basketball season this week, as Micah Shrewsberry makes his Penn State Basketball debut against Youngstown

Penn State Basketball kicks off the Micah Shrewsberry Era Wednesday (hosting Youngstown State at 8:30 pm at the Bryce Jordan Center).

Before the Nittany Lions tipoff the 2021 Big Ten Basketball season, Victory Bell Rings takes a deep dive into the Big Ten Conference with our preseason power rankings.

team. 492. . . . Boilermakers . 1

Shrew’s former crew is a top-10 preseason team and with the depth of stars like Jaden Ivey, Trevion Williams and Zach Edey.

Purdue is, like always, a team with massive front-court depth.

Care to share the wealth, Coach Painter?

The Boilermakers have some issues from shooting outside that could cause issues come NCAA Tournament time but the Final Four is a reasonable goal for the Boilermakers.

. . Wolverines . 2. team. 485.

We should probably call this No. 1 and No. 1A, but we’ll give the nod to the Boilermakers’ experience.

Michigan lost a ton of players from last years Elite 8 team (with Franz Wagner and Isaiah Livers currently playing in the NBA).

Wolverines head coach Juwan Howard has the best incoming class in the conference, and Michigan is expected to be an extremely athletic team that will continue to play up and down Wolverine basketball.

team. 490. . . . Buckeyes . 3

Yeah, this one hurts, but who can blame Jamari Wheeler for leaving after what Sandy Barbour did to his head coach, Pat Chambers.

Wheeler adds to the froncourt of future lottery pick EJ Liddell and former Shrewsberry transfer portal target Joey Brunk.

Ohio State is one of very few teams across the country that can bang with Purdue in the paint.

team. 481. . . . Fighting Illini . 4

After a stunning loss as a No. 1 seed to in-state Loyola-Chicago and the loss of Ayo Dosunmu to the NBA, the Illini are looking to reload, not rebuild.

Kofi Cockburn tested the NBA waters but decieded to return after averaging almost 18 and 10 a year ago.

Trent Frazier, who’s been playing for Illinois since Ed DeChellis coached the Nits, are looking to avoid Illinois falling into the trap of ‘great regular season but a gag in the NCAA Tournament’ (like Villanova until a few years ago).

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