Big Ten basketball preseason power rankings: Where do the former Pac-12 teams fit in?

• Key returning players: Dylan Andrews, Sebastian Mack, Lazar Stefanovic
• Key losses: Adem Bona
• Incoming notable transfers: Kobe Johnson, William Kyle, Tyler Bilodeau, Skyy Clark, Eric Dailey Jr.
• Incoming top 150 recruits: Trent Perry, Eric Freeny

Head coach Mick Cronin did not foresee his 2023-24 season going the way it did, and he will look to learn from it and build for the future. Besides starting center Adem Bona, Cronin retained the core of Dylan Andrews, Sebastian Mack, and Lazar Stefanovic. The Bruins also landed a top-ten transfer in Kobe Johnson and a handful of four-star transfers. Cronin has led UCLA to vast success in his time in Los Angeles, and expect him to have a bounce-back season with this fiery squad.

• Key returning players: Ty Rodgers
• Key losses: Terrence Shannon, Marcus Domask, Coleman Hawkins, Quincy Guerrier, Dain Dainja, Luke Goode, Justin Harmon
• Incoming notable transfers: Kylan Boswell, Tre White, Carey Booth, Ben Humrichous
• Incoming top 150 recruits: Will Riley, Morez Johnson, Kasparas Jakucionis, Tomislav Ivisic

Last season, Illinois reached the Elite 8 for the first time in the Brad Underwood era. Underwood lost nearly all of his talent, including All-American Terrence Shannon. To rebuild the roster, Underwood went to the portal and picked up former Arizona point guard Kylan Boswell to run his offense. Illinois did a great job with recruiting talent for their team this season, including spanning across the Atlantic into Europe for two international players Kasparas Jakucionis and Tomislav Ivisic. They signed four top 60 recruits which helps set up a foundation of youth for the program, after having one of the oldest teams in the conference last season. Heavily relying on freshmen is not the best recipe for success, but it still boasts them into a top-third Big Ten team heading into the season.