The Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball program will begin unranked in the Associated Press preseason Top 25 for the third consecutive season. The Badgers received five votes in the AP Poll.
Wisconsin enters the 2024-25 season looking to retool in Greg Gard's 10th season at the program's helm. The Badgers lost leading scorer A.J. Storr, starting point guard Chucky Hepburn, and reserve Connor Essegian to the transfer portal. Tyler Wahl exhausted his eligibility and signed a professional basketball contract in Croatia.
Leading rebounder Steven Crowl returns for Wisconsin, as do guards Max Klesmit, John Blackwell, and Kamari McGee. Greg Gard is high on Blackwell, having compared his mindset to Johnny Davis. Wisconsin was active in the transfer portal last offseason and landed guard Camren Hunter (Central Arkansas), forward John Tonje (Missouri), and forward Xavier Amos (Northern Illinois). The Badgers also landed an international basketball prospect from Italy in big-man Riccardo Greppi.
Kansas is the preseason no. 1 ranked team entering the 2024-25 men's college basketball season. The Jayhawks received the top ranking from half of the 60 ballots submitted by the AP Panel.
Purdue returns as the top-ranked team in the Big Ten Conference. The Boilermakers enter this season ranked 14th in the AP Poll, but Matt Painter must look to replace the program's all-time leading scorer and two-time Naismith Player of the Year, Zach Edey.
Purdue is followed by their interstate rival, Indiana, at no. 17. Mike Woodson's Hoosiers landed coveted transfers Oumar Ballo from Arizona, Kanaan Carlyle from Stanford, and Myles Rice from Washington State.
The Rutgers Scarlet Knights enter at no. 25 after landing Rivals top-five high school recruits, Airious Bailey and Dylan Harper. Other Big Ten teams receiving votes are Illinois (92), Michigan State (29), Ohio State (29), Michigan (19), Oregon (12), and Maryland (1).