Media Picks Michigan Basketball To Win Second-Straight Big Ten Title

Michigan basketball won the outright Big Ten title last season, head coach Juwan Howard's second at the helm, and has been picked to win the league once again in 2021-22, with the Wolverines topping the "official unofficial" media poll organized by The Columbus Dispatch and The Athletic. Two beat writers from all 14 markets filled out ballots.

The Maize and Blue, who were the only squad from the league to advance to the 2021 NCAA Tournament's second weekend, received the same amount of voting points as Purdue, which slots second, but garnered 13 first-place votes to the Boilermakers' 12. Illinois is the only other team which had first-place votes, with three. No media member casted a ballot without both Michigan and Purdue in the top three.

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The Wolverines had fingerprints all over the poll, with sophomore center Hunter Dickinson being named a preseason first-team All-Big Ten selection. The 7-foot-1 big man entered the 2021 NBA Draft but withdrew his name before the deadline, after averaging a team-leading 14.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per contest last season. He was named a 2020-21 first-team All-America by the Associated Press and received the Big Ten's Freshman of the Year award.

Dickinson is joined by Illinois center Kofi Cockburn, Ohio State forward E.J. Liddell, Purdue wing Jaden Ivey and Indiana big man Trayce Jackson-Davis on the first team.

Cockburn was tabbed as the preseason player of the year, while Dickinson received the fourth-most votes with three.

Michigan fifth-year senior point guard DeVante' Jones, a Coastal Carolina transfer and the reigning Sun Belt Player of the Year, got two votes for the first team. He scored 19.3 points per game for the Chanticleers last season and is expected to start at lead guard for the Maize and Blue.

Incoming Michigan freshman guard/forward Caleb Houstan, a five-star recruit and Rivals.com's No. 8 player in the class of 2021, was picked as the conference's preseason freshman of the year in the poll. He garnered 20 votes, with the second closest player, Michigan State guard Max Christie, having just seven. Houstan also received one vote for the first team.

First-place votes are in parentheses

1. Michigan, 373 (13)

2. Purdue, 373 (12)

3. Illinois, 320 (3)

4. Ohio State, 316

5. Maryland, 269

6. Michigan State, 262

7. Indiana, 219

8. Rutgers, 208

9. Iowa, 150

10. Wisconsin, 149

11. Nebraska, 105

T-12. Northwestern, 81

T-12. Penn State, 81

14. Minnesota, 34

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