Big Ten Conference · men's CBB 2026-27 preview
Ratings as of 2026-10-07 · preseason, no 2026-27 games played
Rating line · rank among 364
Offense and defense are points per 100 possessions against an average D-I opponent. Net rating is the gap between them.
32 games · 20 in conference · expected wins 20.3
Each game gets a spread and a win probability from the ratings. Expected wins is the sum of those probabilities, rounded for the record.
| # | Date (ET) | Opponent | Site | Spread | Win prob. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mon Nov 2, 9:00 PM ET | BYU #27 | Neutral at Delta Center Bad Boy Mowers Series | +0.6 | 48% |
| 2 | Fri Nov 6, time TBA | Youngstown State #242 | Home | −19.6 | 96% |
| 3 | Mon Nov 9, 6:00 PM ET | Marshall #241 | Home | −20.2 | 97% |
| 4 | Fri Nov 13, 7:30 PM ET | UConn #13 Top 5 hardest | Away | +5.2 | 32% |
| 5 | Mon Nov 16, time TBA | Prairie View A&M #280 | Home | −22.1 | 98% |
| 6 | Thu Nov 19, 7:00 PM ET | UMBC #192 | Home | −17.0 | 94% |
| 7 | Tue Nov 24, 7:00 PM ET | Vanderbilt #18 | Home | −0.3 | 51% |
| 8 | Sun Nov 29, 5:30 PM ET | Lipscomb #188 | Home | −17.6 | 94% |
| 9 | Wed Dec 2, 8:30 PM ET | Nebraska #15 Top 5 hardest | Away · conference | +5.0 | 32% |
| 10 | Sun Dec 6, 12:00 PM ET | Maryland #97 | Home · conference | −10.6 | 83% |
| 11 | Sat Dec 12, 2:30 PM ET | Notre Dame #74 | Away | −4.4 | 66% |
| 12 | Tue Dec 15, 6:00 PM ET | Stony Brook #249 | Home | −19.7 | 96% |
| 13 | Sat Dec 19, 12:00 PM ET | Kansas #14 | Neutral at Madison Square Garden CBS Sports Classic | +3.2 | 38% |
| 14 | Tue Dec 22, 4:00 PM ET | Mississippi Valley State #360 | Home | −29.7 | >99% |
| 15 | Wed Dec 30, 4:00 PM ET | Oregon #75 | Home · conference | −8.5 | 78% |
| 16 | Sat Jan 2, 12:00 PM ET | Iowa #31 | Away · conference | +1.8 | 43% |
| 17 | Wed Jan 6, 6:30 PM ET | Northwestern #64 | Home · conference | −7.0 | 74% |
| 18 | Sat Jan 9, 4:00 PM ET | Illinois #5 Top 5 hardest | Away · conference | +7.8 | 24% |
| 19 | Tue Jan 12, 8:00 PM ET | Purdue #21 | Away · conference | +3.3 | 38% |
| 20 | Sun Jan 17, 12:00 PM ET | Penn State #108 | Home · conference | −12.1 | 87% |
| 21 | Sat Jan 23, 1:00 PM ET | Michigan State #12 | Home · conference | +1.7 | 44% |
| 22 | Tue Jan 26, 6:00 PM ET | Iowa #31 | Home · conference | −2.0 | 57% |
| 23 | Sat Jan 30, time TBA | Michigan #2 Top 5 hardest | Away · conference | +10.9 | 16% |
| 24 | Sat Feb 6, 12:00 PM ET | Penn State #108 | Away · conference | −8.1 | 77% |
| 25 | Tue Feb 9, 8:30 PM ET | Wisconsin #41 | Home · conference | −3.9 | 64% |
| 26 | Sun Feb 14, 1:00 PM ET | Washington #65 | Home · conference | −7.1 | 74% |
| 27 | Wed Feb 17, 11:00 PM ET | UCLA #45 | Away · conference | −0.4 | 51% |
| 28 | Sat Feb 20, 3:00 PM ET | USC #39 | Away · conference | +0.3 | 49% |
| 29 | Thu Feb 25, 6:30 PM ET | Rutgers #95 | Home · conference | −10.6 | 83% |
| 30 | Sun Feb 28, 3:45 PM ET | Indiana #38 | Away · conference | +0.4 | 49% |
| 31 | Thu Mar 4, 8:30 PM ET | Minnesota #87 | Away · conference | −5.6 | 69% |
| 32 | Sun Mar 7, 2:15 PM ET | Michigan #2 Top 5 hardest | Home · conference | +6.7 | 27% |
Spread is from Ohio State's side: a minus sign means favored. Opponent numbers are ATO model ranks out of 364. Neutral sites carry no home edge.
15 players · sorted by projected minutes
Last season is each player's own line from the roster sheet. The projection columns are the 2026-27 per-game line from the best ball projection.
Swipe the table sideways; the player column stays put.
| Player | Pos | Ht | Class | Type | Rivals | PPG | RPG | APG | MPG | Proj MPG | Proj PTS | Proj REB | Proj AST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Justin Pippen | PG | 6-4 | JR | Transfer | #69 | 14.2 | 3.9 | 4.6 | 30.8 | 23.4 | 11.2 | 3.1 | 3.5 |
| Jimmie Williams | SG | 6-4 | SR | Transfer | · | 15.1 | 4.5 | 2.6 | 29.7 | 23.4 | 11.6 | 3.4 | 2.0 |
| John Mobley Jr. | PG | 6-2 | JR | Returning | #54 | 15.7 | 2.4 | 2.8 | 31.6 | 22.8 | 12.1 | 2.0 | 2.2 |
| Amare Bynum | PF | 6-8 | SO | Returning | #58 | 9.7 | 4.9 | 1.1 | 28.5 | 21.2 | 8.2 | 4.0 | 1.0 |
| Anthony Thompson | SF | 6-9 | FR | Recruit | #12 | · | · | · | · | 19.4 | 7.0 | 4.0 | 0.9 |
| Curtis Givens III | PG | 6-3 | JR | Transfer | #61 | 9.4 | 2.1 | 2.3 | 25.6 | 17.0 | 6.6 | 1.6 | 1.6 |
| Andrija Jelavic | PF | 6-11 | JR | Transfer | · | 5.5 | 4.0 | 0.7 | 15.6 | 14.5 | 5.5 | 3.6 | 0.8 |
| LJ Smith | SG | 6-4 | FR | Recruit | #52 | · | · | · | · | 12.1 | 4.5 | 1.5 | 1.0 |
| Ivan Njegovan | C | 7-2 | JR | Returning | · | 2.6 | 3.0 | 0.7 | 11.4 | 10.9 | 3.2 | 2.9 | 0.6 |
| Alex Smith | PF | 6-9 | FR | Recruit | #168 | · | · | · | · | 10.3 | 3.8 | 2.1 | 0.5 |
| Braylen Nash | SG | 6-3 | JR | Walk-on | · | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 5.5 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 0.5 |
| Josh Ojianwuna | C | 6-10 | RS SR | Returning | · | 7.4 | 6.4 | 0.6 | 24.7 | · | · | · | · |
| Lee Aaliya | PF | 6-9 | FR | International | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · |
| Myles Herro | PG | 6-2 | RS FR | Returning | #288 | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · |
| Vuk Lazarevic | C | 7-1 | FR | Recruit | #371 | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · |
PPG, RPG, APG, MPG are last season. Rivals is the recruit rank where the sheet has one. A dot means no figure.
Method · updated 2026-10-07
Ratings are net points per 100 possessions against an average D-I team, built from game results and roster information. Before games are played, the starting point is a season-ahead forecast from the roster sheet. Once the season starts, results take over.
Spreads are expected scores from each team's offense, defense and tempo, with a home edge of 2.04 points and none at neutral sites. Win probability uses a normal spread of 11 points. These are estimates of what is likely, not statements about what will happen.
Minutes and per-game lines come from a best ball projection built on last season's play, transfer and recruit information. Last-season lines and recruit ranks are facts from the roster sheet.
Every game prediction is logged before tip-off and compared with the final score. We publish where the model is close and where it misses, and we change it only when the results say to.