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Four Big Ten basketball teams ranked in USA Today preseason poll

By Oliver VanDervoort

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 12: The ball bounces off the rim during the Big Ten Basketball Tournament Championship game between the Michigan Wolverines and Wisconsin Badgers at Verizon Center on March 12, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 12: The ball bounces off the rim during the Big Ten Basketball Tournament Championship game between the Michigan Wolverines and Wisconsin Badgers at Verizon Center on March 12, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /
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Michigan State leads all Big Ten basketball teams in the conference as they are ranked number two in the preseason poll.

With less than a month to go before the Big Ten basketball season officially tips off, it’s time for the preseason polls. Earlier in the week we found out the Nebraska basketball team wasn’t getting much love from the conference media as they were picked to finish 13th out of 14 teams.

Today, USA Today released its preseason national Top 25. Not surprisingly, the Huskers were nowhere to be found. The teams that did make the poll show that the Big Ten conference is going to be plenty tough to navigate.

While Duke is the top-ranked team, the Michigan State Spartans aren’t far behind at number two. In fact, Duke got 20 first-place votes, Michigan State received nine and the only other team to receive any was Arizona with two.

The high ranking is quite a jump from last year, when the Spartans finished the season with a 20-15 record. Minnesota is the next highest ranked team in the conference at number 15. The Golden Gophers are coming off a 2016 season that saw them finish with a 24-10 record.

Northwestern is a bit of a surprise entry as they are ranked 20th in the USA Today poll. The Wildcats are coming off arguably the best season in the school’s history, going 24-12 and winning their first-ever NCAA tournament game.

Purdue is slated right behind Northwestern at number 21. The Boilermakers are coming off a 27-8 season a year ago.

Related Story: Nebraska Basketball: Reasonable Expectations for Tim Miles in 2017-18

Other Big Ten basketball teams that received votes were Wisconsin with 21 votes and Michigan with 13. The Nebraska basketball team was completely shut out as they joined Rutgers, Maryland, Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, Iowa and Illinois as conference teams that didn’t receive a single vote for the USA Today preseason Top 25.

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