Where Michigan, Illinois, Michigan State, Purdue, Wisconsin, Nebraska landed in AP Top 25

The Big Ten Tournament returns to Chicago for the first time since 2023 on the men's side, featuring all 18 schools with the first set of games beginning Tuesday.

Monday saw the latest AP Poll get released, which featured some major shuffling across the Big Ten ahead of postseason play over the next several weeks.

For starters, the Michigan Wolverines (29-2) stayed at No. 3 after having secured the outright regular season title to end the month of February. Michigan swept its season series with Michigan State this past Sunday in Ann Arbor, securing a 90-80 win on Senior Day.

Elsewhere, the Illinois Fighting Illini (24-7) returned to the top 10 after back-to-back wins this past week, ending the regular season at No. 9 with a 78-72 road win against the Maryland Terrapins Sunday.

Unlike some years, though, this year's league may just be a little extra top-heavy.

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The Cornhuskers (26-5) just barely missed finishing as a top 10 team entering the conference tournament, as they fell two spots to No. 11 despite an 84-75 overtime win Sunday against the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Two more Big Ten teams are part of the conversation, too, having just played each other. The Purdue Boilermakers (23-8) fell three spots to No. 18 after dropping their season finale to the Wisconsin Badgers (22-9), as they remained at No. 23.

The top-four seeds in this year's Big Ten Tournament could all find themselves playing for a title on Sunday or be eliminated come Friday afternoon or evening.

In a review of the bracket, a few intriguing matchups could potentially come to fruition. Should Illinois defeat its Friday opponent (a combination of the USC Trojans, Washington Huskies, or Wisconsin Badgers, barring other results), it would likely rematch the Wolverines in the semifinals exactly 15 days from their lone regular-season meeting in Champaign. 

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The Wolverines won 84-70, which was a revenge game for former Illini standout Morez Johnson Jr.

Looking at the other end of the bracket, Michigan State could be awaiting the likes of Purdue or Nebraska in the semifinals should it beat the UCLA Bruins, Minnesota Golden Gophers, or Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

The Spartans' last tournament title came in 2019, while the Wolverines will attempt to go back-to-back. Illinois is trying to win its third conference tournament title since 2021.

We'll see how the games shake out, but with March Madness around the corner, anything is possible.

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