Conference media members believe Ohio State basketball will improve this year.
The Buckeyes' men's basketball team was selected to finish seventh in the Big Ten by the conference’s unofficial media poll, which was compiled by The Athletic’s Brendan Quinn and Adam Jardy of the Columbus Dispatch.
Defending Big Ten regular season and tournament champion Purdue, who returns star center Zach Edey, is picked to finish first in the conference and received 24 of 28 first-place votes in the poll.
Michigan State collected the other four first-place votes to finish second in the prognostication. Maryland, Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana, in that order, bridge the gap to Ohio State.
| Rank | Team | Votes | First-place votes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
 Purdue
|
388 | 24 |
| 2 |
 Michigan State
|
368 | 4 |
| 3 |
 Maryland
|
304 | |
| 4 |
 Illinois
|
301 | |
| 5 |
 Wisconsin
|
276 | |
| 6 |
 Indiana
|
244 | |
| 7 |
 Ohio State
|
228 | |
| 8 |
 Northwestern
|
195 | |
| 9 |
 Iowa
|
164 | |
| 10 |
 Rutgers
|
147 | |
| 11 |
 Michigan
|
131 | |
| 12 |
 Nebraska
|
90 | |
| 13 |
 Penn State
|
71 | |
| 14 |
 Minnesota
|
33 |
Seventh would be an upgrade of six spots from Ohio State's 13th-place finish in the conference in 2022-23. The Buckeyes finished a dismal 5-15 in conference play and went 16-19 overall, not even making the NIT, let alone the NCAA Tournament. They lost 14 of 15 games in conference play during a brutal streak in January and February.
The unofficial preseason media poll also gathered picks for Big Ten Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year, Transfer of the Year and the All-Big Ten teams. Edey, who won the award last year, received 27 of 28 votes for Player of the Year, with Michigan State's Tyson Walker receiving the lone other vote.
Buckeye forward Jamison Battle received four votes for Transfer of the Year, with Penn State guard Ace Baldwin Jr. leading the charge in that category at 14 votes. Indiana forward Mackenzie Mgbako is the pick for Freshman of the Year with 19 votes, though Ohio State's Scotty Middleton did receive one vote in that category.
No Buckeyes were selected as favorites to earn first-team or second-team All-Big Ten honors in 2023-24, though Bruce Thornton received the most votes among players who didn’t make the first or second team.
