What They’re Saying: Preseason magazines weigh in on Michigan’s 2022-23 outlook

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College basketball practices are underway across the country, and most major preview publications have hit shelves (or inboxes) across the country. We rounded up four different preseason prognostications to gauge the temperate of the Big Ten for a season that feels incredibly uncertain, but also somehow has a consensus favorite.

Michigan is picked somewhere between 2nd and 5th by the major previews that we collected with Bart Torvik’s metrics the lowest on the Wolverines.

Indiana is picked as a unanimous favorite in the conference, but there are mixed opinions in the middle of the league. Two of the most polarizing teams in the conference are Ohio State (picked as high as third and as low as 10th) and Illinois (picked 2nd by The Almanac and 7th by Lindy’s).

Here’s a look at our aggregate table combining data from Blue Ribbon, The Almanac, Bart Torvik’s T-Rank and Lindy’s.

Thie aggregate rankings make it a bit easier to break the league down into perceived tiers, something like:

• Tier 1: Indiana
• Tier 2: Michigan, Illinois, Michigan State, Purdue, Ohio State
• Tier 3: Iowa, Rutgers
• Tier 4: Wisconsin, Maryland, Penn State
• Tier 5: Minnesota, Northwestern, Nebraska

Blue Ribbon

• Blue Ribbon ranks the top three frontcourts in the league as Indiana, Purdue and Michigan. The best backcourt are Michigan State, Illinois and Ohio State.
• Hunter Dickinson is a Second Team Preseason All-American with Jackson-Davis (first team), Zach Edey (second), and Terrence Shannon Jr. (fourth).
• There are no surprises on the All-Big Ten team with Dickinson, Jackson-Davis, Edey, Kris Murray and Clifford Omoruyi. Jackson-Davis is pegged as Preseason Big Ten Player of the Year.

The Almanac

• The Almanac’s first-team All-Big Ten team features Hunter Dickinson, Trayce Jackson-Davis, Kris Murray, Zach Edey and Jalen Pickett.
• Dickinson and Jackson-Davis are both Second-Team Preseason All-Americans. Dickinson is ranked 5th in The Almanac’s Top 100 Players list.
• The Almanac’s introduction reports that “Hunter Dickinson is going to make seven figures thanks to sponsorship deals and his own merch line.”
• Michigan’s projected starting lineup is listed as Jaelin Llewellyn, Kobe Bufkin, Jett Howard, Terrance Williams II and Hunter Dickinson.

Lindy’s

• Lindy’s ranked Michigan 7th in the country but has Indiana even higher at No. 6.
• Lindy’s ranked the Big Ten as the best conference in the country this season.
• Hunter Dickinson is a Third Team Preseason All-American with Jackson-Davis and Kris Murray featured on the Second Team.
• The All-Big Ten team features Dickinson, Jackson-Davis, Murray, Zach Edey and Cliff Omoruyi.

Torvik

• Teams in the graphic above are ranked by projected T-Rank rather than conference record. Adjusting for conference record would yield the following projected finish:
  • Illinois (14-6)
  • Indiana (13-7)
  • Michigan, Purdue, Michigan State, Iowa (12-8)
  • Maryland (11-9)
  • Rutgers (10-10)
  • Wisconsin, Ohio State (9-11)
  • Penn State (8-12)
  • Nebraska, Northwestern (7-13)
  • Minnesota (6-14)