:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/1893377/136462065.0.jpg)
Expected to be firmly in the discussion for another Big Ten title, Michigan State and Michigan were each ranked in the top four in an unofficial preseason Big Ten media poll through The Columbus Dispatch, according to James Jahnke of the Detroit Free Press.
Set to return a number of key players including guards Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr., John Beilein's Wolverines came in at No. 2 in the conference, behind only Indiana. Michigan picked up three of the poll's 24 first-place votes, while Tom Crean and the Hoosiers checked in at a near-unanimous No. 1 selection with 21 first-place selections.
Narrowly behind the third-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes sat Tom Izzo's Spartans, a program that will undoubtedly suffer the immense loss of all-everything forward Draymond Green to graduation. Michigan State beat out both Wisconsin and Minnesota for the fourth spot, and will likely remain outside of the top three when reporters from around the conference officially vote on the preseason top three at Thursday's Big Ten media day.