Chicago — It's a great time to be an Ohio State fan.
With its football team already ranked No. 1 in the nation, the Buckeyes men's basketball team was named by both the media and coaches as the Big Ten preseason favorite Sunday at Media Day.
After turmoil and self-imposed sanctions the past few years, the sun is shining bright in Columbus.
"I told our veteran players from year one — come in and help us rebuild this program," said Ohio State head coach Thad Matta, whose team is ranked No. 4 in the ESPN/USA Today preseason poll. "Last year, nobody knew we had a basketball team."
Only the top three of each poll was released, and MSU wasn't included in either. That's an unusual sight for MSU head coach Tom Izzo, but he plans to use it as a tool to motivate his team.
"Expectations were high last year, and we didn't finish where we wanted to, even though I felt it was a better year than some did," Izzo said. "This year, we're not going to be picked as high, so let's see if we can turn the tables."
Buckeyes freshman Greg Oden was named to the preseason All-Big Ten team, the first freshman named to the team since at least the 1993-94 season. Records for preseason teams aren't available before then.
Joining Tucker and Oden on the preseason All-Big Ten team are Indiana forward D.J. White, Iowa guard Adam Haluska and Penn State guard Geary Claxton.
Oden, whom Purdue head coach Matt Painter called the best player in the country, underwent wrist surgery in the offseason. Matta hopes to have him back in time for conference play.
"He's such a level-headed kid," Matta said. "He knows it's going to be a process."
Wisconsin, which boasts Preseason Player of the Year Alando Tucker, was picked to finish second in both polls.
"I have high expectations — I always set my goals high," said Tucker, who said he's healed from the broken nose that forced him to wear a protective mask most of last season. "But with this team that we have now, I can truly say that this is one of the deepest teams that I've played on and that takes a lot of pressure off certain guys."
Illinois head coach Bruce Weber, whose team was selected to finish third, sees a transition year for his squad with the loss of guard Dee Brown and center James Augustine to the NBA.
"Much like my first year here, the system is in place, but we have to piece the roles together," he said. "We had to figure things out, but in January, things started clicking. We may have to go through that a little this year."
