The Purdue Boilermakers, coached by Matt Painter, are expected, by many, to be the best program coming out of the 2026 Big Ten Conference. This includes college basketball analyst Jon Rothstein, who delved deep into this narrative in his latest video on CBS Sports College Basketball’s YouTube channel on Monday, July 7.
However, Rothstein also named the team that he believes will be a threat to the Boilermakers in the conference in the 2025-26 season, which is Dusty May’s Michigan Wolverines. Purdue has had a successful offseason with its player retention and will look to reach the NCAA national title game once again, as they did in 2024.
“There is a little bit of a seesaw effect for Dusty May entering his second season in Ann Arbor because Michigan has really good retention, and Michigan also did yeoman’s work in the transfer portal,” Rothstein explained. (3:57)
Rothstein pointed out that last year, Michigan reached the second weekend of the NCAA tournament and lost to Auburn in the Sweet 16.
The Boilermakers finished the recently concluded season with an overall record of 24-12 (13-7, Big Ten) and made it to the Sweet 16 of this year’s national tournament, losing to the eventual finalists, the Houston Cougars, by two points, 62-60.
Jon Rothstein Details The Kind Of 2025-26 Roster Coach Dusty May Will Have With The Michigan Wolverines in Big Ten
In his breakdown of coach Dusty May’s potential lineup for the 2025-26 season, Jon Rothstein dived deep on who exactly could be fielded in for the Michigan Wolverines from their significant number of returning players, similar to the Purdue Boilermakers, to their transfer portal recruitments in both the backcourt and in the frontcourt.
“Here is who is back for Michigan: Roddy Gayle, Nimario Bernett, two guys who played major roles in the perimeter, Will Tschetter, a valuable reserve, and also LJ Cason, who could take a step forward this year in his second year in Dusty’s system,” Rothstein said in the same video. (4:33)
“Elliot Cadeau from North Carolina will replace Tre Donaldson at point guard, that solidifes the point guard spot for Michigan. We also have to like the influx of bigs for Michigan, Yaxel Lendeborg from UAB, Aday Mara from UCLA and Morez Johnson from Illinois,” he added.
The Wolverines look to uncork a better outing in the upcoming college basketball season after they finished the 2024-25 campaign with an overall record of 27-10 (14-6, Big Ten) and were eliminated in the Sweet 16 of this year’s March Madness.
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