Picking the Big 10 basketball first team is usually a straightforward exercise in identifying which seven-footer at Purdue is currently destroying the earth. But 2026? It’s different. The conference is massive now—18 teams sprawling from the Atlantic to the Pacific—and the star power is scattered in ways that make the old "Midwest-only" logic feel like a relic.
Honestly, the days of just penciling in a couple of guys from Michigan State and Indiana are over. You've got West Coast transfers like Donovan Dent at UCLA and established monsters like Braden Smith at Purdue fighting for the same sliver of recognition. It's a crowded room.
The Locks: Who Owns the Big 10 Basketball First Team Right Now?
If you’re looking for a safe bet, you start in West Lafayette. Braden Smith is essentially the engine of the conference. After winning Big Ten Player of the Year in 2025, he’s back for his senior season looking like a first-team lock. Last year, he put up numbers that only guys like Jason Kidd and Kenny Anderson have touched—500 points, 270 assists, and 70 steals in a single season. He’s not just a point guard; he’s a nightmare for defensive coordinators who have to account for his 9 rebounds a game too.
Then there’s his teammate, Trey Kaufman-Renn.
With Zach Edey long gone, Kaufman-Renn finally stepped out of that shadow to average 20 points a game last year. He’s a 6-foot-9 physical problem who shoots nearly 60% from the floor. When he and Smith run the high screen, it’s basically an automatic bucket.
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But it isn't just a Purdue invitational. Nebraska is currently sitting at 16-0 as of mid-January 2026, and Brice Williams is a huge reason why. He was a first-team selection last year and hasn't slowed down a bit. He’s the type of wing player who can guard four positions and then go get you 25 on the other end without breaking a sweat.
The New Blood and Transfer Chaos
The transfer portal has fundamentally changed how we evaluate the Big 10 basketball first team. Look at Michigan. After winning the conference tournament in 2025, Dusty May went out and landed Yaxel Lendeborg from UAB.
Lendeborg is a stat-sheet stuffer. He leads the league in win shares right now (around 3.3) and has a weirdly high assist-to-turnover ratio for a guy who is 6-foot-9. He’s joined by Elliot Cadeau, the North Carolina transfer, who has turned Michigan into the fastest team in the league. If Michigan wins the regular season, one of these two has to be on that first-team ballot.
And don't sleep on the West Coast arrivals. Donovan Dent at UCLA is basically a blur. He came over from New Mexico where he was dropping 20 points and 6 assists a night. The transition to Mick Cronin’s more "deliberate" (read: slow) pace was a worry, but Dent has been too efficient to ignore. He’s currently top five in KenPom game MVPs for a reason.
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Surprises and Mid-Season Risers
Every year someone comes out of nowhere to ruin the "preseason experts" lists. This year, it's Nick Martinelli at Northwestern. He’s currently carrying a massive usage rate (over 34% of his team's buckets go through him) and just dropped 34 points in a single game earlier this season. He’s the classic Big 10 "old man game" player—nothing looks fast or pretty, but he ends the night with a double-double and a win.
Then you have the freshmen who actually lived up to the hype. Derik Queen at Maryland was the Freshman of the Year in 2025 and he’s playing like an All-American as a sophomore. He's physical, he has soft hands, and he's the only reason Maryland is staying afloat in a very deep middle class of the conference.
The "Statistical Giants" vs. "Winning Impact"
There’s always a debate about whether a guy on a losing team deserves a spot. Take Dawson Garcia at Minnesota. He’s been a second-team guy forever. He puts up 18 and 9 every night, but because Minnesota is often fighting for a .500 record, he gets overlooked for the first team.
The voters—a mix of coaches and media—tend to reward the top three teams in the standings. That’s why you see so many Purdue and Michigan names. It’s unfair, but that’s the reality of the Big 10 basketball first team voting blocks.
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How to Track the Race Yourself
If you want to stay ahead of the curve on who will actually make the cut in March, stop looking at just points per game. The Big 10 is a league of efficiency and rebounding.
- Watch the Win Shares: Players like Lendeborg and Smith dominate here because they impact the game without needing to shoot 20 times.
- Check the Double-Doubles: Jaxon Kohler at Michigan State has been a double-double machine this year. If Izzo’s squad stays in the top three, Kohler is a dark horse for a first-team spot.
- H2H Matchups: The "Big 10 First Team" is often decided in the final two weeks of the season when the top teams play each other. If Smith outplays Dent in February, that's the vote.
The next step for any serious fan is to dive into the advanced metrics on sites like KenPom or RealGM. Look for the "Hands on Buckets" (HOB) stat—it shows who is actually creating offense versus who is just finishing it.
Keep an eye on the Saturday afternoon slate on CBS and FOX. That’s where the narrative for the Big 10 basketball first team is built, and in a conference this big, narrative is often just as important as the numbers.