Illinois Basketball Will Dominate Next Year If THIS Happens, Portal Trends, Michigan Good News, & Breakaway Getting Closer

The Big Ten Huddle Podcast · Apr 9, 2026 · 53m

Big Ten Basketball News: Illinois could have a TOP 5 starting lineup with John Blackwell from Wisconsin + retention. Plus 5 players in the transfer portal trending toward Big Ten teams (Rob Wright to Ohio State?, Andrew McKeever to Iowa/Purdue, Tyrone Riley, Riley Allenspach, Marcus Burton to Indiana). Michigan football & basketball get a TRIPLE DOSE of good news (Kamden Lopati flip?, LJ Cason redshirt, Juke Harris & Flory Bidunga interest). More developments inch the Big Ten and SEC toward breaking away from the NCAA.

JR breaks down why Illinois basketball could be a preseason top 3 (or even…