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Welcome to “Good Morning, Illini Nation,” your daily dose of college basketball news from Illini beat writer and AP Top 25 voter Scott Richey. He’ll offer up insights every morning on Brad Underwood’s team and college basketball at large:

The final 2-3 weeks of October are prime overreaction season in college basketball. Exhibitions and “secret” scrimmages provide plenty of fodder to dissect, debate and, in large part, direct some wild opinions. So here’s 18 thoughts on 18 Big Ten teams — overreactions or not — with the season less than a week away:

1. Purdue

The Boilermakers’ 78-65 loss at Kentucky clearly signifies their status as no longer the No. 1 team in the country. Or maybe Purdue had a terrible shooting night (going 3 of 17 from three-point range won’t win you many games) and the Wildcats are, in fact, a deep, dangerous team that had home-court advantage.

2. Illinois

I went here already (check out yesterday’s Good Morning, Illini Nation), but Kylan Boswell is my sort of under-the-radar candidate to earn All-Big Ten honors come the end of the season. How a healthy Andrej Stojakovic affects Boswell’s role and production is to be determined, but I’m convinced the Boswell Illinois gets in 2025-26 is the same one the Illini got at the end of the 2024-25 season.

3. Michigan

I asked Dusty May at Big Ten media days how he’d work with a loaded frontcourt featuring Yaxel Lendeborg, Morez Johnson Jr. and Aday Mara. Turns out it’s not that hard. Michigan’s top three bigs combined for 53 points and 23 rebounds in Saturday’s win against St. John’s

4. UCLA

Donovan Dent might be the Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Big Ten. UCLA’s new point guard drew eight fouls in the Bruins’ win against San Diego State, made all 10 of his free throws and finished with a team-high 18 points in the 67-60 victory.

5. Washington

Maryland guard Darius Adams got my vote as preseason Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Exhibition season has already changed my mind. Give me Hannes Steinbach (unless it’s Illinois’ David Mirkovic). Steinbach, a 6-11 forward from Germany was a force (22 points, 16 rebounds) in Washington’s win against UNLV.

6. Oregon

No Jackson Shelstad, no problem. The Ducks could be without their starting point guard when the season starts. Apparently, he wants to play, but it’s in the doctors’ hands. If he can’t go, Oregon could be OK. Chinese guard Wei Lin (and Dezdrick Lindsay) seem like capable stand-ins.

7. Iowa

The Hawkeyes went with a pair of scrimmages against Saint Louis and Texas Tech instead of playing an exhibition. What are you trying to hide Ben McCollum?

8. Michigan State

Tom Izzo has to be thrilled that Coen Carr seems poised for a full breakout season. Carr, who had 17 points, five rebounds and four assists against Bowling Green, represents what Izzo prefers in college basketball — a guy that stuck around and got better.

9. Wisconsin

John Blackwell could be a Big Ten star. The Badgers might also not have enough around him. They’ve pinned a lot of hopes on incoming transfers Nick Boyd and Austin Rapp. Wisconsin will need more from Nolan Winter than the 10 points and five rebounds he had in its loss to Oklahoma.

10. Ohio State

Christoph Tilly as a playmaking 7-footer wasn’t on my BINGO card for the Buckeyes in the preseason. The Santa Clara transfer did have 15 games with at least assists in three seasons with the Broncos, but Ohio State ran offense through him to the tune of seven assists against Ohio. (Now, just do it to against not an overmatched MAC squad).

11. Indiana

Lamar Wilkerson led the Hoosiers with 26 points in their win against Baylor. How he did it was the surprise. Wilkerson shot 40 percent from three-point range last season at Sam Houston State. He led a parade to the free throw line against the Bears, though, going 11 of 11 (while also making 3 of 9 threes).

12. USC

Did I expect freshman guard Jerry Easter II to play nearly 32 minutes and put up 10 points and 11 rebounds in USC’s exhibition win against Grand Canyon? No. Will Easter have that kind of opportunity moving forward? One would assume so given the uncertainty of Alijah Arenas’ knee injury.

13. Maryland

14. Nebraska

Turn up the hype for the ‘Huskers. It’s the only logical thing to do after their exhibition win against BYU. Star freshman AJ Dybantsa did score 30 points for the Cougars, but Rienk Mast countered with 31 (knocking down 7 of 8 threes in the process). A healthy Mast might get Nebraska to the NCAA tournament.

15. Northwestern

The hunt to find some help for Nick Martinelli is a work in progress. Three other Wildcats scored in double figures to go with Martinelli’s team-high 20 in their loss to Iowa State, but the whole situation still strikes me as not enough around the star forward to make a real difference.

16. Minnesota

Congratulations to the Gophers for sweeping their way through the state of North Dakota this month. If Cade Tyson can be the player he was at Belmont (actually good) and not the one he turned into at North Carolina (a nonentity), Minnesota might surprise some teams. The Bison and Fighting Hawks experienced that with Tyson averaging 27 points as a 69/67/89 shooter.

17. Rutgers

The Scarlet Knights will play their season opener Nov. 5 against Rider without playing a public exhibition. Might be the smart move. No need to turn fans away before the games actually count.

18. Penn State

Kayden Mingo is the frontrunner for Big Ten Freshman of the Year after receiving one more vote than Steinbach and Michigan’s Trey McKenney. The one thing going against Mingo? He’s likely to epitomize “good stats, bad team” with the Nittany Lions this season, and that’s already started in exhibition season.