by JEFF POTRYKUS, Staff, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel , Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

That might be the best way to describe the state of the University of Wisconsin men's and women's basketball programs, at least relative to their Big Ten Conference counterparts.

Not surprisingly, the UW men didn't crack the top three of the Big Ten preseason poll released during media day Thursday in Rosemont, Ill.

Defending Big Ten champion and national runner-up Michigan State was No. 1, followed by Purdue and Ohio State.

A 24-member panel voted on the picks. League officials only ask for the top three choices.

In addition, no UW player garnered any preseason honors.

"We know how good the league is going to be," UW coach Bo Ryan said. "We know we have a lot of work to do."

The All-Big Ten team is made up of five juniors, led by preseason player of the year Kalin Lucas of Michigan State.

The other four members of the All-league team: Michigan's Manny Harris, Ohio State's Evan Turner, Penn State's Talor Battle and Purdue's Robbie Hummel.

Michigan State returns three starters and 12 letter-winners from a team that finished 15-3 in the league to win its first outright title since 1999 and 31-7 overall.

Purdue returns all five starters and nine letter-winners from a squad that won its first Big Ten Tournament title. The Boilermakers tied for second place in the regular season at 11-7 advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 to finish 27-10 overall.

Ohio State also returns all five starters, along with 10 letter-winners, from a team that finished 10-8 in the league and 22-11 overall.

The UW women, who finished 6-12 and 19-15 last season, were picked seventh in the media preseason poll and 10th in the coaches' poll.

"Our focus is to compete to win every single game," UW coach Lisa Stone said, "whether it's non-conference or conference game."

Ohio State was picked to win its sixth consecutive Big Ten title by the media and coaches.

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