ROSEMONT, Ill. — When he was introduced Thursday as the dean of men’s basketball coaches in the Big Ten, Tom Izzo reflected on his early days as an assistant nearly 30 years ago.

“Survival. I was thinking of getting through the first year or two,” Izzo recalled.

But his run at Michigan State — where he is entering his 15th season now as head coach — has been much more and he admitted there have been some “incredible things” during his tenure.

Like a national title. And five Final Four appearances since 1999, including one last season in nearby Detroit where the Spartans made it to the finals before losing to North Carolina.

No surprise really that Michigan State was the choice of a 24-member media poll to repeat as Big Ten champions. Purdue , which made the Sweet 16 in the NCAAs last year, was picked second and Ohio State was third.

Izzo had no problem with the lofty predictions for the Spartans, who were picked No. 2 in the preseason Associated Press and coaches’ polls released Friday and return conference player of the year Kalin Lucas.

“Maybe some of it is respect for the program. Maybe some of it is somebody’s got to be picked No. 1 (in the conference),” Izzo said. “But I kind of like it. I kind of like it because it means that our program’s in the right spot.”

Lucas heads a preseason all-conference team that is comprised solely of juniors — Manny Harris of Michigan, Evan Turner of Ohio State, Talor Battle of Penn State and Robbie Hummel of Purdue.

“To keep five sophomores and now have juniors that all stayed, that was getting to be a problem, too. Everybody was leaving,” Izzo said. “I think it speaks volumes for what guys want to accomplish.”

Lucas averaged 14.7 points last season, and the Spartans also return senior forward Raymar Morgan from a team that went 31-7.

“No pressure at all,” Lucas said of the expectations. “They’re going to be trying to get the ball out of my hands, so as far as my wings, they got to be ready to score. They got to be ready to shoot.”

Most coaches and players echoed a familiar theme Thursday at Big Ten media day — the league is going to be tougher from top to bottom than it has been in years (six teams are in the preseason AP Top 25 poll). And it will feature strong guard play with players like Harris, Lucas, Turner and Battle.

“As you look at the Big Ten and just the parity in it, it’s going to be the team that catches a break here or there, stays injury-free and gets on a roll at the right time,” Ohio State coach Thad Motta said.

Turner averaged 17.3 points a game last season for the Buckeyes and at 6-foot-7 can play forward or guard, making him tough to defend. Ohio State also is counting on a lift from senior David Lighty, who broke his foot and appeared in only seven games last season.

Purdue’s Hummel also had some physical problems. He was slowed by a bad back last season and has been putting special emphasis on keeping it strong.

“Just core things. That’s very important to stay on top of that,” he said. “As long as I can keep doing those things, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Among others returning for the talented Boilermakers are guard Keaton Grant, forward/center JaJuan Johnson and guard E’Twaun Moore.

“Arguably they got more back than we got,” Izzo said.

Hummel, who averaged 12.5 points last season, likes his team’s makeup.

“I think we’re very complete. We have a very good group of core guys that have been here for a long time,” Hummel said. “We know what we need to do.”

Michigan hopes to build on its NCAA tournament appearance behind the scoring of Harris, while Penn State is coming off an NIT title. Indiana , under second-year coach Tom Crean, should be much improved from its six-win rebuilding season a year ago.

Northwestern hopes to finally make the NCAA after getting into the NIT last season and Illinois has a strong rebounder on the inside in Mike Davis. Minnesota also made the NCAAs last year and has a top guard in Lawrence Westbrook. Iowa will need big seasons from guards Matt Gatens and Anthony Tucker.