Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament
Played annually since 1998, the Big Ten men's basketball tournament is a late but welcome addition to the national slate of conference tourneys. The tournament usually concludes on Selection Sunday, with the winner getting an automatic berth to the NCAA tourney.
The Big Ten tournament is always played on a neutral site. Over the years it's bounced between Chicago and Indianapolis, except in 2017 and 2018, when the host sites were the Verizon Center in Washington, DC, and Madison Square Garden in New York City, indicating the conference's expansion to the Eastern Seaboard.
Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament History
So far, the tournament belongs to the Big Ten's traditional powerhouses. Michigan State has claimed a plurality of the championships, with six: 1999, 2000, 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2019. As an official matter, Ohio State has won four — 2007, 2010, 2011 and 2013 — though the Buckeyes also took home the 2002 crown, only to have it vacated due to NCAA sanctions. As befitting the best team in one of the toughest conferences in the nation, the winner of the tournament has often gone on to play in the Final Four — seven times in all.
The final rarely produces a major upset — a No. 1 or No. 2 seed has captured the title in most tournaments played since 1998 — but there have been some March Madness moments in the tournament here and there. In the tourney's second year, the bottom-seeded Illinois Fighting Illini, having won three conference games all season, made an improbable run to the championship game, largely thanks to Cory Bradford's sharpshooting. They beat No. 23 Minnesota, No. 17 Indiana and No. 11 Ohio State, finally succumbing to No. 2 Michigan State in the final. In 2008, the Illini, seeded 10th out of 11 teams, went on another tear, losing to Wisconsin in the title game. In 2017, the eighth-seeded Michigan Wolverines became the lowest seed to win the Big Ten tourney, knocking off Illinois, Purdue, Minnesota and Wisconsin along the way.
