Updated March 10, 2026, 8:22 p.m. ET
Everybody’s invited to this 12 months’s Big Ten tournament.
The convention could have all 18 groups in attendance when the tournament kicks off in Chicago on Tuesday with matchups pitting the underside 4 within the last regular-seasons standings: Oregon faces Maryland and Northwestern takes on Penn State.
Expanding the bracket provides an prolonged break to the highest 4 of Michigan, Nebraska, Michigan State and Illinois. This group could have byes till Friday’s quarterfinals.
Yes, a kind of groups isn’t just like the others. The 26-5 Cornhuskers closed out probably the most profitable common season in program historical past by beating rival Iowa in extra time within the finale.
There’s no doubting the Big Ten’s depth of potential tournament groups. But we’ll see this helps snap the league’s future and not using a nationwide title. The final Big Ten workforce to win all of it was Michigan State in 2000.
Big Ten tournament schedule, bracket, scores
Play-in spherical
Tuesday, March 10
- Game 1: No. 17 Maryland 70, No. 16 Oregon 60
- Game 2: No. 15 Northwestern vs. No. 18 Penn State, 7:30 p.m., Peacock
First spherical
Wednesday, March 11
- Game 3: No. 9 Iowa vs. No. 17 Maryland, midday, Peacock
- Game 4: No. 12 Washington vs. No. 13 USC, 2:30 p.m., Peacock
- Game 5: No. 10 Indiana vs. Game 2 winner, 6:30 p.m., Big Ten Network
- Game 6: No. 11 Minnesota vs. No. 14 Rutgers, 9 p.m., Big Ten Network
Second spherical
Thursday, March 12
- Game 7: No. 8 Ohio State vs. Game 3 winner, midday, Big Ten Network
- Game 8: No. 5 Wisconsin vs. Game 4 winner, 2:30 p.m. Big Ten Network
- Game 9: No. 7 Purdue vs. Game 5 winner, 6:30 p.m. Big Ten Network
- Game 10: No. 6 UCLA vs. Game 6 winner, 9 p.m., Big Ten Network
Quarterfinals
Friday, March 13
- Game 11: No. 1 Michigan vs. Game 7 winner, midday, Big Ten Network
- Game 12: No. 4 Illinois vs. Game 8 winner, 2:30 p.m., Big Ten Network
- Game 13: No. 2 Nebraska vs. Game 9 winner, 6:30 p.m., Big Ten Network
- Game 14: No. 3 Michigan State vs. Game 10 winner, 9 p.m., Big Ten Network
Semifinals
Saturday, March 14
- Game 15: Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner, 1 p.m., CBS
- Game 16: Game 13 winner vs. Game 14 winner, 3:30 p.m., CBS
Championship sport
Sunday, March 15
- Game 17: Semifinal winners, 3:30 p.m., CBS
How to look at Big Ten tournament
- TV: BTN/CBS
- Streaming: Peacock
The first spherical and the primary two video games of the second spherical will likely be streaming on Peacock.
The second half of the second spherical, the third spherical and the quarterfinals will air on the Big Ten Network. CBS will carry the 2 semifinals and Sunday’s championship sport.
Big Ten tournament favourite
Michigan is the favourite after dropping only one Big Ten sport and successful the regular-season title by 4 video games over Nebraska, Michigan State and Illinois.
The Wolverines head into the quarterfinals having taken 14 of their previous 15 video games, with the loss coming in non-conference play towards Duke on Feb. 21.
UM additionally went 4-0 towards the Cornhuskers, Spartans and Illini, successful all however one matchup by a double-digit margin. It leads the Big Ten in scoring (88.4 ppg), field-goal proportion (51%) and field-goal protection (38%), rating second nationally within the last class.
Big Ten tournament prime gamers
Lamar Wilkerson, G, Indiana — IU will want Wilkerson to get sizzling to make a run in Chicago. He’s topped 20 factors 16 occasions, 12 occasions in Big Ten play.
Jaxon Kohler, F, Michigan State — The second-year starter has developed right into a 3-point risk (39.5% from deep) and turn into a extra succesful scorer (12.8 factors per sport). Kohler posted 12 double-doubles through the common season.
Braden Smith, G, Purdue — One of this week’s subplots entails Smith’s push to set the NCAA profession help report. He’s presently averaging 8.7 per sport, tying his profession excessive, and is 48 away from breaking former Duke guard Bobby Hurley’s report.
Sam Hoiberg, G, Nebraska — Hoiberg is the glue behind the Cornhuskers’ record-setting common season after setting new profession bests in scoring (9.4 factors per sport), rebounding (5.2), assists (4.4) and steals (2.1).
Yaxel Lendenborg, F, Michigan — The Alabama-Birmingham switch has met lofty expectations by stuffing the field rating: Lendenborg leads Michigan in scoring (14.7 factors) whereas including 7.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.2 steals per sport.
March Madness bubble storylines for Big Ten
The Big Ten has six locked-in tournament groups in Michigan, Nebraska, Michigan State, Illinois, Wisconsin and Purdue. Another three groups are in excellent form in UCLA, Iowa and Ohio State, although the Buckeyes might stand so as to add a win towards the Hawkeyes within the second spherical to formally safe their place within the subject.
For practically each workforce exterior the highest 9 of the standings, the one potential ticket to March Madness will come by way of a convention title. The one exception is Indiana, which has spent many of the season on the tournament bubble.
What’s holding the Hoosiers again is a 3-11 mark in Quad 1 video games. They’ll have possibilities to enhance that report by advancing to the third spherical to face UCLA. With a win there, the Hoosiers will tackle Michigan State within the quarterfinals. IU wants no less than three wins this week to get again into at-large consideration.
