
The Big Ten Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States, consisting of 18 teams. In 2025, four teams earned double byes, five teams got a single bye, six teams played on the first day, and three teams did not play at all. In NCAA Division I basketball, the Big East men's basketball tournament introduced double byes in 2009, and the Big Ten followed suit in 2015. The number of byes in Big 10 basketball varies depending on the number of teams and the format of the tournament.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Number of men's basketball games per season | 45 |
| Number of women's basketball games | 30, including 20 intraconference games |
| Number of men's basketball teams | 14 |
| Number of women's basketball teams | 14 |
| Number of men's basketball games | Up to 47, including 32 intraconference games |
| Number of live Olympic sports events per season | Up to 40 |
| Number of men's basketball teams qualifying for NCAA tournament | 8 |
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What You'll Learn

Big Ten men's basketball tournament
The Big Ten Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States, founded in 1896 as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives. It is the oldest NCAA Division I conference in the country. The name "Big Ten" dates back to 1916, although the number of member institutions has since expanded beyond ten.
The Big Ten men's basketball tournament has been held annually since its inception. The first four tournaments took place at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. Beginning in 2002, the tournament venue alternated between Chicago and Indianapolis, Indiana. In 2008, the tournament began a five-year stay in Indianapolis, and in 2011, it was announced that the tournament would revert to alternating between the two cities. The tournament was held in Chicago in 2013 and 2015, and in Indianapolis in 2014 and 2016.
In 2019, the tournament returned to its usual rotation between the United Center in Chicago and Bankers Life Fieldhouse (now known as Gainbridge Fieldhouse) in Indianapolis. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 tournament was moved to Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The tournament was held as planned at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in 2022 before returning to Chicago in 2023. Minneapolis hosted the tournament for the first time in 2024 at the Target Center. The tournament locations have been announced through 2028, with the 2025 and 2027 editions in Indianapolis, the 2026 edition in Chicago, and the 2028 edition in a new location, the T-Mobile Arena.
The Big Ten men's basketball tournament has a rich history, with some results vacated or voided due to rulings against participating programs. The No. 1 seed has won the tournament ten times, the most of any seed. The lowest seed to win was Michigan as a No. 8 seed in 2017, a year in which they also won their second consecutive championship.
In 2015, the Big Ten introduced "double byes" to its men's basketball tournament, a concept that was first introduced by the Big East in 2009. In a tournament with 16 members, the four highest-seeded teams advance directly to the third round, while the 5th-8th seeded teams receive byes to the second round.
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Big Ten women's basketball tournament
The Big Ten Conference is one of the oldest collegiate conferences in the US, with the first reference to it as the Big Nine dating back to 1899. The Big Ten Conference sponsors championship competition in 14 men's and 14 women's NCAA-sanctioned sports.
The Big Ten women's basketball tournament is an annual event. In 2025, the tournament will be hosted in Indianapolis, Indiana, at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The tournament is set to include up to 30 women's basketball games, 20 of which will be intraconference games.
The Big Ten Conference has signed a number of broadcast deals with major networks over the years, including ESPN, Fox, CBS, and NBC Sports. These deals are worth billions of dollars and cover a range of sports, including men's and women's basketball tournaments. The most recent deal, signed in 2022, includes the broadcast of eight games exclusively on Peacock, four of which will be women's basketball intraconference games.
The Big Ten women's basketball tournament is a highly anticipated event, with the 2025 edition expected to be an exciting showcase of talent and athleticism.
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Big Ten men's basketball team performances
The Big Ten Conference is one of the oldest in the nation, predating the founding of the NCAA by a decade. The conference was first referred to as the Big Nine in 1899, after Iowa and Indiana joined. Over the years, other universities have joined, and the conference has also undergone name changes.
The Big Ten men's basketball tournament has been historically covered by ESPN. However, in 2022, the Big Ten announced a seven-year broadcast rights deal with Fox, CBS, and NBC Sports, marking the first time that NBC Sports would cover the tournament.
In the 2024-25 season, the Purdue team stood out with their performance, reaching the national championship game. Their player, Braden Smith, became the third straight Boilermaker to win Big Ten Player of the Year. Trey Kaufman-Renn also contributed significantly to the team's success, with 20.1 PPG and 6.5 RPG.
The Wisconsin Badgers also had a notable season, finishing in third place in the Big Ten and winning 27 games, despite losing some of their top scorers from the previous season. John Tonje's performance was particularly impressive, earning him a spot as one of the biggest surprises of the college basketball season.
Rutgers, on the other hand, had a disappointing season, finishing 11th in the Big Ten with an 8-12 record in conference play. This was despite having two of the top recruits in the program's history, Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, who were projected to be top NBA draft picks.
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Big Ten women's basketball performance
The Big Ten Conference is one of the oldest in the nation, predating the founding of the NCAA. While the conference first sponsored men's basketball, it did not begin sponsoring women's basketball until the 1982–83 basketball season. The Big Ten Conference women's basketball tournament has been held annually since 1995 at the end of the women's college basketball regular season in the United States. The winner of the tournament is designated the Big Ten Tournament Champion and receives an automatic bid to the NCAA women's basketball tournament.
The Big Ten Conference has listed a tournament held at Michigan State in February 1982 during the 1981–82 season as a regular-season championship, in which Ohio State defeated Illinois 69–66 in the championship game. Maryland and Rutgers joined the Big Ten Conference for the 2014–15 season, bringing the conference to 14 teams.
The Big Ten Conference sponsors championship competition in 14 men's and 14 women's NCAA-sanctioned sports. The conference holds the media rights to these competitions and sublicenses them to other channels. For instance, the conference recently reached a deal with Fox, CBS, and NBC Sports to broadcast games across their networks. As part of the deal, Fox will broadcast at least 45 men's basketball games per season and up to 30 women's basketball games, including 20 intraconference games.
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Big Ten basketball broadcast rights
The Big Ten Conference is one of the nation's oldest collegiate conferences and was one of the first to sponsor men's basketball. In 2022, the Big Ten Conference announced a seven-year media rights agreement with Fox, CBS, and NBC, worth over $7 billion. This deal, which ends the conference's long-standing association with ESPN, will begin in the 2023–24 academic year and run through the 2029–30 athletic year.
The agreement grants Fox, CBS, and NBC shared rights to broadcast Big Ten football games, with NBC also producing 14 to 16 college football games each season, introducing fans to Big Ten Saturday Night. NBC Sports will also continue to broadcast some Notre Dame night home games, replacing the Big Ten primetime game on those weeks. The deal also includes an "escalator clause", which will increase the value of the contracts if Notre Dame joins the Big Ten.
In terms of basketball, CBS will continue to air Big Ten men's basketball regular-season and tournament games, and will add the league's women's basketball tournament championship for the first time. Peacock, NBCUniversal's streaming service, will exclusively stream eight regular-season football games, up to 47 men's basketball games, and 30 women's basketball games each season. Fox and FS1 will broadcast at least 45 men's basketball games per season, and the Big Ten Network will broadcast at least 126 men's basketball games per season.
The Big Ten Network, a joint venture between the Big Ten Conference and Fox Entertainment Group, is dedicated to coverage of collegiate sports sanctioned by the Big Ten Conference. It televises 21 Big Ten Championships and Tournaments, including baseball, men's and women's basketball, and men's and women's cross country, among other sports. The network also maintains a commitment to "event equality", aiming to produce and distribute an equal number of men's and women's events across all platforms.
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Frequently asked questions
There are 14 teams in the Big 10 basketball conference.
No, the number of teams has changed over time. The conference was first formed in 1896 by the Universities of Chicago, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Purdue, and Northwestern. Iowa and Indiana joined in 1899, and Ohio State in 1912, bringing the total number of teams to 10.
In 1949, Michigan State joined the conference, bringing the number of teams to 11.
The conference reached 14 teams in 2014 with the addition of the University of Maryland and Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.
Yes, as of 2011, the Big Ten realigned into two divisions: East and West. However, these divisions were eliminated in 2024, and the championship game is now contested between the two teams with the best conference records.








































