The 2025 Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament is scheduled from March 12 to 16 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana.
This year’s tournament features 15 teams, a change implemented after the conference expanded to 18 teams in 2024, with Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington joining. Notably, the bottom three teams in the conference standings will not participate in the tournament.
Teams are seeded based on their conference records, with tiebreakers applied as necessary. The top nine seeds receive a first-round bye, and the top four seeds earn a double bye. The tournament bracket is as follows:
First Round – Wednesday, March 12
- Game 1: No. 12 Minnesota vs. No. 13 Northwestern at 3:30 PM ET
- Game 2: No. 15 Iowa vs. No. 10 Ohio State (25 minutes after Game 1)
- Game 3: No. 14 USC vs. No. 11 Rutgers (25 minutes after Game 2)
Second Round – Thursday, March 13
- Game 4: No. 9 Indiana vs. No. 8 Oregon at 12:00 PM ET
- Game 5: Winner of Game 1 vs. No. 5 Wisconsin (25 minutes after Game 4)
- Game 6: Winner of Game 2 vs. No. 7 Illinois at 6:30 PM ET
- Game 7: Winner of Game 3 vs. No. 6 Purdue (25 minutes after Game 6)
Quarterfinals – Friday, March 14
- Game 8: Winner of Game 4 vs. No. 1 Michigan State at 12:00 PM ET
- Game 9: Winner of Game 5 vs. No. 4 UCLA (25 minutes after Game 8)
- Game 10: Winner of Game 6 vs. No. 2 Maryland at 6:30 PM ET
- Game 11: Winner of Game 7 vs. No. 3 Michigan (25 minutes after Game 10)
Semifinals – Saturday, March 15
- Game 12: Winner of Game 8 vs. Winner of Game 9 at 1:00 PM ET
- Game 13: Winner of Game 10 vs. Winner of Game 11 (25 minutes after Game 12)
Championship – Sunday, March 16
- Game 14: Semifinal winners at 3:30 PM ET
The tournament champion will secure an automatic bid to the 2025 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament.
For fans interested in viewing the games, broadcasts will be available on Peacock, Big Ten Network, CBS, and Paramount Plus.
As the tournament approaches, teams and fans alike are gearing up for an exciting week of college basketball, with each game potentially altering the landscape of the NCAA tournament selections.