2018–19 Big Ten Conference men's basketball season


The 2018–19 Big Ten men's basketball season began with practices in October 2018, followed by the start of the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season on November 6, 2018. The regular season ended on March 10, 2019.
The 2018–19 season marked the first time in Big Ten history that the teams played a 20-game conference schedule. The new schedule included a regional component to increase the frequency of games among teams in similar areas. Over the course of a six-year cycle, in-state rivals will play each other 12 times, regional opponents will play 10 times, and all other teams will play nine times. Three in-state series will be guaranteed home-and-homes: Illinois and Northwestern, Indiana and Purdue, and Michigan and Michigan State will always play twice. The conference opponent list was released on April 19, 2018.
With a win over Northwestern on March 9, 2019, Purdue won a share of the Big Ten regular season championship, its conference-leading 24th championship. Later that same day, Michigan State defeated Michigan to earn a share of the championship, marking back-to-back championships for the Spartans. Due to tie-breaking rules, Michigan State received the No. 1 seed for the Big Ten Tournament.
The Big Ten Tournament returned to its more traditional Midwest roots and was held at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. The Tournament was held from March 13 through March 19, 2019. Michigan State won the Big Ten Tournament championship, defeating Michigan for the third time on the season in the championship game.
Michigan State guard Cassius Winston was named Big Ten Player of the Year. Purdue coach Matt Painter was named Big Ten Coach of the Year. Winston, Ethan Happ and Carsen Edwards were 2019 consensus All-Americans.
In addition to Michigan State, who received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, the conference set a conference record by sending eight teams to the Tournament: Michigan, Purdue, Wisconsin, Maryland, Iowa, Minnesota, and Ohio State. Michigan State advanced to the Final Four.
The conference also sent two schools to the National Invitation Tournament: Indiana and Nebraska.

Head coaches

Coaching changes prior to the season

There were no coaching changes following the 2017–18 season.

Coaches

Notes:

Preseason All-Big Ten

Prior to the conference's annual media day, unofficial awards and a poll were chosen by a panel of 28 writers, two for each team in the conference. Michigan State was the consensus selection to win the conference, receiving 22 of 28 votes.

Preseason conference poll

Preseason All-Big Ten

On October 11, 2018, a panel of conference media selected a 10-member preseason All-Big Ten Team and Player of the Year.

Preseason watchlists

Below is a table of notable preseason watch lists.
WoodenNaismithRobertsonCousyWestErvingMaloneAbdul-JabbarOlsonTisdaleNotes
Carsen Edwards, Purdue
Ethan Happ, Wisconsin
Romeo Langford, Indiana
Charles Matthews, Michigan
Juwan Morgan, Indiana
Jordan Murphy, Minnesota
James Palmer Jr., Nebraska
Jalen Smith, Maryland
Lamar Stevens, Penn State
Nick Ward, Michigan State
Aaron Wiggins, Maryland
Cassius Winston, Michigan State

Preseason national polls

APAthlon
Sports		Bleacher
Report		Blue Ribbon
Yearbook		CBS SportsCoachesESPNLindy's
Sports		NBC SportsSBNationSports
Illustrated		USBWA
Illinois
Indiana232525
Iowa
Maryland
Michigan192423171821232118
Michigan State101010101010131110
Minnesota
Nebraska2525
Northwestern
Ohio State
Penn State
Purdue241922172220
Rutgers
Wisconsin

Sporting News was among the earliest of preseason polls to be released and included Michigan, Michigan State and Maryland.

Regular season

Rankings

Player of the week

Throughout the conference regular season, the Big Ten offices named one or two players of the week and one or two freshmen of the week each Monday. On December 18, Juwan Morgan earned United States Basketball Writers Association National Player of the Week recognition.
WeekPlayer of the weekFreshman of the week
November 12, 2018Carsen Edwards, PURJalen Smith, MD
November 12, 2018Ethan Happ, WISCJalen Smith, MD
November 19, 2018Ethan Happ, WISCRomeo Langford, IND
November 26, 2018Cassius Winston, MSUGabe Kalscheur, MINN
November 26, 2018Ethan Happ, WISCGabe Kalscheur, MINN
December 3, 2018Jordan Poole, MICHIggy Brazdeikis, MICH
December 10, 2018Carsen Edwards, PURRomeo Langford, IND
December 10, 2018Ethan Happ, WISCIggy Brazdeikis, MICH
December 17, 2018Juwan Morgan, INDJalen Smith, MD
December 24, 2018Kaleb Wesson, OSUDaniel Oturu, MINN
December 31, 2018Cassius Winston, MSUIggy Brazdeikis, MICH
January 7, 2019Nick Ward, MSURomeo Langford, IND
January 14, 2019Bruno Fernando, MDRomeo Langford, IND
January 21, 2019Cassius Winston, MSUJoe Wieskamp, IOWA
January 28, 2019Cassius Winston, MSUIggy Brazdeikis, MICH
January 28, 2019Jordan Murphy, MINNIggy Brazdeikis, MICH
February 4, 2019Carsen Edwards, PURJoe Wieskamp, IOWA
February 11, 2019Giorgi Bezhanishvili, ILLAyo Dosunmu, ILL
February 18, 2019Jordan Murphy, MINNAyo Dosunmu, ILL
February 25, 2019Cassius Winston, MSUDaniel Oturu, MINN
March 4, 2019Amir Coffey, MINNRon Harper Jr., RUT
March 10, 2019Juwan Morgan, INDJalen Smith, MD
March 10, 2019Amir Coffey, MINNJalen Smith, MD

Early season tournaments

11 of the 14 Big Ten teams participated in early season tournaments. Each team's finish is noted below. Indiana, Ohio State, and Rutgers did not participate in a tournament. Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers, and Wisconsin participated in the Gavitt Tip-Off Games against Big East Conference teams for a fourth consecutive year. All Big Ten teams also participated in the ACC–Big Ten Challenge against Atlantic Coast Conference teams, the 20th year for the event.
TeamTournamentFinish
IllinoisMaui Invitational8th
Iowa2K Sports Classic1st
MarylandVeterans Classic1–0
MichiganHall of Fame Tip-Off1st
Michigan StateLas Vegas Invitational1st
MinnesotaVancouver Showcase3–0
NebraskaCBE Hall of Fame Classic2nd
NorthwesternWooden Legacy5th
PurdueCharleston Classic2nd
Penn StateCancún Challenge2nd
WisconsinBattle 4 Atlantis2nd

Conference matrix

This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play. Each team will play 20 conference games, and at least one game against each opponent.
IllinoisIndianaIowaMarylandMichiganMichigan StMinnesotaNebraskaNorthwesternOhio StPenn StPurdueRutgersWisconsin
vs. Illinois–2–01–00–11–00–11–11–11–11–12–01–00–12–0
vs. Indiana0–2–2–01–02–00–21–01–01–11–00–12–01–10–1
vs. Iowa0–10–2–1–00–12–01–01–10–21–10–11–01–12–0
vs. Maryland1–00–10–1–2–01–00–20–20–10–21–11–10–11–1
vs. Michigan0–10–21–00–2–2–00–20–10–20–11–10–10–11–1
vs. Michigan St1–02–00–20–10–2–0–10–20–10–20–11–10–20–1
vs. Minnesota1–10–10–12–02–01–0–1–10–11–00–11–11–11–1
vs. Nebraska1–10–11–12–01–02–01–1–0–11–01–12–01–01–0
vs. Northwestern1–11–12–01–02–01–01–01–0–1–11–01–01–12–0
vs. Ohio State1–10–11–12–01–02–00–10–11–1–0–12–01–11–0
vs. Penn State0–21–01–01–11–11–01–01–10–11–0–2–01–12–0
vs. Purdue0–10–20–11–11–01–11–10–20–10–20–2–0–10–1
vs. Rutgers1–01–11–11–01–02–01–10–11–11–11–11–0–1–0
vs. Wisconsin0–21–00–21–11–11–01–10–10–20–10–21–00–1–
Total7–138–1210–1013–715–516–49–116–144–168–127–1316–47–1314–6

Honors and awards

All-Big Ten awards and teams

On March 11, 2019, the Big Ten announced most of its conference awards.

USBWA

On March 12, the U.S. Basketball Writers Association released its 2018–19 Men's All-District Teams, based upon voting from its national membership. There were nine regions from coast to coast, and a player and coach of the year were selected in each. The following lists all the Big Ten representatives selected within their respective regions.
District II
District V

Player of the Year
Coach of the Year
All-District Team
District VI
The National Association of Basketball Coaches announced their Division I All‐District teams on March 21, recognizing the nation’s best men’s collegiate basketball student-athletes. Selected and voted on by member coaches of the NABC, the selections on this list were then eligible for NABC Coaches' All-America Honors. The following list represented the District 7 players chosen to the list.
;First Team
;Second Team
Happ, Edwards and Winston were 2019 consensus All-Americans. Brazdeikis was an Associated Press All-American honorable mention selection.

Postseason

Big Ten Tournament

* denotes overtime period

NCAA Tournament

The winner of the Big Ten Tournament, Michigan State, received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Eight Big Ten teams received bids to the NCAA Tournament, the most of any conference in the tournament and the most in the conference's history.
SeedRegionSchoolFirst FourFirst RoundSecond RoundSweet SixteenElite EightFinal FourChampionship
2EastMichigan StateN/Adefeated Bradley 76–65defeated Minnesota 70–50defeated LSU 80–63defeated Duke 68–67lost to Texas Tech 51–61
2WestMichiganN/Adefeated Montana 74–55defeated Florida 64–49lost to Texas Tech 44–63
3SouthPurdueN/Adefeated Old Dominion 61–48defeated Villanova 87–61defeated Tennessee 99–94OTlost to Virginia 75–80OT
5SouthWisconsinN/Alost to Oregon 54–72
6EastMarylandN/Adefeated Belmont 79–77lost to LSU 67–69
10EastMinnesotaN/Adefeated Louisville 86–76lost to Michigan State 50–70
10SouthIowaN/Adefeated Cincinnati 79–72lost to Tennessee 77–83OT
11MidwestOhio StateN/Adefeated Iowa State 20–14lost to Houston 59–74
W–L : Total:

National Invitation Tournament

Two Big Ten teams received invitations to the National Invitation Tournament.
SeedBracketSchoolFirst roundSecond roundQuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinals
1IndianaIndianadefeated Saint Francis 89–72defeated Arkansas 63–60lost to Wichita State 63–73
4TCUNebraskadefeated Butler 80–76lost to TCU 72–88
W–L : Total: