The 2018 Big Ten men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the Big Ten Conference of the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. It was held from February 28 through March 4, 2018 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Due to the Big East's use of that venue for their conference tournament, the Big Ten tournament took place one week earlier than usual, ending the week before Selection Sunday.
Michigan defeated Purdue in the championship game to win their second consecutive tournament and third overall (their first championship in 1998 was later vacated). As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
The tournament was the second Big Ten Conference tournament held outside the conference's traditional heartland in the Midwest following the 2017 tournament held at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.
Seeds All 14 Big Ten schools participated in the tournament. Teams were seeded by conference record, with a tiebreaker system used to seed teams with identical conference records. The top 10 teams received a first round bye and the top four teams received a double bye. Tiebreaking procedures remained unchanged from the 2017 Tournament.
SeedSchoolConf.Tiebreaker 1Tiebreaker 2Tiebreaker 3Tiebreaker 4Tiebreaker 51Michigan State16–22Ohio State15–31–0 vs Pur3Purdue15–30–1 vs OSU4Nebraska13–51–0 vs Mich5Michigan13–50–1 vs Neb6Indiana9–91–0 vs PSU7Penn State9–90–1 vs Ind8Maryland8–109Wisconsin7–1110Northwestern6–1211Minnesota4–142–1 vs Iowa/Ill0–1 vs MSU0–3 vs OSU/Pur0–4 vs Neb/Mich1–2 vs Ind/PSU12Iowa4–142–1 vs Minn/Ill0–1 vs MSU0–3 vs OSU/Pur0–3 vs Neb/Mich0–4 vs Ind/PSU13Illinois4–140–2 vs Minn/Iowa14Rutgers3–15
Schedule SessionGameTime*MatchupScoreTelevisionAttendance First round – Wednesday, February 2811 5:30 pmNo. 13 Illinois vs No. 12 Iowa87–96BTN14,68128:00 pmNo. 14 Rutgers vs No. 11 Minnesota65–54 Second round – Thursday, March 12312:00 pmNo. 9 Wisconsin vs No. 8 Maryland59–54BTN13,81542:30 pmNo. 12 Iowa vs No. 5 Michigan71–77OT356:30 pmNo. 10 Northwestern vs No. 7 Penn State57–65BTN13,99669:00 pmNo. 14 Rutgers vs No. 6 Indiana76–69 Quarterfinals – Friday, March 24712:00 pmNo. 9 Wisconsin vs No. 1 Michigan State60–63BTN14,26082:30 pmNo. 5 Michigan vs No. 4 Nebraska77–58596:30 pmNo. 7 Penn State vs No. 2 Ohio St.69–68BTN14,530109:00 pmNo. 14 Rutgers vs No. 3 Purdue75–82 Semifinals – Saturday, March 36112:00 pmNo. 5 Michigan vs No. 1 Michigan State 75–64CBS19,812124:30 pmNo. 7 Penn St. vs No. 3 Purdue70–78 Championship – Sunday, March 47134:30 pmNo. 5 Michigan vs No. 3 Purdue75–66CBS15,063 *Game times in Eastern Time. Rankings denote tournament seed
Bracket
* denotes overtime period
Game summaries
First round
Second round
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Championship
Sponsorship Financial firm SoFi acquired presenting sponsorship of the tournament as part of a multi-year deal, including signage, presenting sponsorship of BTN telecasts of the tournament, and on-site marketing presences. The Tournament was branded as the 2018 Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament presented by SoFi for sponsorship reasons.
All-Tournament Team Moritz Wagner, Michigan – Big Ten tournament Most Outstanding Player Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, Michigan Carsen Edwards, Purdue Tony Carr, Penn State Corey Sanders, Rutgers
References