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. 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. Winston, Ethan Happ and Carsen Edwards were 2019 consensus All-Americans. Purdue coach Matt Painter was named Big Ten Coach of the Year for the fourth time and NABC Coach of the Year.
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.
Following the season, Romeo Langford (14th overall), headlined a class of 6 Big Ten conference athletes that were drafted in the 2019 NBA draft. Michigan had two players drafted.
Head coaches
Coaching changes prior to the season There were no coaching changes following the 2017–18 season.
Coaches The following are the preseason coaching summaries for all conference teams entering the 114th season of Big Ten Conference men's basketball. The table includes former NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament champion coach Tom Izzo and former Big Ten Conference champion coaches Izzo, John Beilein and Matt Painter. 10 of the 14 coaches have had NCAA tournament appearances at their current school. Team Head coach Previous job Years at school Overall record Big Ten record Big Ten titles NCAA tournaments NCAA Final Fours NCAA ChampionshipsIllinois Oklahoma State214–184–14 0 0 0 0Indiana Archie Miller Dayton216–15 9–9 0 0 0 0Iowa Fran McCaffery Siena9151–12068–76 03 0 0Maryland Mark Turgeon Texas A&M8157–81 49–30* 03 0 0Michigan John Beilein West Virginia12248–143111–87 28 2 0Michigan State Tom Izzo 24574–225269–122 821 7 1Minnesota Florida International690–7831–59 01 0 0Nebraska Tim Miles Colorado State797–9746–62 0 1 0 0Northwestern Chris Collins 688–7736–54 01 0 0Ohio StateButler225–915–30100Penn State Pat Chambers Boston University8113–12238–87 0 0 0 0Purdue Matt Painter 14295–149142–88 210 0 0RutgersSteve PikiellStony Brook330–376–30 0 0 0 0WisconsinGreg Gard457–3631–230200 Notes: All records, appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only. Year at school includes 2018–19 season. Overall and Big Ten records are from time at current school and are through the beginning of the season. Turgeon's ACC conference record excluded since Maryland began Big Ten Conference play in 2014–15. Source:
Preseason Big Ten players received significant preseason accolades. Carsen Edwards was named Preseason National Player of the Year by the Associated Press (AP) and Ethan Happ joined him on the preseason AP All-American team. Preseason All-Big Ten Prior to the conference's annual media day, unofficial awards and a preseason poll were chosen by a panel of 28 writers, two for each team in the conference. Michigan State was the consensus preseason selection to win the conference, receiving 22 of 28 first place votes.
RankTeam1Michigan State (22)2Michigan (4)3Indiana (1)4Nebraska5Purdue (1)6Wisconsin7Maryland8Ohio State9Minnesota10Iowa11Penn State12Northwestern13Illinois14Rutgers(first place votes)
On October 11, 2018, a panel of conference media selected a 10-member preseason All-Big Ten Team and Player of the Year. Junior Edwards who had averaged 18.5 points and tallied 97 three point shots as a sophomore was selected as player of the year. He and Happ were unanimous selections by the Big Ten Conference basketball media to the Preseason All-Big Ten team. Indiana and Michigan State each had two preseason All-Big Ten selections. Honor Recipient Preseason Player of the Year Carsen Edwards*, Purdue Preseason All-Big Ten Team Carsen Edwards, Purdue Ethan Happ*, Wisconsin Romeo Langford, Indiana Juwan Morgan, Indiana Anthony Cowan Jr., Maryland Charles Matthews, Michigan Nick Ward, Michigan State Cassius Winston, Michigan State Jordan Murphy, Minnesota James Palmer Jr., Nebraska*Unanimous selections
Preseason watchlists Several Big Ten players were selected to notable 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., NebraskaJalen Smith, MarylandLamar Stevens, Penn StateNick Ward, Michigan StateAaron Wiggins, MarylandCassius Winston, Michigan State
Preseason national polls
Sporting News AP AthlonSports BleacherReport Blue RibbonYearbook CBS Sports Coaches ESPN Lindy'sSports NBC Sports SBNation SportsIllustrated USBWAIllinois Indiana 23 25 25 Iowa Maryland 21 Michigan 10 19 24 23 17 18 21 23 21 18 Michigan State 12 10 10 10 10 10 10 13 11 10 Minnesota Nebraska 25 25 Northwestern Ohio State Penn State Purdue 24 19 22 17 22 20 Rutgers Wisconsin Five of the fourteen teams had multiple preseason publications name them as preseason top 25 selections. Michigan and Michigan State were included in every publication that was found to publish a list during this season. Michigan State had several top ten selections. Purdue, Indiana, Nebraska and Maryland also had media support in preseason polls. Michigan's only top 10 selection was The Sporting News, which was also Maryland's only top 25 selection.
Regular season 2018 ACC–Big Ten Challenge (Tied 7–7) DateTimeACC teamB1G teamScoreLocationTelevisionAttendanceChallengeleaderNov 26 7:00 pm Clemson Nebraska 68–66 Littlejohn Coliseum • Clemson, South Carolina ESPN2 6,974 B1G (1–0) 9:00 pm Boston College Minnesota 68–56 Conte Forum • Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts ESPN2 4,389 Tied (1–1)Nov 27 7:00 pm Notre Dame Illinois 76–74 Edmund P. Joyce Center • South Bend, Indiana ESPNU 8,053 ACC (2–1) 7:00 pm No. 13 Virginia Tech Penn State 63–62 Bryce Jordan Center • University Park, Pennsylvania ESPN2 8,373 Tied (2–2) 7:30 pm Louisville No. 9 Michigan State 82–78 OT KFC Yum! Center • Louisville, Kentucky ESPN 15,477 ACC (3–2) 9:00 pm NC State No. 22 Wisconsin 79–75 Kohl Center • Madison, Wisconsin ESPN2 17,012 Tied (3–3) 9:00 pm Pittsburgh No. 14 Iowa 69–68 Carver–Hawkeye Arena • Iowa City, Iowa ESPNU 10,158 B1G (4–3) 9:30 pm No. 3 Duke Indiana 90–69 Cameron Indoor Stadium • Durham, North Carolina ESPN 9,314 Tied (4–4)Nov 28 7:00 pm Miami Rutgers 57–54 Watsco Center • Coral Gables, Florida ESPNU 6,376 B1G (5–4) 7:00 pm Syracuse No. 16 Ohio State 72–62 Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio ESPN2 16,962 Tied (5–5) 7:30 pm No. 4 Virginia No. 24 Maryland 76–71 Xfinity Center • College Park, Maryland ESPN 17,950 ACC (6–5) 9:15 pm No. 15 Florida State No. 19 Purdue 73–72 Donald L. Tucker Civic Center • Tallahassee, Florida ESPN2 9,978 ACC (7–5) 9:15 pm Georgia Tech Northwestern 67–61 Welsh-Ryan Arena • Evanston, Illinois ESPNU 6,378 ACC (7–6) 9:30 pm No. 11 North Carolina No. 7 Michigan 84–67 Crisler Center • Ann Arbor, Michigan ESPN 12,707 Tied (7–7) Winners are in boldGame times in ESTWake Forest did not play due to the ACC having one more team than the B1G.
2018 Gavitt Tipoff Games (Big Ten 5–3) DateTimeBig East teamBig Ten teamScoreLocationTelevisionAttendanceLeader Tue., Nov. 13 XavierWisconsin 77–68Cintas Center • Cincinnati, OHFS1 10,312 GeorgetownIllinois 88–80 State Farm Center • Champaign, IL FS1 14,656 Tied (1–1) No. 8 Villanova No. 18 Michigan 73–46 Finneran Pavilion • Villanova, PA FS1 6,501 Big Ten (2–1) Seton Hall Nebraska 80–57 Pinnacle Bank Arena • Lincoln, NE BTN 15,713 Big Ten (3–1) No. 24 Marquette Indiana 96–73Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall • Bloomington, IN FS1 17,222 Big Ten (4–1) Thu., Nov. 15 Creighton Ohio State 69–60 CHI Health Center Omaha • Omaha, NE FS1 17,146 Big Ten (5–1) DePaul Penn State Wintrust Arena • Chicago, IL FS1 3,926 Big Ten (5–2) Fri., Nov. 16 St. John's Rutgers 84–65 Louis Brown Athletic Center • Piscataway, NJ BTN 7,102 Big Ten (5–3) WINNERS ARE IN BOLD.Game Times in EST. Rankings from AP Poll (Nov 12).Did not participate: Butler; Providence (Big East); Iowa, Maryland, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Purdue (Big Ten)
Rankings
Weekly sourced rankings can be found at the above article. Several Big Ten teams were among the preseason ranked teams in both the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll. Michigan State, Michigan, Purdue and Nebraska were ranked in at least one poll, while Indiana, Maryland and Wisconsin also received votes. After the regular season Michigan State, Michigan (both top 10), Purdue and Wisconsin were in the AP Poll. After the season the final Coaches Poll was published they continued to be ranked as was Maryland and Iowa, Minnesota and Ohio State received votes.
+ Legend Improvement in ranking Drop in ranking Not ranked previous week RV Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll (Italics) Number of first place votes
Pre/Wk 1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Wk14 Wk15 Wk16 Wk17 Wk18 Wk19 Wk20 FinalIllinois AP C Indiana AP RV RV RV RV RV 25T 22 23 21 22 25 C RV RV RV RV RV RV 25 22 24 25 RV Iowa AP 20 14 18 22 23 24 24 RV 23 19 RV 20 21 21 22 n/aC 22 15 19 21 24 21 20T 25 24 21 25 20 17 19 21 RV RVMaryland AP RV RV RV 24 23 RV RV RV 19 13 21 24 24 24 17 24 21 RV n/aC RV RV RV 23 23 24 RV 22 16 24 RV 25 25T 20 24 21 RV 22Michigan AP 19 18 9 7 5 5(1) 4(1) 2(9) 2(9) 2(9) 2(9) 5 5 7 6 7 9 7 10 8 n/aC 18 8 5 5(1) 5(3) 5(3) 4(4) 4(4) 4(6) 4(6) 6 5 7 7 7 10 7 11 8 11Michigan State AP 10 11 11 9 10 9 10 8 8 6 6 6 (2) 6 9 11 10 6 9 6 5 n/aC 10 11 8 10 9 8 7 7 5 6 5 8 11 12 11 8 11 7 6 3Minnesota AP RV RV RV RV RV RV n/aC RV RV RV RV RVNebraska AP RV RV RV RV 24 RV 25 RV 24 RV RV RV RV C 25 24 RV 25 25 22 23 23T RV RV RV Northwestern AP C Ohio State AP RV 23 16 19 15 15 13 14 16 RV n/aC 23 16 17 14 14 11 12 17 RV RV RVPenn State AP C Purdue AP 24 23 24 16 RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV 17 15 12 15 14 11 13 13 n/aC 22 19 16 24 RV RV RV RV RV 18 15 11 13129 12 13 8Rutgers AP C Wisconsin AP RV RV 25 22 12 16 16 15 22 RV RV RV 24 19 20 22 19 21 19 21 n/aC RV RV 22 16 19 17 16 23T RV RV RV 23 19 23 23 18 21 19 21 24
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.