The 2019–20 Big Ten men's basketball season began with practices in October 2019, followed by the start of the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season on November 5, 2019. The regular season ended on March 8, 2020.

With a win against Indiana on March 7, 2020, Wisconsin earned a share of the Big Ten regular season championship. With a win over Michigan on March 8, Maryland earned a share of their first Big Ten regular season championship. Also with a win on March 8 against Ohio State, Michigan State earned a share of their third straight Big Ten regular season championship. Due to tie-breaking rules, Wisconsin received the No. 1 seed, Michigan State the No. 2 seed, and Maryland the No. 3 seed in the Big Ten tournament.

The Big Ten tournament was scheduled to be played at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana from March 11 through 15, until the tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The NCAA Tournament was likewise canceled on March 12.

Iowa big man Luka Garza was named Big Ten Player of the Year. Wisconsin coach Greg Gard was named Coach of the Year.

Head coaches Coaching changes prior to the season

Nebraska On March 26, 2019, Nebraska fired head coach Tim Miles. Four days later, the school hired former Chicago Bulls' head coach Fred Hoiberg as the next head coach.

Michigan On May 13, 2019, Michigan head coach John Beilein left the school to accept the head coaching position with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Nine days later, the school hired former Michigan player and member of the "Fab Five" Juwan Howard as head coach.

Coaches Team Head coach Previous job Years at school Overall record Big Ten record Big Ten titles Big Ten tournament titles NCAA Tournaments NCAA Final Fours NCAA ChampionshipsIllinois Oklahoma State326–3911–27 0 0 0 0 0Indiana Archie Miller Dayton335–31 17–21 0 0 0 0 0Iowa Fran McCaffery Siena10174–13278–86 0 0 4 0 0Maryland Mark Turgeon Texas A&M9180–92 62–37* 0 0 4 0 0Michigan Juwan Howard Miami Heat (Asst.)10–00–0 0 0 0 0 0Michigan State Tom Izzo 25606–232285–126 9 6 22 8 1Minnesota FIU7112–9240–70 0 0 2 0 0Nebraska Fred Hoiberg Chicago Bulls10–00–0 0 0 0 0 0Northwestern Chris Collins 7 101–96 40–68 0 0 1 0 0Ohio State Butler 3 45–19 23–15 0 0 2 0 0Penn State Pat Chambers Boston University 8 127–140 45–100 0 0 0 0 0Purdue Matt Painter 15 321–159 158–92 3 1 11 0 0Rutgers Steve Pikiell Stony Brook 4 44–54 13–43 0 0 0 0 0Wisconsin Greg Gard 5 80–47 45–29 1 0 3 0 0 Notes: All records, appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only. Year at school includes 2019–20 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 Preseason conference poll 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 near unanimous selection to win the conference, receiving 27 of 28 first-place votes. RankTeam1Michigan State (27)2Maryland (1)3Ohio State4Purdue5Michigan6Wisconsin7Illinois8Iowa9Penn State10Indiana11Minnesota12Rutgers13Nebraska14Northwestern(first place votes)

Preseason All-Big Ten On October 2, 2019, a panel of conference media selected a 10-member preseason All-Big Ten Team and Player of the Year.

Honor Recipient Preseason Player of the Year Cassius Winston*, Michigan State Preseason All-Big Ten Team Anthony Cowan*, Maryland Ayo Dosunmu, Illinois Nojel Eastern, Purdue Zavier Simpson, Michigan Jalen Smith, Maryland Lamar Stevens, Penn State Xavier Tillman, Michigan State Kaleb Wesson*, Ohio State Joe Wieskamp, Iowa Cassius Winston*, Michigan State*Unanimous selections

Preseason watchlists Below is a table of notable preseason watch lists. WoodenNaismithRobertsonCousyWestErvingMaloneAbdul-JabbarAnthony Cowan, MarylandAyo Dosunmu, IllinoisTrent Frazier, IllinoisLuka Garza, IowaMatt Haarms, PurdueJoshua Langford, Michigan StateZavier Simpson, MichiganJalen Smith, MarylandLamar Stevens, Penn StateJon Teske, MichiganXavier Tillman, Michigan StateKaleb Wesson, Ohio StateTrevion Williams, PurdueCassius Winston, Michigan State

Preseason national polls

AP AthlonSports BleacherReport Blue RibbonYearbook CBS Sports Coaches ESPN Lindy'sSports NBC Sports SBNation SportsIllustrated Streetand Smith USBWAIllinois 23 Indiana Iowa Maryland 7 7 7 5 8 10 9 7 6Michigan Michigan State 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1Minnesota Nebraska Northwestern Ohio State 18 14 24 14 16 13 17 25 Penn State Purdue 23 22 22 18 22 19Rutgers Wisconsin

Regular season

2019 ACC–Big Ten Challenge (Big Ten 8–6) DateTimeACC teamB1G teamScoreLocationTelevisionAttendanceChallengeleaderDec 2 7:00 pm Miami Illinois 81–79 State Farm Center • Champaign, Illinois ESPN2 11,819 ACC (1–0) 9:00 pm Clemson Minnesota 78–60 Williams Arena • Minneapolis, Minnesota ESPN2 10,148 Tied (1–1) Dec 3 7:00 pm Boston College Northwestern 82–64 Conte Forum • Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts ESPNU 4,004 B1G (2–1) 7:00 pm Syracuse Iowa 68–54 Carrier Dome • Syracuse, New York ESPN2 20,844 B1G (3–1) 7:30 pm No. 1 Louisville No. 4 Michigan 58–43 KFC Yum! Center • Louisville, Kentucky ESPN 21,674 B1G (3–2) 9:00 pm No. 17 Florida State Indiana 80–64 Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall • Bloomington, Indiana ESPN2 17,222 B1G (4–2) 9:00 pm Pittsburgh Rutgers 71–60 Petersen Events Center • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania ESPNU 7,894 B1G (4–3) 9:30 pm No. 10 Duke No. 11 Michigan State 87–75 Breslin Center • East Lansing, Michigan ESPN 14,797 Tied (4–4) Dec 4 7:15 pm No. 5 Virginia Purdue 69–40 Mackey Arena • West Lafayette, Indiana ESPN2 14,804 B1G (5–4) 7:15 pm Georgia Tech Nebraska 73–56 McCamish Pavilion • Atlanta, Georgia ESPNU 5,133 Tied (5–5) 7:30 pm Notre Dame No. 3 Maryland 72–51 Xfinity Center • College Park, Maryland ESPN 15,529 B1G (6–5) 9:15 pm NC State Wisconsin 69–54 PNC Arena • Raleigh, North Carolina ESPN2 16,035 Tied (6–6) 9:15 pm Wake Forest Penn State 76–54 Bryce Jordan Center • University Park, Pennsylvania ESPNU 6,476 B1G (7–6) 9:30 pm No. 7 North Carolina No. 6 Ohio State 74–49 Dean Smith Center • Chapel Hill, North Carolina ESPN 21,115 B1G (8–6) Winners are in boldGame times in ESTVirginia Tech did not play due to the ACC having one more team than the B1G.

2019 Gavitt Tipoff Games (Big Ten 5–3) DateTimeBig East teamBig Ten teamScoreLocationTelevisionAttendanceLeader Mon., Nov. 11 DePaulIowa 93–78 Carver–Hawkeye Arena • Iowa City, IA FS1 9,961 Tue., Nov. 12 CreightonMichigan 79–69 Crisler Center • Ann Arbor, MI FS1 11,398 Tied (1–1) Butler Minnesota 64–56 Hinkle Fieldhouse • Indianapolis, IN FS1 7,879 No. 10 VillanovaNo. 16 Ohio State 76–51 Value City Arena • Columbus, OH FS1 16,419 Tied (2–2) Marquette Purdue 65–55 Fiserv Forum • Milwaukee, WI FS1 15,659 ProvidenceNorthwestern 72–63 Welsh–Ryan Arena • Evanston, IL BTN 5,204 Tied (3–3) Thu., Nov. 14 Georgetown Penn State 81–66 Capital One Arena • Washington, D.C. FS1 8,691 Big Ten (4–3) No. 12 Seton Hall No. 3 Michigan State 76–73 Prudential Center • Newark, NJ FS1 14,051 Big Ten (5–3) WINNERS ARE IN BOLD.Game Times in EST. Rankings from AP Poll (Nov 12).Did not participate: St. John's; Xavier (Big East); Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Nebraska, Rutgers, Wisconsin (Big Ten)

Rankings

+ 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 FinalIllinois AP RV 24 21 19 20 22 RV RV 23 21 21C RV RV RV 22 19 21 23 RV RV 22 22 22Indiana AP RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV C RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV Iowa AP RV 25 23 RV RV 19 18 17 21 20 18 18 25 25C RV RV 25 RV 24 19 18 17 17 20 17 18 25 25Maryland AP 7 7 6 5 3 4 7 13 15 12 17 17 15 9 9 7 9 9 12 12C 8 7 (1) 8 (1) 4 (2) 4 (1) 8 12 15 14 17 17 15 9 9 7 8 9 11 11Michigan AP RV RV RV 4 (9) 5 14 1112 19 19 RV RV RV RV 19 25 RV RVC RV RV RV 5 (1) 7 15 15 13 19 20 RV RVRV 22 RV RV RVMichigan State AP 1 (60) 3 3 (4) 3 (4) 11 16 15 14 148 15 11 14 16 RV RV 24 16 9 9C 1 (30) 3 (4) 3 (1) 12 15 18 16 16 8 14 9 14 14 25 25 24 17 12 12Minnesota AP C Nebraska AP C Northwestern AP C Ohio State AP 18 16 10 10 6 3 (5) 5 2 (9) 5 11 21 RV RV RV RV 25 23 19 19 19C 16 9 9 (1) 6 (1) 2 (2) 4 (1) 2 (7) 5 12 19 RV RV RV RV 24 23 19 20 18Penn State AP RV RV RV 23 20 21 20 RV RV 24 22 139 16 20 RV RVC RV RV RV 24 21 21 20 RV RV 23 20 13 9 14 20 RV RVPurdue AP 23 RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RVC 22 RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV Rutgers AP RV 24 25 RV RV RV RV RVC RV 25 25 RV RV RV RV RVWisconsin AP RV RV RV RV RV RV RV 24 18 17C RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV 24 19 19

On December 2, 2019, Michigan tied the 1989–90 Kansas Jayhawks for the largest jump in the history of the AP Poll as they jumped from unranked to No. 4.

Early season tournaments Nine of the 14 Big Ten teams participated in early season tournaments. All Big Ten teams participated in the ACC–Big Ten Challenge against Atlantic Coast Conference teams, the 21st year for the event. Eight of the 14 teams participated in the Gavitt Tipoff Games, including Michigan State who participated for the first time. Team Tournament Finish IowaLas Vegas Invitational2nd MarylandOrlando Invitational1st MichiganBattle 4 Atlantis1st Michigan StateMaui Invitational5th NebraskaCayman Islands Classic3rd NorthwesternFort Myers Tip-Off4th PurdueEmerald Coast Classic2nd Penn StateNIT Season Tip-Off3rdWisconsinLegends Classic4th

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.

Cassius Winston was named the Naismith National Player of the Week on January 6, 2020.

Week Player of the week Freshman of the weekNovember 11, 2019 Nate Reuvers, Wisconsin Kofi Cockburn, IllinoisNovember 18, 2019Kaleb Wesson, Ohio State Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana Malik Hall, Michigan StateNovember 25, 2019 Kofi Cockburn, Illinois Kofi Cockburn (2), IllinoisDecember 2, 2019Anthony Cowan Jr., Maryland Trayce Jackson-Davis (2), Indiana Jon Teske, MichiganDecember 9, 2019 Luka Garza, Iowa Kofi Cockburn (3), IllinoisDecember 16, 2019Lamar Stevens, Penn State Trayce Jackson-Davis (3), Indiana Kofi Cockburn (4), IllinoisDecember 23, 2019Gabe Kalscheur, MinnesotaArmaan Franklin, IndianaD'Mitrik Trice, WisconsinD.J. Carton, Ohio StateDecember 30, 2019Daniel Oturu, MinnesotaKofi Cockburn (5), IllinoisJanuary 6, 2020Cassius Winston, Michigan StateJoe Toussaint, IowaJanuary 13, 2020Daniel Oturu (2), MinnesotaKofi Cockburn (6), IllinoisTrevion Williams, PurdueJanuary 20, 2020Luka Garza (2), IowaCJ Fredrick, IowaJanuary 27, 2020Jalen Smith, MarylandKofi Cockburn (7), IllinoisFebruary 3, 2020Anthony Cowan Jr. (2), MarylandFranz Wagner, MichiganFebruary 10, 2020Lamar Stevens (2), Penn StateTrayce Jackson-Davis (4), IndianaFebruary 17, 2020Anthony Cowan Jr. (3), MarylandFranz Wagner (2), MichiganFebruary 24, 2020Ayo Dosunmu, IllinoisTrayce Jackson-Davis (5), IndianaMarch 2, 2020Cassius Winston (2), Michigan StateFranz Wagner (3), Michigan

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.

Illinois Indiana Iowa Maryland Michigan Michigan St Minnesota Nebraska Northwestern Ohio St Penn St Purdue Rutgers Wisconsin vs. Illinois – 0–1 1–1 2–0 0–22–00–1 0–1 0–2 1–0 0–10–2 1–1 0–1 vs. Indiana 1–0 – 0–1 2–0 1-00–10–2 0–2 0–1 1–1 1–12–0 1–0 2–0 vs. Iowa 1–11–0 – 1–11–1 1–0 0–21–10–10–1 1–1 2–00–1 0–1 vs. Maryland 0–2 0–2 1–1 – 0–1 1–10–1 0–1 0–21–11–00–11–11–0 vs. Michigan 2–00–11–1 1–0 – 1–11–0 0–2 0–1 2–0 1–0 0–2 0–21–0 vs. Michigan St 0–2 1–00–11–11–1 – 0–2 0–1 0–2 0–11–1 1–00–1 1–1 vs. Minnesota