2025–26 Big Ten Conference men's basketball season

2025–26 Big Ten Conference men's basketball season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportBasketball
Teams18
TV partner(s)Big Ten Network, Fox, FS1, CBS, Peacock, NBC, NBCSN
2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
Tournament
VenueUnited Center, Chicago, Illinois
2025–26 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 13 Nebraska 2 – 0   1.000 12 – 0   1.000
No. 2 Michigan 2 – 0   1.000 11 – 0   1.000
No. 9 Michigan State 2 – 0   1.000 11 – 1   .917
No. 5 Purdue 2 – 0   1.000 11 – 1   .917
UCLA 2 – 0   1.000 10 – 3   .769
No. 24 USC 1 – 1   .500 12 – 1   .923
No. 25 Iowa 1 – 1   .500 10 – 2   .833
Indiana 1 – 1   .500 10 – 3   .769
No. 20 Illinois 1 – 1   .500 9 – 3   .750
Ohio State 1 – 1   .500 9 – 3   .750
Washington 1 – 1   .500 8 – 4   .667
Wisconsin 1 – 1   .500 8 – 4   .667
Minnesota 1 – 1   .500 7 – 5   .583
Penn State 0 – 2   .000 8 – 4   .667
Northwestern 0 – 2   .000 7 – 5   .583
Maryland 0 – 2   .000 6 – 6   .500
Oregon 0 – 2   .000 6 – 6   .500
Rutgers 0 – 2   .000 6 – 6   .500
† 2026 Big Ten tournament winner
As of December 23, 2025
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2025–26 Big Ten men's basketball season will be for the Big Ten Conference in the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The basketball teams began practicing in October 2025, followed by the start of the season in November 2025. The regular season will end in March 2026.

Michigan State is the defending regular season champion while Michigan is the defending tournament champion.

Head coaches

Coaching changes

Indiana

On February 8, 2025, the school announced the head coach Mike Woodson would not return as head coach.[1] On March 18, the school named West Virginia head coach Darian DeVries the team's new head coach.[2]

Iowa

On March 14, 2025, the school fired head coach Fran McCaffery after 15 seasons. He finished with a 297–207 overall record with Iowa.[3][4] On March 24, the school named Drake head coach Ben McCollum the team's new coach.[5]

Maryland

Following the season, head coach Kevin Willard left the team to take the head coaching position at Villanova.[6] On April 1, the school named Texas A&M head coach Buzz Williams the team's new head coach.[7]

Minnesota

On March 13, 2025, the school fired head coach Ben Johnson.[8] On March 24, the school named Colorado State head coach Niko Medved the team's new coach.[9]

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 Championships
Illinois Brad Underwood Oklahoma State 9 165–101 (.620) 92–66 (.582) 1 2 5 0 0
Indiana Darian DeVries West Virginia 1 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0 0 0 0 0
Iowa Ben McCollum Drake 1 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0 0 0 0 0
Maryland Buzz Williams Texas A&M 1 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0 0 0 0 0
Michigan Dusty May Florida Atlantic 2 27–10 (.730) 14–6 (.700) 0 1 1 0 0
Michigan State Tom Izzo Michigan State (Asst.) 30 737–302 (.709) 361–173 (.676) 11 6 27 8 1
Minnesota Niko Medved Colorado State 1 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0 0 0 0 0
Nebraska Fred Hoiberg Chicago Bulls 7 84–108 (.438) 37–82 (.311) 0 0 1 0 0
Northwestern Chris Collins Duke (Asst.) 13 194–190 (.505) 87–142 (.380) 0 0 3 0 0
Ohio State Jake Diebler Ohio State (Assoc.) 3 25–18 (.581) 9–11 (.450) 0 0 0 0 0
Oregon Dana Altman Creighton 16 370–162 (.695) 12–8 (.600) 0 0 9 1 0
Penn State Mike Rhoades VCU 3 32–32 (.500) 15–25 (.375) 0 0 0 0 0
Purdue Matt Painter Purdue (Assoc.) 21 471–215 (.687) 238–129 (.649) 5 2 15 1 0
Rutgers Steve Pikiell Stony Brook 10 147–140 (.512) 71–105 (.403) 0 0 2 0 0
UCLA Mick Cronin Cincinnati 7 138–64 (.683) 13–7 (.650) 0 0 4 1 0
USC Eric Musselman Arkansas 2 17–18 (.486) 7–13 (.350) 0 0 0 0 0
Washington Danny Sprinkle Utah State 2 13–18 (.419) 4–16 (.200) 0 0 0 0 0
Wisconsin Greg Gard Wisconsin (Assoc.) 11 212–117 (.644) 117–77 (.603) 2 0 7 0 0

Notes:

  • All records, appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only.
  • Year at school includes 2025–26 season.
  • Overall and Big Ten records are from time at current school only and are through the beginning of the season.

Preseason

Preseason Big Ten poll

The Big Ten Media poll was released on October 7, 2025.[10]

Rank Team
1 Purdue
2 Michigan
3 UCLA
4 Illinois
5 Oregon
6 Michigan State
7 Wisconsin
8 Iowa
9 Ohio State
10 Indiana
11 Washington
12 USC
13 Maryland
14 Nebraska
15 Northwestern
16 Minnesota
17 Rutgers
18 Penn State

Preseason All-Big Ten

A select media panel named a preseason All-Big Ten team and player of the year.[11]

Honor Recipient
Preseason Player of the Year Braden Smith, Purdue
Preseason All-Big Ten Team Bennett Stirtz, Iowa
Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan
Nick Martinelli, Northwestern
Bruce Thornton, Ohio State
Nate Bittle, Oregon
Jackson Shelstad, Oregon
Trey Kaufman-Renn, Purdue
Braden Smith, Purdue
Donovan Dent, UCLA
John Blackwell, Wisconsin

Preseason national polls

Main article: 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season § Pre-season polls
AP[12] Blue Ribbon
Yearbook[13] 		CBS Sports[14] Coaches ESPN[15] FOX Sports[16] Lindy's
Sports[17] 		Sporting News Sports Illustrated[18]
Illinois 17 20 24 16 20 23 15
Indiana
Iowa 31 25
Maryland
Michigan 7 9 8 8 6 4 11
Michigan State 22 16 27 18 25 22
Minnesota
Nebraska
Northwestern
Ohio State 38
Oregon 25 17 30
Penn State
Purdue 1 2 4 1 1 2 5
Rutgers
UCLA 12 12 10 15 12 16 19
USC 30
Washington
Wisconsin 24 21 26 20 21 33 23

Preseason watchlists

Below is a table of notable preseason watch lists.

Player Wooden Naismith Naismith DPOY Robertson Cousy[19] West[20] Erving[21] Malone[22] Abdul-Jabbar
Chad Baker-Mazara, USC Y
Tyler Bilodeau, UCLA Y
John Blackwell, Wisconsin Y
Kylan Boswell, Illinois Y
Elliot Cadeau, Michigan Y
Coen Carr, Michigan State Y
Eric Dailey Jr., UCLA Y
Donovan Dent, UCLA Y
Tucker DeVries, Indiana Y
Alvaro Folgueiras, Iowa Y
Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan Y
Trey Kaufman-Renn, Purdue Y
Fletcher Loyer, Purdue Y
Nick Martinelli, Northwestern Y
Devin Royal, Ohio State Y
Bennett Stirtz, Iowa Y
Braden Smith, Purdue Y
Andrej Stojaković, Illinois Y
Bruce Thornton, Ohio State Y
Wesley Yates III, Washington Y

Preseason All-American teams

Player AP[23] CBS[24] USA Today[25] Sports Illustrated[26] SB Nation[27] Sporting News[28]
Braden Smith, Purdue 1st team 1st team 1st team 1st team 1st team 1st team
Yaxel Lendeborg , Michigan 1st team 2nd team 2nd team 2nd team 1st team 2nd team
Trey Kaufman-Renn, Purdue 1st team 2nd team 2nd team 3rd team
Donovan Dent, UCLA 1st team 2nd team 1st team 2nd team
Bennett Stirtz, Iowa 2nd team 2nd team 3rd team

Regular season

Rankings

See also: 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball 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		 Wk
2		 Wk
3		 Wk
4		 Wk
5		 Wk
6		 Wk
7		 Wk
8		 Wk
9		 Wk
10		 Wk
11		 Wk
12		 Wk
13		 Wk
14		 Wk
15		 Wk
16		 Wk
17		 Wk
18		 Wk
19		 Wk
20		 Final
Illinois AP 17 14 8 13 14 13 18 20
C 14 14 8 14 15 13 18 19
Indiana AP RV RV RV 25 22 RV RV RV
C RV 25 24 19T RV
Iowa AP RV RV RV RV RV RV RV 25
C RV RV RV RV 25 23 25 23
Maryland AP
C
Michigan AP 7 6 7 7 3 (15) 2 (19) 2 (15) 2 (19)
C 7 5 6 6 2 (6) 1 (17) 1 (16) 1 (20)
Michigan State AP 22 17 17 11 7 9 9 9
C 21 17 18 12 8 9 9 9
Minnesota AP
C
Nebraska AP RV RV 23 15 13
C RV RV 22 15 13
Northwestern AP
C
Ohio State AP RV RV RV RV
C RV RV RV RV RV RV
Oregon AP RV RV RV RV
C RV RV RV RV
Penn State AP
C
Purdue AP 1 (35) 2 (36) 1 (44) 1 (46) 1 (40) 6 6 5
C 1 (18) 1 (21) 1 (20) 1 (23) 1 (21) 6 6 5
Rutgers AP
C
UCLA AP 12 15 19 18 RV 25 RV RV
C 12 15 20 19 RV RV RV RV
USC AP RV RV RV RV 24 23
C RV RV RV RV RV RV RV 25
Washington AP RV
C RV
Wisconsin AP 24 24 23 RV RV RV RV
C 24 22 21 RV RV RV RV

Players of the week

Throughout the conference regular season, the Big Ten offices will name one or two players of the week and one or two freshmen of the week each Monday.

Week Player of the week Freshman of the week
November 10, 2025[29] Tucker DeVries, Indiana David Mirkovic, Illinois
Bruce Thornton, Ohio State
November 17, 2025[30] Braden Smith, Purdue David Mirkovic, Illinois (2)
November 24, 2025[31] David Coit, Maryland Braden Frager, Nebraska
December 1, 2025[32] Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan Kayden Mingo, Penn State
December 8, 2025[33] John Blackwell, Wisconsin Hannes Steinbach, Washington
December 15, 2025[34] Pryce Sandfort, Nebraska Keaton Wagler, Illinois
Lamar Wilkerson, Indiana

Early season tournaments

Of the 18 Big Ten teams, 11 participated in early season bracketed tournaments.[35]

Team Tournament Finish
Iowa Acrisure Series (Classic) 1st
Maryland Players Era Festival Lost consolation game
Michigan Players Era Festival 1st
Minnesota Acrisure Series (Invitational) 4th
Nebraska Hall of Fame Classic 1st
Oregon Players Era Festival Lost consolation game
Purdue Bahamas Championship 1st
Rutgers Players Era Festival Won consolation game
USC Maui Invitational 1st
Washington Acrisure Series (Holiday Classic) 2nd
Wisconsin Rady Children's Invitational 2nd

Conference matrix

This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play. Each team is scheduled to play 20 conference games with at least one game against each opponent.

Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Maryland
Michigan
Michigan St
Minnesota
Nebraska
Northwestern
Ohio St
Oregon
Penn St
Purdue
Rutgers
UCLA
USC
Washington
Wisconsin
vs. Illinois – 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 1–0 0–0 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0
vs. Indiana 0–0 – 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 1–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0
vs. Iowa 0–0 0–0 – 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0
vs. Maryland 0–0 0–0 1–0 – 1–0 1–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0
vs. Michigan 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 – 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0
vs. Michigan St 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–0 0–0 – 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0
vs. Minnesota 0–0 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 – 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 1–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0
vs. Nebraska 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 – 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–1
vs. Northwestern 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 – 1–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 1–0
vs. Ohio State 1–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 – 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0
vs. Oregon 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 – 0–0 0–0 0–0 1–0 1–0 0–0 0–0
vs. Penn State 0–0 1–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 1–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 – 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0
vs. Purdue 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 – 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0
vs. Rutgers 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 1–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 1–0 – 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0
vs. UCLA 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 – 0–0 0–1 0–0
vs. USC 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 – 1–0 0–0
vs. Washington 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 1–0 0–1 – 0–0
vs. Wisconsin 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 1–0 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 –
Total 1–1 1–1 1–1 0–2 2–0 2–0 1–1 2–0 0–2 1–1 0–2 0–2 2–0 0–2 2–0 1–1 1–1 1–1

Through January 1, 2026

References

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