The 2024–25 Big Ten men's basketball season was for the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

in the

2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 4, 2024. The regular season ended on March 16, 2025, with the 2025 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament that began with the First Four on March 18 and ended with t ...

. The basketball teams began practicing in October 2024, followed by the start of the season in November 2024. The regular season concluded on March 9, 2025. This was the conference's first season with 18 teams, as four schools joined the conference in 2024:

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

, and

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. Each team played 20 regular season conference games, seven opponents only at home, seven others only on the road, and a home-and-home with three opposing schools. With a loss by

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

on March 5, 2025,

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the ...

secured at least a share of the Big Ten regular season championship, their first since

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

. On March 6, the Spartans secured the outright regular season championship with a win over

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

, their first outright championship since

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donat ...

point guard Braden Smith was named the Big Ten Player of the Year and Michigan State head coach

Tom Izzo Thomas Michael Izzo (, ; born January 30, 1955) is an American college basketball coach who has been the head coach at Michigan State University since 1995. On April 4, 2016, Izzo was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Izzo has le ...

was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year. The Big Ten tournament was held from March 12 through March 16 at

Gainbridge Fieldhouse Gainbridge Fieldhouse is an indoor arena located in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It opened in November 1999 to replace Market Square Arena. The arena is the home of the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) ...

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

. Michigan defeated

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

to win the school's fourth Big Ten tournament championship. Michigan received the conference's automatic NCAA tournament bid, in addition

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, Michigan State,

, Wisconsin, and

received at-large bids to the tournament. In the first round the Big Ten went 8–0, setting an NCAA record for the most wins without a loss by any conference in any round in the history of the tournament. Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue advanced to the Sweet Sixteen. Only Michigan State advanced to the Elite Eight before losing, extending the conference's national championship drought to 25 years.

Head coaches

Coaching changes

Michigan

On March 15, 2024, Michigan fired head coach

Juwan Howard Juwan Antonio Howard ( ; born February7, 1973) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He previously served as the head coach ...

after finishing the 2023–24 season with an 8–24 record. On March 24, the school named Florida Atlantic head coach Dusty May the team's new head coach.

Ohio State

On February 15, Ohio State fired Chris Holtmann. The school named associate head coach Jake Diebler the team's interim head coach. Following the completion of the Big Ten Tournament, the school named Diebler the team's new head coach after finishing the season with a 6–2 record as interim coach.

USC

On April 1, USC head coach

Andy Enfield Andrew William Enfield (born June 8, 1969) is an American basketball coach who is the head men's basketball coach at SMU Mustangs men's basketball, Southern Methodist University. He came to national prominence as head coach at Florida Gulf Coast ...

left the school to take the head coaching position at SMU. On April 4, the school named

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

head coach

Eric Musselman Eric Musselman (born November 19, 1964) is an American college basketball coach who is currently the head coach at the University of Southern California. He is the former head coach at the University of Arkansas, University of Nevada, Reno, the ...

the team's new head coach.

Washington

On March 8, Washington fired head coach Mike Hopkins after seven seasons. On March 25, the school named Utah State head coach Danny Sprinkle the team's new head coach.

Coaches

''Notes:'' * All records, appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only. * Year at school includes 2024–25 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 2, 2024.

Preseason All-Big Ten

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

Preseason national polls

Preseason watchlists

Below is a table of notable midseason watch lists.

Preseason All-American teams

Regular season

Rankings

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.

Early season tournaments

Of the 18 Big Ten teams, 13 will participate in early season tournaments.

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. ''Final conference records''

All-Big Ten awards and teams

On March 11, 2025, the Big Ten announced most of its conference awards.

Postseason

Big Ten tournament

Although the conference grew by four teams, it has allotted only one additional spot for the conference tournament – meaning three teams will not qualify for the tournament. The tournament will still be over five days, with double byes for the top four seeds, and single byes for the next five seeds.