The 2017–18 Big Ten men's basketball season began with practices in October 2017, followed by the start of the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. The 2018 Big Ten tournament was held at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Due to the

Big East The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

's use of that venue for the 2018 Big East tournament, the Big Ten tournament took place one week earlier than usual, ending the week before Selection Sunday. As a result, the conference season began on December 1, 2017 and concluded on February 25, 2018. Each team played one road game and one home conference game in the first week of December. With a win over

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 ...

on February 25, 2018,

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 ...

clinched the outright Big Ten championship, their eighth under

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 ...

. The Big Ten tournament was held from February 28 through March 4, 2018 at Madison Square Garden.

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, ...

defeated

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 ...

to win its second consecutive tournament. As a result, the Wolverines received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Four Big Ten schools (Michigan, Michigan State,

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

, and Purdue) were invited to the NCAA tournament, the fewest Big Ten teams selected for the Tournament since

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

. Michigan was the National Runner-up, losing to Villanova in the NCAA championship game.

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

and

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

received invitations to the

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...

. Penn State won the NIT championship. Ohio State forward Keita Bates-Diop was named Big Ten Player of the Year. Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann was named Big Ten Coach of the Year. Bates-Diop and Michigan State forward Miles Bridges were consensus

All-Americans The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

, while Purdue guard Carsen Edwards earned second and third team All-American recognition. Edwards won the Jerry West Award. The season also marked the last time the conference played an 18-game conference schedule. The 2018–19 season marked the first time in

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...

history that the teams will play a 20-game conference schedule.

Head coaches

Coaching changes

On March 11, 2017,

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 ...

fired head coach John Groce. On March 18, the school hired Brad Underwood as the new head coach. On March 16, 2017,

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

fired Tom Crean after nine years as head coach. On March 25, 2017, the school hired Archie Miller as head coach. On June 5, 2017,

announced that head coach Thad Matta would not return as head coach after 13 years in Columbus. On June 9, the school hired Chris Holtmann as head coach.

Coaches

''Notes:'' * All records, appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only. * Year at school includes 2017–18 season. * Overall and Big Ten records are from time at current school and are through the end of the season. * Turgeon's ACC conference record excluded since Maryland began Big Ten Conference play in 2014–15. * Source:

Preseason

Preseason All-Big Ten

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 a unanimous selection to win the conference, receiving all 28 votes. The Spartans' Miles Bridges was also a unanimous selection for Preseason Player of the Year.

Preseason conference poll

Preseason All-Big Ten

On October 19, 2017, a panel of conference media selected a 10-member preseason All-Big Ten Team and Player of the Year.

Preseason watchlists

Below is a table of notable preseason watch lists.

Preseason national polls

Regular season

2017
ACC–Big Ten Challenge The ACC–Big Ten Challenge (or Big Ten–ACC Challenge as it was called in alternating years) was an in-season NCAA Division I men's college basketball series that matched up teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and the Big Ten Confer ...
(ACC 11–3)

Source

2017 Gavitt Tipoff Games (Tied 4–4)

Rankings

Player of the week

Throughout the conference regular season, the

offices named one or two players of the week and one or two freshmen of the week each Monday.

Early season tournaments

Eleven of the 14 Big Ten teams participated in early season tournaments. Each team's finish is noted below.

, and

Rutgers Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College and was aff ...

did not participate in a tournament. Eight Big Ten teams participated in the Gavitt Tip-Off Games against

Big East Conference The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

teams for the third consecutive year. All Big Ten teams participated in the

ACC–Big Ten Challenge The ACC–Big Ten Challenge (or Big Ten–ACC Challenge as it was called in alternating years) was an in-season NCAA Division I men's college basketball series that matched up teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and the Big Ten Confer ...

against

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

teams, the 19th year for the event.

Conference matrix

This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play. Each team played 18 conference games, and at least one game against each opponent. The Big Ten led the nation in attendance with an average of 12,197, outpacing the SEC (11,628), ACC (10,773), Big 12 (10,376) and Big East (10,371). Of the 351 schools that compete in Division I basketball, the Big Ten continues to have several of the top-30 school averages: Wisconsin (4th, 17,272), Indiana (10th, 15,590), Nebraska (11th, 15,492), Michigan State (14th, 14,797), Maryland (15th, 14,675), Purdue (17th, 14,343), Ohio State (21st, 13,495), Illinois (25th, 12,613), Iowa (28th, 12,026) and Minnesota (29th, 11,850).

Honors and awards

On January 9, 2018, Keita Bates-Diop was recognized as the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week by the

United States Basketball Writers Association The United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) was founded in 1956 with the urging of National Collegiate Athletic Association director Walter Byers to serve the interests of journalists who cover college basketball. Scholarships The U ...

. On January 15, Purdue was named

NCAA.com The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and 1 in Canada. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and helps ...

team of the Week. On February 26, Carsen Edwards was named NCAA.com National Player of the Week.

All-Big Ten awards and teams

On February 26, 2018, the Big Ten announced most of its conference awards.

USBWA

On March 6, the U.S. Basketball Writers Association released its 2017–18 Men's All-District Teams, based upon voting from its national membership. There were nine regions from coast to coast, and a player and coach of the year were selected in each. The following lists all the Big Ten representatives selected within their respective regions. District II (NY, NJ, DE, DC, PA, WV) *

Tony Carr Anthony Carr Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 5 September 1950) is an English sports coach and former Director of Youth Development at the West Ham United F.C., West Ham United football club's West Ham United F.C. Reserves and Academy, yo ...

, Penn State District III (VA, NC, SC, MD) *none District V (OH, IN, IL, MI, MN, WI)
Player of the Year * Keita Bates-Diop, Ohio State Coach of the Year * Chris Holtmann, Ohio State All-District Team * Keita Bates-Diop, Ohio State * Miles Bridges, Michigan State * Carsen Edwards, Purdue * Vincent Edwards, Purdue * Ethan Happ, Wisconsin * Juwan Morgan, Indiana * Moritz Wagner, Michigan * Cassius Winston, Michigan State District VI (IA, MO, KS, OK, NE, ND, SD) * James Palmer Jr., Nebraska

NABC

The

National Association of Basketball Coaches The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, is an American organization of men's college basketball coaches. It was founded in 1927 by Phog Allen, the men's basketball head coach for the Univ ...

announced their Division I All-District teams on March 13, recognizing the nation's best men's collegiate basketball

student-athlete Student athlete (or student–athlete) is a term used principally in universities in the United States and Canada to describe students enrolled at postsecondary educational institutions, principally colleges and universities, but also at sec ...

s. Selected and voted on by member coaches of the NABC, the selections on this list were then eligible for NABC Coaches' All-America Honors. The following list represented the District 7 players chosen to the list. ;First Team * Keita Bates-Diop, Ohio State * Miles Bridges, Michigan State * Carsen Edwards, Purdue * James Palmer Jr., Nebraska *

, Penn State ;Second Team * Moritz Wagner, Michigan * Vincent Edwards, Purdue * Ethan Happ, Wisconsin * Isaac Haas, Purdue * Juwan Morgan, Indiana

Other awards

Keita Bates-Diop (1st team), Miles Bridges (2nd team) were selected as consensus 2018 All-American and Carsen Edwards earned several All- American recognitions. Edwards won the Jerry West Award.

Postseason

Big Ten tournament

* denotes overtime period

NCAA tournament

The winner of the Big Ten tournament, Michigan, received the conference's automatic bid to the

2018 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 2018 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 68 teams to determine the men's National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college basketball national champion for the 2017–18 seas ...

National Invitation tournament

Two Big Ten teams received invitations to the National Invitation Tournament: Nebraska and Penn State. Penn State won the championship.

2018 NBA draft

The following All-Big Ten selections were listed as seniors: Ohio State's

Jae'Sean Tate Jae'Sean Antoine Tate ( ; born October 28, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball, Ohio S ...

, Purdue's Vincent Edwards and Isaac Haas. Additionally, Michigan State's Miles Bridges and Jaren Jackson Jr. announced that they would enter the draft and sign with an agent. Penn State's

also announced he would enter the draft and sign with and agent. Moritz Wagner hired an agent. Several other players announced that they would test the draft process, but did not hire an agent, including Wisconsin's Ethan Happ, Purdue's Carsen Edwards, Nebraska's James Palmer Jr., Michigan State's Nick Ward, Michigan's Charles Matthews, and Indiana's Juwan Morgan. These players all withdrew from the draft and returned to school. Four 2017–18 Big Ten Conference men's basketball season players were drafted in the first round of the 2018 draft (Jaren Jackson Jr. — 4th, Bridges — 12th, Kevin Huerter — 19th, Wagner — 25th) and eight were drafted overall in the draft ( Justin Jackson — 43rd, Bates-Diop — 48th, Carr — 51st, Edwards — 52nd).

Pre-draft trades

Before the day of the draft, the following trades were made and resulted in exchanges of draft picks between the teams below.

Draft-day trades

Draft-day trades occurred on June 21, 2018, the day of the draft.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2017-18 Big Ten Conference men's basketball season

Head coaches

Coaching changes

Coaches

Preseason

Preseason All-Big Ten

Preseason conference poll

Preseason All-Big Ten

Preseason watchlists

Preseason national polls

Regular season

2017 ACC–Big Ten Challenge The ACC–Big Ten Challenge (or Big Ten–ACC Challenge as it was called in alternating years) was an in-season NCAA Division I men's college basketball series that matched up teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and the Big Ten Confer ... (ACC 11–3)

2017 Gavitt Tipoff Games (Tied 4–4)

Rankings

Player of the week

Early season tournaments

Conference matrix

Honors and awards

All-Big Ten awards and teams

USBWA

NABC

Other awards

Postseason

Big Ten tournament

NCAA tournament

National Invitation tournament

2018 NBA draft

Pre-draft trades

Draft-day trades

References

2017
ACC–Big Ten Challenge The ACC–Big Ten Challenge (or Big Ten–ACC Challenge as it was called in alternating years) was an in-season NCAA Division I men's college basketball series that matched up teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and the Big Ten Confer ...
(ACC 11–3)