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
The 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 5, 2019. The first tournament was the 2K Sports Classic and the season concluded prematurely on March 12, 2020. The 2020 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament was sch ...
on November 5, 2019. The regular season ended on March 8, 2020.
With a win against
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 ...
on March 7, 2020,
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 ...
earned a share of the Big Ten regular season championship. With a win over
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 8,
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 ...
earned a share of their first Big Ten regular season championship. Also with a win on March 8 against
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 ...
,
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 ...
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
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) ...
in
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 ...
from March 11 through 15, until the tournament was canceled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
The NCAA Tournament was likewise canceled on March 12.
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 ...
big man
Luka Garza
Luka H. Garza (born December 27, 1998) is a Bosnian-American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Bosnian and Herzegovinian national team.
Garza played college bask ...
was named
Big Ten Player of the Year. Wisconsin coach
Greg Gard
Gregory Glen Gard (born December 3, 1970) is an American college basketball coach for the Wisconsin Badgers. Gard took over on December 15, 2015, after Bo Ryan announced his retirement as head coach of the Badgers. Gard is a native of Cobb, Wisc ...
was named
Coach of the Year Many sports leagues, sportswriting associations, and other organizations confer "Coach of the Year" awards. In some sports — including baseball and association football — the award is called the "Manager of the Year" award.
Some of the ...
.
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
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...
' head coach
Fred Hoiberg
Fredrick Kristian Hoiberg (born October 15, 1972) is an American college basketball coach and former player. He has served as the men's head basketball coach at the University of Nebraska since 2019. Hoiberg grew up in Ames, Iowa, and played coll ...
as the next head coach.
Michigan
On May 13, 2019, Michigan head coach
John Beilein
John Patrick Beilein ( ; born February 5, 1953) is an American professional basketball coach who currently serves as a college basketball analyst for the Big Ten Network. Before being hired by the Big Ten Network, Beilein served as the head coac ...
left the school to accept the head coaching position with the
Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...
. Nine days later, the school hired former Michigan player and member of the "
Fab Five"
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 ...
as head coach.
Coaches
''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.
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.
Preseason watchlists
Below is a table of notable preseason watch lists.
Preseason national polls
Regular season
2019
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 ...
(Big Ten 8–6)
2019 Gavitt Tipoff Games (Big Ten 5–3)
Rankings
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
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 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.
Player of the week
Throughout the conference regular season, the
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 ...
offices named one or two players of the week and one or two freshmen of the week each Monday.
Cassius Winston
Cassius Xavier-Lamarr Winston (born February 28, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for Pallacanestro Reggiana of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). He played college basketball for the Michigan State Spartans.
High school c ...
was named the Naismith National Player of the Week on January 6, 2020.
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.
For the 44th consecutive season, the Big Ten Conference led the nation in average attendance. The Big Ten average men's basketball attendance of 12,709 outpaced the SEC (11,188), ACC (10,886), Big 12 (10,521) and Big East (10,130). Wisconsin (6th, 16,912), Indiana (10th, 16,300), Nebraska (11th, 15,605), Maryland (13th, 15,336), Purdue (16th, 14,804), Michigan State (17th, 14,797), Ohio State (18th, 14,531), Illinois (24th, 13,041), Michigan (26th, 12,539) and Iowa (27th, 12,357) were all among the top 30 of the 350 schools that host Division I basketball.
Honors and awards
All-Big Ten awards and teams
On March 9, 2020, the Big Ten announced most of its conference awards.
USBWA
On March 10, the
U.S. 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 US ...
released its 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)
*
Lamar Stevens, Penn State
District III (VA, NC, SC, MD)
*
Anthony Cowan, Maryland
*
Jalen Smith, Maryland
District V (OH, IN, IL, MI, MN, WI)
*
Ayo Dosunmu, Illinois
*
Daniel Oturu, Minnesota
*
Zavier Simpson, Michigan
*
Xavier Tillman, Michigan State
*
Kaleb Wesson, Ohio State
*
Cassius Winston
Cassius Xavier-Lamarr Winston (born February 28, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for Pallacanestro Reggiana of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). He played college basketball for the Michigan State Spartans.
High school c ...
, Michigan State
Player of the Year
*
Luka Garza
Luka H. Garza (born December 27, 1998) is a Bosnian-American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Bosnian and Herzegovinian national team.
Garza played college bask ...
, Iowa
All-District Team
*Luka Garza, Iowa,
*
Joe Wieskamp, Iowa
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 22, 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
*
Cassius Winston
Cassius Xavier-Lamarr Winston (born February 28, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for Pallacanestro Reggiana of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). He played college basketball for the Michigan State Spartans.
High school c ...
, Michigan State
*
Lamar Stevens, Penn State
*
Luka Garza
Luka H. Garza (born December 27, 1998) is a Bosnian-American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Bosnian and Herzegovinian national team.
Garza played college bask ...
, Iowa
*
Anthony Cowan Jr., Maryland
*
Daniel Oturu, Minnesota
;Second Team
*
Jalen Smith, Maryland
*
Ayo Dosunmu, Illinois
*
Joe Wieskamp, Iowa
*
Kaleb Wesson, Ohio State
*
Zavier Simpson, Michigan
Postseason
Big Ten tournament
After the first two games of the tournament were played on March 11, the conference canceled the remainder of the tournament due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
2020 NBA draft
The following four players from the Big Ten Conference were drafted in the 2020 NBA draft.
Pre-draft trades
Draft-day trades
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:2019-20 Big Ten Conference men's basketball season