2026 Big Ten Tournament: How to Watch, Top Teams, Seeding

The calendar has flipped to March, and few things are as synonymous with this month as the NCAA’s annual championship tournament, March Madness^®.

While we’re still weeks away from the 64-team tournament, the first steps toward the madness are the NCAA conference championships. All 31 men’s and women’s conferences compete for a championship and an automatic bid to the tournament. The Big Ten is shaping up to be one of the most competitive bids in the country.

On the men’s side, five of the top 15 teams in the country are in the Big Ten. On the women’s side, six of the top 15 and seven of the top 25 teams will be competing for the Big Ten championship.

The Big Ten tournament is an appetizer for the main course of March Madness, and DIRECTV is your home for every college basketball game, every day along the way.

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Tournament Info| Men’s Schedule | Women’s Schedule | Teams to Watch | Big Ten Seeding

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When is the 2026 Big Ten Basketball Tournament?

The Men’s and Women’s Big Ten tournaments will take place between March 4 and March 15, 2026.

• Women’s Tournament: March 4–8 | Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
• Men’s Tournament: March 10–15 | United Center, Chicago, Illinois

How to Watch the Big Ten Tournament

The Men’s and Women’s Big Ten tournaments will be available to watch on:

• NBC Sports Network and Peacock
• Big Ten Network
• CBS and Paramount Plus

If you don’t currently have access to Big Ten Network, you can fix that by signing up for one of several DIRECTV packages. Customers can get CBS, Big Ten Network (Ch. 610) and a variety of other sports-centric channels with these packages:

• CHOICE™ Signature Package
• MySports^® Genre Pack^®

Get started with DIRECTV today or learn more about MySports^® right here.

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Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament Schedule

Find the full Big Ten Men’s basketball tournament game schedule right here, which starts on Wednesday, March 10 at 4:00 p.m. ET.

First Round – Tuesday, March 10

Game	Time	Matchup	Television
1	4:00 p.m.	No. 17 vs. No. 16	Peacock/NBCSN
2	6:30 p.m.	No. 18 vs. No. 15	Peacock/NBCSN

Second Round – Wednesday, March 11

Game	Time	Matchup	Television
3	11:00 a.m.	Game 1 winner vs. No. 9	Peacock/NBCSN
4	1:30 p.m.	No. 13 vs. No. 12	Peacock/NBCSN
5	5:30 p.m.	Game 2 winner vs. No. 10	BTN
6	8:00 p.m.	No. 14 vs. No. 11	BTN

Third Round – Thursday, March 12

Game	Time	Matchup	Television
7	11:00 a.m.	Game 3 winner vs. No. 8	BTN
8	1:30 p.m.	Game 4 winner vs. No. 5	BTN
9	5:30 p.m.	Game 5 winner vs. No. 7	BTN
10	8:00 p.m.	Game 6 winner vs. No. 6	BTN

Quarterfinals – Friday, March 13

Game	Time	Matchup	Television
11	11:00 a.m.	Game 7 winner vs. No. 1 Michigan	BTN
12	1:30 p.m.	Game 8 winner vs. No. 4	BTN
13	5:30 p.m.	Game 9 winner vs. No. 2	BTN
14	8:00 p.m.	Game 10 winner vs. No. 3	BTN

Semifinals – Saturday, March 14

Game	Time	Matchup	Television
15	12:00 p.m.	Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner	CBS
16	2:30 p.m.	Game 13 winner vs. Game 14 winner	CBS

Championship – Sunday, March 15

Game	Time	Matchup	Television
17	2:30 p.m.	Game 15 winner vs. Game 16 winner	CBS

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2026 Women’s Big Ten Basketball Tournament Schedule

Find the full Big Ten Women’s basketball tournament game schedule right here, which starts on Wednesday, March 4 at 3:30 p.m. ET.

First Round – Wednesday, March 4

Game	Time	Matchup	Television
1	3:30 p.m.	No. 13 Indiana vs. No. 12 Nebraska	Peacock/NBCSN
2	6:00 p.m.	No. 15 Wisconsin vs. No. 10 Illinois	Peacock/NBCSN
3	8:30 p.m.	No. 14 Purdue vs. No. 11 Oregon	Peacock/NBCSN

Second Round – Thursday, March 5

Game	Time	Matchup	Television
4	12:00 p.m.	No. 9 USC vs. No. 8 Washington	BTN
5	2:30 p.m.	Game 1 winner vs. No. 5 Ohio State	BTN
6	6:30 p.m.	Game 2 winner vs. No. 7 Michigan State	BTN
7	9:00 p.m.	Game 3 winner vs. No. 6 Maryland	BTN

Quarterfinals – Friday, March 6

Game	Time	Matchup	Television
8	12:00 p.m.	Game 4 winner vs. No. 1 UCLA	BTN
9	2:30 p.m.	Game 5 winner vs. No. 4 Minnesota	BTN
10	6:30 p.m.	Game 6 winner vs. No. 2 Iowa	BTN
11	9:00 p.m.	Game 7 winner vs. No. 3 Michigan	BTN

Semifinals – Saturday, March 7

Game	Time	Matchup	Television
12	2:00 p.m.	Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner	BTN
13	4:30 p.m.	Game 10 winner vs. Game 11 winner	BTN

Championship – Sunday, March 8

Game	Time	Matchup	Television
14	2:15 p.m.	Game 12 winner vs. Game 13 winner	CBS

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Men’s Teams to Watch

Here are the top Men’s Basketball Teams to watch out for in the Big Ten conference.

#3 Michigan

Michigan enters as the #3 seed overall with a 17-1 record in conference play. Their only loss was an uncharacteristic three-point defeat to unranked Wisconsin. Since then, they’ve beaten all of their major conference foes, cementing themselves as the favorite heading into Chicago.

#15 Purdue

Purdue started the season as the preseason #1 but have suffered six conference losses, including three of their last four against Ohio State, Michigan State and top-ranked Michigan. The Big Ten tournament is a perfect chance for this team to right the ship. Braden Smith and Trey Kaufman-Renn will be the players Purdue turns to in order to make a run.

#11 Illinois

After winning 12 straight, including wins over #5 Nebraska, #4 Purdue and #19 Iowa, Illinois has dropped four of their last six.

They had a rough go with The Great Lakes State. Losses to #3 Michigan and #10 Michigan State knocked them out of the top ten. Keaton Wagler, Andrej Stojaković and David Mirković have been a three-headed monster for this team all season. If Illinois is going to get back on track and claim a top seed in the tournament, now is the time to turn this season around.

#9 Nebraska

Nebraska started the season 20-0 before hitting a rough stretch in February. Three of their last four losses came against higher-ranked opponents, including #3 Michigan and #9 Illinois in the same week, and a heartbreaker in overtime to Purdue. Pryce Sanfordt has put up 30+ points in two of the last three games, including a career-high 33 against Penn State. They’re rolling at the right time.

#8 Michigan State

Michigan State enters the tournament riding a four-game winning streak, highlighted by a road win at Purdue earlier this week. Jeremy Van Fears Jr. and Carson Cooper have carried this team all season, with Tom Izzo relying on the leadership from his upperclassmen. The Spartans are off to one of their best seasons in the last 10 years.

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Women’s Teams to Watch

The women’s tournament features seven teams in the AP top 25, making this one of the most competitive conferences in all of the NCAA. This tournament looks to be one of the nation’s most thrilling.

#2 UCLA

UCLA is a perfect 18-0 in conference play and 28-1 overall. Their only loss came in early November to then-#4 Texas. Since falling in the Players Era Festival semifinals, UCLA has won 22 straight, including wins over Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa, Maryland, Nebraska, USC, Ohio State, and Tennessee who are all ranked in the top 25. In just their second season in the Big Ten, UCLA has been one of the best teams in the country, and their first Big Ten championship would go a long way in cementing that status.

#8 Michigan

The Wolverines enter the Big Ten tournament having won four of their last six, but dropped key games to Iowa and UCLA. They closed the regular season with wins over Ohio State and Maryland, two potential tournament matchups. Olivia Olson has led the way, dropping 28 and 31 points in her last two games as the Wolverines’ leading scorer.

#9 Iowa

Iowa rides a six-game winning streak into the Big Ten tournament, including wins over Michigan and Washington. Two of their five losses are against the best two teams in the country, so the Hawkeyes can hang with anybody. In her second season as head coach, Jan Jensen has this team led by Ava Hayden cruising at just the right time.

#13 Ohio State

Ohio State is stumbling a bit heading into the conference tournament, going just 2-3 over their last five games and dropping all three losses to ranked opponents, including Michigan, Minnesota, and Maryland. Jillian Cambridge has been remarkable, dropping 33 points in her last two wins against Michigan State and USC. One of the nation’s best overall scorers all year, Cambridge averages 23 points per game and will need to carry this team.

#14 Maryland

Maryland was riding a six-game winning streak before getting blown out by Michigan. With road wins against Michigan State and Ohio State, this is a battle-tested team heading into the tournament, and they’ll be looking to erase that loss to the Wolverines. They are led by their leading scorer and one of the best rebounders in the country.

#15 Michigan State

Michigan State is ready for the regular season to be over. They went 5-6 down the stretch, with six of their seven losses occurring in the last month and a half, including two losses to Michigan, along with Ohio State, UCLA, Maryland and Iowa.

They will need to rediscover their early-season magic to make their way through the bracket. Grace VanSlooten is their leading scorer, but she’ll need more help from Kennedy Blair and Rashunda Jones.

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What Teams are in the Big Ten Conference?

16 of the 18 teams in the Big Ten will compete in the upcoming tournament. But with all the recent changes among college conferences, including four new additions to Big Ten, let’s go over which schools are a part of the conference. To see a specific conference team’s individual schedule, click the links below.

• Illinois
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Maryland
• Michigan
• Michigan State
• Minnesota
• Nebraska
• Northwestern
• Ohio State
• Penn State
• Purdue
• Rutgers
• Wisconsin
• Oregon
• UCLA
• USC
• Washington

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Big Ten Conference Team Seeding as of March 2, 2026

Wondering where your favorite team will be seeded come the Big Ten Tournament? Here you’ll find the final team seeding as of the beginning of the conference tournament.

2025-26 Big Ten Conference Men’s Basketball Standings

Team	Conf. W	Conf. L	Conf. PCT	Overall W	Overall L	Overall PCT
Michigan	17	1	.944	27	2	.931
Nebraska	14	4	.778	25	4	.862
Michigan State	14	4	.778	24	5	.828
Illinois	13	5	.722	22	7	.759
Purdue	12	6	.667	22	7	.759
Wisconsin	12	6	.667	20	9	.690
UCLA	11	7	.611	19	10	.655
Iowa	10	8	.556	20	9	.690
Ohio State	10	8	.556	18	11	.621
Indiana	8	10	.444	17	12	.586
USC	7	11	.389	18	11	.621
Minnesota	7	11	.389	14	15	.483
Washington	6	12	.333	14	15	.483
Rutgers	5	13	.278	12	17	.414
Northwestern	5	13	.278	13	16	.448
Oregon	4	14	.222	11	18	.379
Maryland	4	14	.222	11	18	.379
Penn State	3	15	.167	12	17	.414

2025-26 Big Ten Conference Women’s Basketball Standings

Team	Conf. W	Conf. L	Conf. PCT	Overall W	Overall L	Overall PCT
UCLA	18	0	1.000	28	1	.966
Iowa	15	3	.833	24	5	.828
Michigan	15	3	.833	24	5	.828
Minnesota	13	5	.722	22	7	.759
Ohio State	13	5	.722	24	6	.800
Maryland	11	7	.611	23	7	.767
Michigan State	11	7	.611	22	7	.759
Washington	10	8	.556	20	9	.690
USC	9	9	.500	17	12	.586
Illinois	9	9	.500	19	10	.655
Oregon	8	10	.444	20	11	.645
Nebraska	7	11	.389	18	11	.621
Indiana	6	12	.333	17	13	.567
Purdue	5	13	.278	13	16	.448
Wisconsin	5	13	.278	13	16	.448
Penn State	4	14	.222	11	18	.379
Northwestern	2	16	.111	8	21	.276
Rutgers	1	17	.056	9	20	.310

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Watch NCAA^® Basketball on DIRECTV

From the start of the regular season to conference tournaments and all the way to the March Madness Championship game, DIRECTV has got your back, with all the channels you need to watch your favorite teams compete for the coveted title.