2026 Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament Bracket: Updated seeds, matchups as of 03.05.26

The latest Big Ten men’s basketball tournament bracket projections are in. The 2026 tournament starts on Tuesday, March 10.

Wednesday night included another round of action in the conference, as league play quickly winds down and March Madness fast approaches. The standings remain pretty clear at the top, where Michigan has locked up the No. 1 seed.

But what about the rest of the tournament bracket? We can begin to fill that in based on the latest results today. Let’s have a look.

Current Seeding

1. Michigan Wolverines (17-1)
2. Michigan State Spartans (14-4)
3. Nebraska Cornhuskers (14-5)
4. Illinois Fighting Illini (14-5)
5. Purdue Boilermakers (13-6)
6. Wisconsin Badgers (13-6)
7. UCLA Bruins (12-7)
8. Ohio State Buckeyes (11-8)
9. Iowa Hawkeyes (10-8)
10. Indiana Hoosiers (9-10)
11. Washington Huskies (7-12)
12. USC Trojans (7-11)
13. Minnesota Golden Gophers (7-12)
14. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (5-13)
15. Northwestern Wildcats (5-14)
16. Oregon Ducks (4-15)
17. Maryland Terrapins (4-15)
18. Penn State Nittany Lions (3-16)

Current Big Ten Tournament Bracket

First Round (Tuesday, March 10)

No. 17 Maryland vs. No. 16 Oregon (4:00 PM CT/5:00 PM ET – TV TBD) Game 1
No. 18 Penn State vs. No. 15 Northwestern (6:30 PM CT/7:30 PM ET – TV TBD) Game 2

Second Round (Wednesday, March 11)

No. 9 Iowa vs. Winner of Game 1 (11:00 AM CT/12:00 PM ET – TV TBD) Game 3
No. 13 Minnesota vs. No. 12 USC (1:30 PM CT/2:30 PM ET – TV TBD) Game 4
No. 10 Indiana vs. Winner of Game 2 (5:30 PM CT/6:30 PM ET – B1G Network) Game 5
No. 14 Rutgers vs. No. 11 Washington (8:00 PM CT/9:00 PM ET – B1G Network) Game 6

Third Round (Thursday, March 12)

No. 8 Ohio State vs. Winner of Game 3 (11:00 AM CT/12:00 PM ET – Big Ten Network) Game 7
No. 5 Purdue vs. Winner of Game 4 (1:30 PM CT/2:30 PM ET – Big Ten Network) Game 8
No. 7 UCLA vs. Winner of Game 5 (5:30 PM CT/6:30 PM ET – Big Ten Network) Game 9
No. 6 Wisconsin vs. Winner of Game 6 (8:00 PM CT/9:00 PM ET – Big Ten Network) Game 10

Quarterfinals (Friday, March 13)

No. 1 Michigan vs. Winner of Game 7 (11:00 AM CT/12:00 PM ET – Big Ten Network) Game 11
No. 4 Illinois vs. Winner of Game 8 (1:30 PM CT/2:30 PM ET – Big Ten Network) Game 12
No. 2 Michigan State vs. Winner of Game 9 (5:30 PM CT/6:30 PM ET – Big Ten Network) Game 13
No. 3 Nebraska vs. Winner of Game 10 (8:00 PM CT/9:00 PM ET – Big Ten Network) Game 14

Semifinals (Saturday, March 14)

Winner of Game 11 vs. Winner of Game 12 (12:00 PM CT/1:00 PM ET – CBS) Game 15
Winner of Game 13 vs. Winner of Game 14 (2:30 PM CT/3:30 PM ET – CBS) Game 16

Big Ten Championship Game (Sunday, March 15)

Winner of Game 15 vs. Winner of Game 16 (2:30 PM CT/3:30 PM ET – CBS) Game 17