2017–18 Big Ten Conference men's basketball season
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 in New York. Due to the Big East'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 on February 25, 2018, Michigan State clinched the outright Big Ten championship, their eighth under Tom Izzo.
| 2017–18 Big Ten Conference men's basketball season | |
|---|---|
| League | NCAA Division I |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Number of teams | 14 |
| TV partner(s) | Big Ten Network, ESPN, Fox, FS1 CBS |
| 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season | |
| Regular season champions | Michigan State |
| Runners-up | Purdue and Ohio State |
| Season MVP | Keita Bates-Diop, Ohio State |
| Top scorer | Keita Bates-Diop |
| Tournament | |
| Champions | Michigan |
| Runners-up | Purdue |
| Finals MVP | Moritz Wagner |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 5 Michigan State | 16 | – | 2 | .889 | 30 | – | 5 | .857 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 11 Purdue | 15 | – | 3 | .833 | 30 | – | 7 | .811 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 17 Ohio State | 15 | – | 3 | .833 | 25 | – | 9 | .735 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 7 Michigan † | 13 | – | 5 | .722 | 33 | – | 8 | .805 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nebraska | 13 | – | 5 | .722 | 22 | – | 11 | .667 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Penn State | 9 | – | 9 | .500 | 26 | – | 13 | .667 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indiana | 9 | – | 9 | .500 | 16 | – | 15 | .516 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maryland | 8 | – | 10 | .444 | 19 | – | 13 | .594 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wisconsin | 7 | – | 11 | .389 | 15 | – | 18 | .455 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northwestern | 6 | – | 12 | .333 | 15 | – | 17 | .469 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minnesota | 4 | – | 14 | .222 | 15 | – | 17 | .469 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Illinois | 4 | – | 14 | .222 | 14 | – | 18 | .438 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Iowa | 4 | – | 14 | .222 | 14 | – | 19 | .424 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rutgers | 3 | – | 15 | .167 | 15 | – | 19 | .441 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2018 Big Ten tournament winner Rankings from AP poll | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Big Ten tournament was held from February 28 through March 4, 2018 at Madison Square Garden. Michigan defeated Purdue 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, and Purdue) were invited to the NCAA tournament, the fewest Big Ten teams selected for the Tournament since 2008. Michigan was the National Runner-up, losing to Villanova in the NCAA championship game. Nebraska and Penn State received invitations to the National Invitation Tournament. 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, 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 history that the teams will play a 20-game conference schedule.