2020–21 Big Ten Conference men's basketball season
The 2020–21 Big Ten men's basketball season began with practices in October 2020, followed by the start of the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November 2020. The regular season ended in March 2021.
| 2020–21 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 |
| 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season | |
| Regular season champions | Michigan |
| Season MVP | Luka Garza, Iowa |
| Top scorer | Luka Garza, Iowa |
| Tournament | |
| Champions | Illinois |
| Runners-up | Ohio State |
| Finals MVP | Ayo Dosunmu |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 4 Michigan | 14 | – | 3 | .824 | 23 | – | 5 | .821 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 2 Illinois † | 16 | – | 4 | .800 | 24 | – | 7 | .774 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 8 Iowa | 14 | – | 6 | .700 | 22 | – | 9 | .710 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 20 Purdue | 13 | – | 6 | .684 | 18 | – | 10 | .643 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 7 Ohio State | 12 | – | 8 | .600 | 21 | – | 10 | .677 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wisconsin | 10 | – | 10 | .500 | 18 | – | 13 | .581 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rutgers | 10 | – | 10 | .500 | 16 | – | 12 | .571 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maryland | 9 | – | 11 | .450 | 17 | – | 14 | .548 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Michigan State | 9 | – | 11 | .450 | 15 | – | 13 | .536 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indiana | 7 | – | 12 | .368 | 12 | – | 15 | .444 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Penn State | 7 | – | 12 | .368 | 11 | – | 14 | .440 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northwestern | 6 | – | 13 | .316 | 9 | – | 15 | .375 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minnesota | 6 | – | 14 | .300 | 14 | – | 15 | .483 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nebraska | 3 | – | 16 | .158 | 7 | – | 20 | .259 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † Conference tournament winner Rankings from AP poll | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Big Ten announced the season schedule on November 18, 2020 with games starting on December 13 and featuring games played on December 25 and 26. The schedule had built-in collapsible byes to attempt to make up for expected COVID-19 issues. The conference played the highest percentage of scheduled conference games in the nation, having only four games that could not be played.
With a win over rival Michigan State on March 4, 2021, Michigan won the Big Ten regular season championship based on winning percentage as the Wolverines did not play a full 20-game schedule due to COVID-19 issues.
The Big Ten tournament was originally to be held at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois from March 10–14, 2021. However, on February 9, the conference announced the tournament would be played at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana to better deal with testing concerns raised by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Illinois defeated Ohio State in the championship game to win the Big Ten tournament and receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Iowa big man Luka Garza was named Big Ten Player of the Year for the second consecutive year. Michigan coach Juwan Howard was named Big Ten Coach of the Year. Garza and Illinois point guard Ayo Dosunmu were consensus first-team All-Americans.
In addition to Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue, Rutgers, and Wisconsin received bids to the NCAA tournament. The nine bids to the tournament marked a conference record.