Big Ten Weekly Men's Basketball Central - April 1

BIG TEN MEN'S BASKETBALL     •     BIG TEN STATISTICS     •      NCAA STATISTICS
BIG TEN SCHEDULE & RESULTS     •     BIG TEN STANDINGS
NCAA AP TOP 25 POLL     •     NCAA USA TODAY TOP 25 POLL
MEN'S BASKETBALL POSTSEASON CENTRAL

WEEKLY RELEASE - APRIL 1

Big Ten. Big News.

• For the ninth time in NCAA Tournament history, two Big Ten teams have advanced to the NCAA Final Four. No. 3 seed Illinois will face No. 2 seed Connecticut at 6:09 p.m. ET on Saturday, while No. 1 seeds Michigan and Arizona to meet in the nightcap. This is the first time two Big Ten teams have reached the national semifinal since Michigan State and Wisconsin appeared in the 2015 Final Four.
• Dating back to the first NCAA Tournament in 1939, the Big Ten has made 51 appearances in the Final Four, tying the ACC for the most of any conference. This will be the sixth appearance for Illinois and the first for head coach Brad Underwood, while Michigan will make its ninth appearance. This is also the second Final Four for Michigan head coach Dusty May, who took Florida Atlantic to the semifinal in 2023.
• Illinois secured its place in Saturday’s national semifinal with a 71-59 win over Big Ten rival Iowa in Saturday’s South Region final. Freshman Keaton Wagler was named Region Most Outstanding Player after scoring a game-high 25 points, while classmate Andrej Stojakovic added 17 points. After a 51-51 deadlock with 7:14 remaining, the Illini outscored the Hawkeyes 20-8 to run away with the win. Iowa did not score in the final two minutes, while Illinois finished on an 8-0 run.
• Michigan advanced to the Final Four after scoring a 95-62 win over No. 6 seed Tennessee in Sunday’s Midwest Region final in Chicago. Midwest Region Most Outstanding Player Yaxel Lendeborg paced the Wolverines with 27 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and a pair of blocked shots to lead seven players with at least eight points. Michigan cruised through the Midwest regional, winning its four games by an average of 22.5 points. 
• Ten Big Ten players were named to their respective NCAA Tournament All-Regional Teams after this weekend’s regional championships. Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg was named the Most Outstanding Player in the Midwest Region and was joined on the team by Elliot Cadeau and Roddy Gayle Jr. Likewise, Illinois’ Keaton Wagler claimed Most Outstanding Player honors in the South Region. Wagler was joined by teammates Andrej Stojakovich and David Markovic, Iowa’s Bennett Stirtz, and Nebraska’s Pryce Sandfort. Purdue’s Trey Kaufman-Renn and Braden Smith were also selected to the All-West Region Team.
• Two Big Ten teams, Minnesota and Rutgers, will begin their postseasons on Wednesday, and Thursday, respectively, as both have been selected to compete in the College Basketball Crown. The single elimination eight team tournament, which takes place Wednesday, April 1 to Sunday, April 5. Winners from Wednesday and Thursday’s first round games will meet in Saturday’s semifinal round (1:30 p.m./4 p.m. ET), with the championship slated for 5:30 p.m. ET on Sunday. Games on Wednesday and Thursday will air on FS1, with the semifinals and final slated to air on FOX.
• Minnesota will begin its tournament on Wednesday at 10:30 p.m. ET, when it faces Baylor in the first-ever matchup of the two teams. The contest will air on FS1 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Wednesday’s game will mark the Golden Gophers’ first postseason action since the 2024 National Invitation Tournament. Senior Cade Tyson, who was recently named to the NABC All-District Second Team, leads Minnesota with 16.9 points per game, sixth in the Big Ten.
• Rutgers will make its first postseason appearance since the 2023 National Invitation Tournament on Thursday, when it faces Creighton. Tip is slated for 10:30 p.m. ET at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Winners of five of their last eight games, the Scarlet Knights will look to senior Tariq Francis, who leads the team with 16.9 points and 2.9 assists per game.
• On Tuesday, the Los Angeles Athletic Club included four Big Ten players as it announced its 2026 All-American Team and the top five finalist for the Wooden Award. Illinois freshman Keaton Wagler, Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan State’s Jeremy Fears Jr., and Purdue’s Braden Smith collected four of the 10 spots on the All-America Team, while Lendeborg and Smith were named as two of the Wooden Award’s five finalists. The Wooden Award winner will be announced next week. 
• A pair of Big Ten teams were represented as the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced the finalists for the 2026awards. Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg was one of four finalists for the Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy, joining Darius Acuff Jr. (Arkansas), Cameron Boozer (Duke), and AJ Dybantsa (BYU). Michigan head coach Dusty May and Nebraska head coach Fred Hoiberg also joined Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd and Duke’s Jon Scheyer as the four finalists for the Werner Ladder Naismith Coach of the Year.
• Illinois and Michigan became the second and third Big Ten teams to win every regional game by at least 10 points. Prior to this season, the only Big Ten team to accomplish the feat was the 2000 Michigan State Spartans.
• The Big Ten has achieved unprecedented success in this year’s NCAA Tournament. The conference tied a league record with nine teams selected to participate in the tournament then tied an NCAA record with four teams advancing to the Elite Eight, Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, and Purdue. The conference has also amassed 19 victories in the tournament, the most since the league earned 14 wins in 2013. Among those wins, eight have been more than 20 points, the most by any single conference in tournament history.
• CBS Sports and TNT Sports have posted record viewership through Sunday’s Elite Eight round. The 2026 tournament is the most-watched tournament since 1993, averaging 10.3 million viewers across CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV through the Elite Eight. The Sweet 16 early primetime window, which included the Michigan-Alabama game, averaged 14.2 million viewers, the largest viewership for that window since 1992. It has produced record-setting audiences, with the most-watched first round ever (9.5 million viewers) and the most watched second round since 1993 (11 million viewers). Thursday’s first round primetime window, including the Michigan-Howard game, averaged 12.5 million viewers, the most watched first round window ever, while Sunday’s early primetime window, which included the Iowa-Florida matchup) boasted 19.7 million viewers, the most watched window first week window in tournament history.
• In Purdue’s first round tournament win over Queens, Purdue senior Braden Smith became the NCAA all-time leader in career assists, with his second assist of the victory vaulting Smith past Duke great Bobby Hurley’s 1,076 mark (1990-93). Smith closed his career with 1,103 career assists. Smith also recorded 5,067 minutes played in 149 career NCAA Tournament games, breaking Lionel Simmons’ mark of 5,045 (1987-90).
• The Boilermakers claimed their third Big Ten Tournament title with an 80-72 win over top seed Michigan on Sunday afternoon at the United Center in Chicago. The number seven seeded Boilermakers were led by Oscar Cluff and Trey Kaufman-Renn, who combined for 41 points, while Jim and Kitty Delany Most Outstanding Player Braden Smith paired 14 points, 11 assists, five rebounds, and three steals. Smith was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Michigan’s Aday Mara, Cluff, and Wisconsin’s John Blackwell, and John Boyd.
• The Purdue-Michigan Big Ten championship game averaged 4.716 million viewers for CBS, its largest viewing audience for the Big Ten Championship game since Ohio State-Wisconsin in 2013. The audience peaked at 6.207 million viewers, making it the most-watched conference championship game on any network in the last 30 years.
• Michigan scored its 16th Big Ten championship, closing the regular season with a 19-1 record in Big Ten play. The 19 conference victories are the most in Big Ten history, besting the 18 wins by the 1974-75 and 1975-76 Indiana teams. The Wolverines (10-0) also joined the 1975-76 Hoosiers (9-0) as the only teams to go undefeated on the road.
• The Big Ten recently announced its 2026 All-Big Ten Teams and awards. Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg was named Player of the Year by both the coaches and media panel. Fellow Wolverine Aday Mara was named Defensive Player of the Year, while Illinois’ Keaton Wagler claimed Freshman of the Year honors. Nebraska’s Braden Frager claimed Sixth Man of the Year accolades. Wisconsin assistant coach Sharif Chambliss was named Howard Moore Assistant Coach of the Year, with Michigan’s Dusty May and Nebraska’s Fred Hoiberg earning Coach of the Year recognition from the media and coaches, respectively. 
• The Big Ten opened NCAA Tournament play with six teams ranked in both the AP and USA Today/Coaches polls. Michigan leads the way on both listings at No. 3. In the AP poll, the Wolverines are followed by No. 8 Purdue, No. 11 Michigan State, No. 13 Illinois, No. 15 Nebraska, and No. 19 Nebraska. The coaches list includes No. 11 Michigan State, No. 12 Illinois, No. 13 Purdue, No. 14 Nebraska, and No. 20 Wisconsin. UCLA and Ohio State also received votes in both polls.
• The Big Ten closed its nonconference schedule with a record of 157-41, the second-best win percentage (.793) of any conference, behind only the Big 12 (.806). Big Ten teams have defended home court to the tune of an 118-4 (.967) record in non-conference home games, the highest non-conference home winning percentage of any D-I conference.
• Entering the NCAA Tournament, Big Ten teams combined to win 94 Quad 1 games, most of any conference, with 17 teams scoring at least one Quad 1 win, and 69 Quad 2 victories. Michigan’s 17 Quad 1 wins are tied with Duke for the most in the nation, while the Wolverines are one of just three teams with a combined 22 Quad 1 and 2 victories. Michigan (22-3), Purdue (17-8), and Nebraska (15-6) are three of just 16 teams nationally with at least 15 combined Quad 1 and 2 wins. 
• Through games on Selection Sunday, the Big Ten boasted 13 teams in the top 75 spots in the NET Rankings, including three in the top 10 and nine in the top 50. Michigan leads the Big Ten at No. 3, followed by No. 8 Illinois, No. 9 Purdue, No. 11 Michigan State, No. 14 Nebraska, and No. 25 Wisconsin. Iowa, Ohio State, UCLA, and Indiana also claimed spots in the top 50.