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Big Ten CommunicationsPublished: 11/6/2023, Last updated: 3/15/2024
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Big Ten Weekly Men's Basketball Central - Nov. 6-12

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BIG TEN BASKETBALL  |  BIG TEN STATISTICS  |  NCAA STATISTICS

BIG TEN SCHEDULE & RESULTS  |  BIG TEN STANDINGS

NCAA AP TOP 25 POLL  |  NCAA USA TODAY TOP 25 POLL  |  NCAA NET RANKINGS

WEEKLY RELEASE - NOVEMBER 6

  • The Big Ten will tip off its 119th season tonight, as 10 teams take the court, with the four remaining teams opening play on Tuesday. By the end of the week, all 14 teams will have played at least two games.

  • Six Big Ten teams were recognized in the preseason AP and USA Today/Coaches Polls, announced on Oct. 16. The AP Top 25 included Purdue at No. 3, Michigan State at No. 4, and Illinois at No. 25, while the Coaches Poll listed the Boilermakers at No. 2 and the Spartans at No. 4. Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Ohio State, and Wisconsin also received votes in one or both polls. 

  • For the sixth consecutive year, each Big Ten Conference member institution will compete in a 20-game conference schedule. The Big Ten Conference season begins Friday, Dec. 1, when Maryland visits Indiana and Northwestern hosts Purdue, the first of 12 conference games played between Dec. 1-10. Following a break in conference play, Big Ten action will resume on Jan. 2. During the conference season, schools will play seven teams twice -- once at home and once on the road -- and six teams once, with three of those games being at home and the other three away.

  • The 27th annual Big Ten Tournament will be played at the Target Center in Minneapolis between March 13th – 17th, 2024, marking the first time the tournament has been played in Minneapolis. All 14 teams will advance to the tournament, with two 1st round games slated for Wednesday, March 13th. The top four teams will receive 1st and 2nd round byes and advance to the quarterfinals on Friday, March 15th.

  • A Big Ten media panel has chosen 2023 Consensus National Player of the Year Zach Edey as 2023-24 Big Ten Men’s Basketball Player of the Year. The league’s reigning Player of the Year, Edey became the first Boilermaker since Glen Robinson in 1994 to win National Player of the Year accolades and the fifth Big Ten Player in the last 14 years to be named National Player of the Year joining Evan Turner (2010), Trey Burke (2013), Frank Kaminsky (2015) and Luka Garza (2021) as National Players of the Year.

  • The media panel also selected the 2023-24 Preseason All-Big Ten Team. Edey joined Illinois’ Terrence Shannon Jr., Maryland’s Jahmir Young, and Northwestern’s Boo Buie as unanimous selections. Also named to the team were Maryland’s Julian Reese, Minnesota’s Dawson Garcia, Michigan State’s A.J. Hoggard and Tyson Walker, Nebraska’s Keisei Tominaga, and Rutgers’ Clifford Omoruyi. All ten members of the 2023-24 Preseason All-Big Ten Team received All-Big Ten honors following the 2022-23 campaign. Buie and Shannon joined Edey with First Team accolades, while Omoruyi, Walker, and Young were named to the Second Team. Hoggard earned a spot on the Third Team, with Garcia, Reese, and Tominaga receiving Honorable Mention.

  • The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame recently announced the preseason watch lists for its national player of the year awards at the five traditional court positions. Sixteen student-athletes from 12 different Big Ten schools were named to the preseason watch lists at all five positions.

  • The Purdue Boilermakers earned their 25th Big Ten championship with a 15-5 record. Their three-game cushion in the standing was the largest separation since 1998. The Boilermakers also won the 2023 Big Ten Tournament, the program’s second tournament victory, with a 67-65 win over Penn State. Edey was named Jim and Kitty Delany Most Outstanding Player after recording 30 points on 12-17 shooting from the field and 13 rebounds, both game highs, in just 28 minutes of action.

  • Eleven of the Big Ten’s 14 teams were selected to participate in the 2023 postseason, with eight appearing in the NCAA Tournament and three in the NIT. Maryland, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan State, Northwestern, Penn State, and Purdue competed in the NCAA Tournament, marks the fourth consecutive year that at least Eight Big Ten teams have been selected for the tournament. Only 14 times has a conference received at least eight bids to the tournament, with the Big Ten accounting for four of those, each in the last four tournaments. Michigan, Rutgers and Wisconsin were also selected to compete in the NIT. 

  • Eight Big Ten players were selected in the 2023 NBA Draft in June, including five first round picks. This is the fourth time since 2000 that at least eight Big Ten players have been drafted (20002, 2018, 2022, 2023) and first time since 2014 that five former Big Ten players have come off the board in the first round.