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WEEKLY RELEASE – MARCH 7

Big Ten. Big News.

• Michigan State claimed the 2024-25 Big Ten Men’s Basketball championship with its 91-84 win at Iowa on Thursday night. The win improved the Spartans to 16-3 in the Big Ten and established a two-game lead with one game to play. This marks Michigan State’s 17th Big Ten championship and its first since claiming a share of the 2020 title. This is also the 11th Big Ten crown for Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo, tied for the most in conference history.
• Entering the final weekend of the regular season, Michigan sits in second place at 14-5, one game north of Maryland, Purdue and Wisconsin. At 12-7, UCLA is sixth, followed by Illinois and Oregon at 11-8 and Indiana and Ohio State at 9-10. With one game to play, five teams, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Rutgers, and USC are tied for 10th at 7-12 in conference play.
• Milestone Watch… Congratulations to Minnesota’s Dawson Garcia, who recorded 14 point against Wisconsin to become the 20th active player in Division I to surpass 2,000 career points… Iowa’s Fran McCaffery and Nebraska’s Fred Hoiberg are approaching coaching milestones, as McCaffery has 295 wins at Iowa, while Hoiberg owns 195 career wins.
• Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Oregon, Purdue, UCLA, and Wisconsin have clinched their spots in the 2025 TIAA Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament. The final five spots in the tournament will be secured this weekend, as the tournament returns to Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on March 12-16. The tournament will be the first to feature a 15-team field and begin with three first round games on Wednesday.
• This week, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame is announcing the finalists for its Basketball Hall of Fame Naismith Starting Five, honoring the top five players at each position. Six Big Ten players have been listed among the award finalists. Purdue’s Braden Smith was named one of five finalists for the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year award, while Rutgers’ Ace Biley was named as a finalist for the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year. The Hall included Michigan’s Danny Wolf as a finalist for the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year, while Maryland’s Derik Queen, Michigan’s Vladislav Goldin, and Oregon’s Nate Bittle were named finalist for the Kareem Abdul Jabbar Center of the Year honor.
• Both of last Sunday’s games on CBS scored more than two million viewers. The Illinois-Michigan game led the way with 2.1 million viewers, up 61 percent against last year’s comparable window. The second game of the doubleheader, Wisconsin-Michigan State averaged 2.031 million views, up 92 percent from the comparable window last year.
• On Monday, the Big Ten announced its weekly men’s basketball awards. Northwestern’s Nick Martinelli collected his second Player of the week honor of the season, while Michigan State’s Jase Richardson was named Freshman of the Week for the second consecutive week.
• Nebraska’s Brice Williams set a program record with 43 points in the Huskers’ double-overtime loss at Ohio State. Williams hit a career-best five three-pointers on his way to breaking the mark previously set by Eric Piatkowski in 1994. The 116-114 loss also tied the school record for combined points in a game. On the other side of the floor, Ohio State’s 116 points were also tied for the second-most the Buckeyes has ever scored in a game and mark the most points scored inside Value City Arena.
• Eight B1G teams were ranked or received votes in the Associated Press and/or USA Today Coaches Top 25 polls released on February 17. Michigan State leads the way at No. 8 in the AP poll, followed by No. 11 Wisconsin, No. 15 Michigan, No. 16 Maryland, and No. 20 Purdue. The coaches also listed Michigan State at No. 8, followed by the Badgers at No. 12, the Wolverines at 13, the Terps at 15, and the Boilermakers at 19. Illinois, Oregon, and UCLA also received votes in both polls.
• The Big Ten has collected 99 wins against Quad 1 opponents and 183 victories against Quad 1 and 2 teams combined. Michigan State leads the league with nine Quad 1 wins, tied for second most in the country. Michigan State’s 11 Quad 1 wins are second most in the country, two more than Michigan and UCLA. The Spartans’ combined 16 Quad 1 and 2 wins rank fourth in the nation. Purdue and Wisconsin own 15 such victories, one more than Michigan and Oregon.
• Nine Big Ten teams were ranked in the top 40 and 15 in the top 70 in the NET Rankings through games on March 6. Michigan State leads the way at No. 11, followed by No. 12 Maryland, No. 13 Wisconsin, No. 15 Purdue, No. 17 Illinois, No. 26 UCLA, No. 28 Michigan, No. 30 Oregon, and No. 35 Ohio State. Northwestern, Indiana, Nebraska, USC, Penn State, and Iowa also hold spots in the top 70. Only the SEC has more teams in the top 40, with 12.
• Nine of the Big Ten’s 18 teams rank in the top 35 of the Kenpom Ratings entering games on March 6, including five in the top 20. Michigan State leads the way at No. 9, followed by No. 10 Wisconsin, No. 12 Purdue, No. 13 Maryland, No. 19 Illinois, No. 27 UCLA, No. 29 Michigan, No. 31 Oregon, and No. 34 Ohio State. Only the SEC has more teams in the top 40 with 11.
• The Big Ten finished its nonconference schedule with a 160-38 record, besting last season’ 144 nonconference victories. Among those wins, the B1G was 122-7 (.946) at home. The Big Ten’s 160 wins and .812 nonconference win percentage sit behind only the SEC’s 185 wins and .889 (185-23) win percentage.
• The 2025 Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament will return to Gainbridge Fieldhouse on March 12-16. This will mark the 14th time the tournament has been held in Indianapolis. The tournament will be the first to feature a 15-team field and begin with three games on Wednesday, March 12. Peacock will televise the opening three games of the 2025 TIAA Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament, with second-round and quarterfinal games on Thursday and Friday slated for Big Ten Network. For the 28th consecutive year, CBS Sports will broadcast the semifinals and championship game on CBS, with those games also streaming live on Paramount+.