| Year: | 2012 |
| Conference: | Big Ten |
| Division: | I |
| Gender: | Men's |
| Teams: | 12 |
| Arena: | Bankers Life Fieldhouse |
| City: | Indianapolis, Indiana |
| Champions: | Michigan State |
| Titlecount: | 3rd |
| Coach: | Tom Izzo |
| Coachcount: | 3rd |
| Mvp: | Draymond Green |
| Mvpteam: | Michigan State |
| Attendance: | 107,737 |
| Television: | BTN, ESPN, ESPN2, and CBS |
The 2012 Big Ten men's basketball tournament was held from March 8 through March 11 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.[1] This was the first tournament to feature 12 teams of the expanded Big Ten, with Nebraska making its debut. The tournament was the fifteenth annual Big Ten men's basketball tournament. The championship was won by Michigan State who defeated Ohio State in the championships game. As a result, Michigan State received the Big Ten's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The win marked Michigan State's third tournament championship and first since 2000.
All Big Ten schools played in the tournament. Teams were seeded by conference record, with a tiebreaker system used to seed teams with identical conference records. Seeding for the tournament was determined at the close of the regular conference season. A new tie-breaking procedure was announced for the 2012 tournament for teams with identical conference records.[2] The top 4 teams received a first-round bye.
| Seed | School | Conf | Tiebreaker 1 | Tiebreaker 2 | Tiebreaker 3 | Tiebreaker 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michigan St. | 13–5 | 2–2 vs Mich, OSU | 2–0 vs Wis | 1–1 vs Ind | 2–0 vs Pur | |
| 2 | Michigan | 13–5 | 2–2 vs MSU, OSU | 1–0 vs Wis | 1–1 vs Ind | 1–1 vs Pur | |
| 3 | Ohio St. | 13–5 | 2–2 vs MSU, Mich | 1–1 vs Wis | |||
| 4 | Wisconsin | 12–6 | |||||
| 5 | Indiana | 11–7 | |||||
| 6 | Purdue | 10–8 | |||||
| 7 | Northwestern | 8–10 | 2–0 vs Iowa | ||||
| 8 | Iowa | 8–10 | 0–2 vs NW | ||||
| 9 | Illinois | 6–12 | 1–1 vs Minn | 2–3 vs MSU, Mich, OSU | |||
| 10 | Minnesota | 6–12 | 1–1 vs Ill | 0–4 vs MSU, Mich, OSU | |||
| 11 | Nebraska | 4–14 | 1–1 vs PSU | 0–5 vs MSU, Mich, OSU | 0–2 vs Wis | 1–0 vs Ind | |
| 12 | Penn St. | 4–14 | 1–1 vs Neb | 0–4 vs MSU, Mich, OSU | 0–2 vs Wis | 0–2 vs Ind |
Source[3]
| Session | Game | Time* | Matchup# | Television | Score | attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First round - Thursday, March 8 | ||||||
| 1 | 1 | 11:30am | No. 8 Iowa vs. No. 9 Illinois | BTN | 64–61 | 17,936 |
| 2 | 2:00pm | No. 5 Indiana vs. No. 12 Penn State | BTN | 75–58 | 17,936 | |
| 2 | 3 | 5:30pm | No. 7 Northwestern vs. No. 10 Minnesota | ESPN2 | 75–68 OT | 17,257 |
| 4 | 8:00pm | No. 6 Purdue vs. No. 11 Nebraska | ESPN2 | 79–61 | 17,257 | |
| Quarterfinals - Friday, March 9 | ||||||
| 3 | 5 | 12:00pm | No. 1 Michigan State vs. No. 8 Iowa | ESPN | 92–75 | 18,484 |
| 6 | 2:30pm | No. 4 Wisconsin vs. No. 5 Indiana | ESPN | 79–71 | 18,484 | |
| 4 | 7 | 6:30pm | No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 10 Minnesota | BTN | 73–69 OT | 18,484 |
| 8 | 9:00pm | No. 3 Ohio State vs. No. 6 Purdue | BTN | 88–71 | 18,484 | |
| Semifinals - Saturday, March 10 | ||||||
| 5 | 9 | 1:40pm | No. 1 Michigan State vs. No. 4 Wisconsin | CBS | 65–52 | 18,451 |
| 10 | 4:05pm | No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 3 Ohio State | CBS | 77–55 | 18,451 | |
| Championship - Sunday, March 11 | ||||||
| 6 | 11 | 3:30pm | No. 1 Michigan State vs. No. 3 Ohio State | CBS | 68–64 | 17,125 |
| ||||||
Attendance figures;[4] [5] [6] [7] [8] Total Tournament Attendance:107,737