Big Ten Tournament Officially Moving to Indianapolis

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The month of March will feature even more basketball in Indiana now.

The Big Ten is officially moving its conference tournament from Chicago to Indianapolis, according to FOX59.

The games will be played from March 10 through March 14. The following week, the state of Indiana will be hosting the entire NCAA Tournament.

That means whichever teams from the Big Ten get into the NCAA Tournament, they won't have to travel anywhere and will be able to stay in Indianapolis ahead of March Madness.

“I think it makes sense,” Indiana head coach Archie Miller said Monday. “It’s practical for the teams that are moving on, and I think Indianapolis being where everything is going to be held would make some sense if that were to happen.”

Miller also noted that having the tournament in Chicago wouldn't just make it more difficult with travel, but the Windy City has a lot more restrictions right now.

“It protects the teams that are in the tournament, with less travel,” Miller said, “and I think the city of Chicago right now is very difficult to navigate with hotels, social distancing protocols, eating — a lot of things a lot of people probably aren’t thinking about (regarding the conference tournament) that require you to go to a city for multiple days and be together that just (aren’t) doable right now.”

Indiana is currently 9-8 overall and 4-6 in the Big Ten and projected by many as still in the NCAA Tournament as of now. The Hoosiers' next game will be against Iowa on Sunday, Feb. 7, at noon ET.

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