Big Ten Announces Big Change To Men's Conference Basketball Tournament

The USC Trojans men’s basketball team had their ups and downs in their first season as a member of the Big Ten conference. In Eric Musselman’s first season, USC went 17-18 overall and had a mark of 7-13 in Big Ten play. They finished 14th in the conference in the regular season.

USC was the second to last team to make the 15-team Big Ten tournament. That format is set to change when the 2026 tournament comes around.

Big Ten Tournament Format Change

USC Trojans Big Ten Tournament Expansion Basketball Eric Musselman NCAA Tournament Transfer Portal Rodney Rice Chad Baker-Maz — Mar 8, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Eric Musselman reacts in the second half against the UCLA Bruins at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

It appears that the Big Ten tournament this season will consist of all 18 teams in the conference according to Big Ten Network’s Rick Pizzo. Pizzo revealed this information while dropping the 2025-2026 conference schedule.

“There is a format change in one of the tournaments this year,” Pizzo said. “The men’s tournament will expand to 18 teams this season. That was a coaches’ decision.”

Pizzo went on to say that the coaches for the women’s teams also voted and they will keep the 15-team format from a year ago.

The 18-team men's bracket will ensure that no team in the conference will be left out of the tournament and will have a chance to earn an automatic bid the NCAA tournament if they can come out on top of it.

USC nearly missed the Big Ten tournament last season, just getting in over the bottom three teams; the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Penn State Nittany Lions, and Washington Huskies. The Trojans won their first round matchup over the No. 11 seed in the Big Ten, Rutgers. In USC’s second round game, they fell to the No. 6 seeded Purdue Boilermakers.

It was a sweat for USC to just make it in the top 15 last season, but they will not have to worry about that now. However, they would still like to not be down that far in the conference standings.

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USC Set For Bounce Back Season?

The 2024-2025 season for Eric Musselman and the Trojans did not go great. USC missed the NCAA tournament for the second consecutive season, something they hadn’t done since the 2018 and 2019 seasons. Musselman will look to get the Trojans back in the dance in his second season at the helm.

USC has been aggressive in the transfer portal; adding players like Rodney Rice, Ezra Ausar, and Chad Baker-Mazara. The Trojans also landed five-star class of 2025 recruit Alijah Arenas, but he suffered a torn meniscus earlier this offseason. His status for the upcoming season is still unknown as that injury suffered in July could keep him out for six to eight months.

USC will get the season underway against the Cal Poly Mustangs on Monday, Nov. 3 at the Galen Center. They will also have exhibition games against LMU and Grand Canyon on Oct. 18 and Oct. 25.