The Big Ten enjoyed a dominant men's basketball season in 2019–20, widely regarded as the nation’s strongest conference, top-to-bottom. Before March Madness was canceled in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the conference looked poised to send as many as nine or 10 teams to the NCAA tournament—including Rutgers’s first appearance since 1991. Alas, the only official team hardware handed out was the three-way regular-season crown, split by Wisconsin, Michigan State and Maryland, but the league is in good shape heading into 2020–21.
Spearheaded by the prominent recent returns of Luka Garza and Ayo Dosunmu, the Big Ten could once again be a juggernaut, with no shortage of challengers for the title.