The Big Ten has announced multiple iterations of their scheduling plans for football to accommodate the additional four schools joining the conference next year, but there was no word of how basketball would adjust.  Until now.  On Tuesday, the conference announced details on how they will handle changes, both for the regular season and the Big Ten Tournament, for both men’s and women’s basketball.

For conference play, both the men’s and women’s schedules will remain where they are today, with 20 and 18 games respectively.  This will allow each school to maintain scheduling flexibility for their non-conference games and is consistent with the approach taken by other large conferences.  Teams that are only scheduled once per season will rotate locations annually, while those scheduled twice per season will be determined with consideration for competitive balance, geography and rivalries.

The Big Ten Tournament will expand to 15 teams from the current 14, leaving the bottom three teams in the conference sitting at home.  The top four seeds will continue to have a double bye, while seeds 5-9 will receive a single bye.  This format maintains the existing five-day schedule of the tournament and gives exposure to all teams that may still be in contention for postseason tournament invitations.