The Big Ten has gone through a serious transformation this year, with the additions of West Coast powers Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington, bolstering conference membership to 18 programs. While the league is still based in the Midwest, it now stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, and the league's future Big Ten tournament sites reflect that expansion.
Two arenas have historically traded off turns as the home of the Big Ten Tournament: Chicago's United Center and Indianapolis's Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Chicago hosted the first four men's tournaments starting in 1998 and has hosted the event 11 times, most recently in 2023. Indianapolis first hosted in 2002, and will do so again in 2025, its 12th time doing so. The two venues have often traded off years, though Indianapolis had a stretch of five straight Big Ten Tournaments from '08 to 2012. In 2021, the tournament was bumped from the United Center to Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts, to allow for more spacing amid COVID-19 health and safety protocols.
