Minneapolis will host Big Ten basketball tournaments

MINNEAPOLIS — The Big Ten basketball tournaments are coming to Minneapolis.

The conference announced Wednesday that the women’s tournament will be held at Target Center in 2023 and 2024 and the men’s tournament will be played there in 2024. All 14 teams are automatic entrants in both events. The United Center will host the men’s basketball tournament in 2023 as a makeup for 2021 when the event was shifted to Indianapolis due to COVID-19 restrictions.

As part of the Big Ten’s effort to rotate host sites around its 11-state footprint, Minneapolis will become the fifth city to host the men’s tournament. Washington (2017) and New York (2018) were recent hosts, with Chicago and Indianapolis the most frequent host sites.

On the women’s side, Minneapolis will be the first non-Indianapolis host since 2015, when the tournament was held in Hoffman Estates. Target Center was the host of the NCAA Women’s Final Four earlier this month.

The Big Ten also finalized an agreement to keep the football championship game in Indianapolis through 2024. Lucas Oil Field has been the sole host of the game since it began in 2011.