2003 Big Ten men's basketball tournament

The 2003 Big Ten men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the Big Ten Conference and played between March 13 and March 16, 2003 at United Center in Chicago, Illinois. The championship was won by Illinois who defeated Ohio State in the championship game. As a result, Illinois received the Big Ten's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The win marked Illinois' first tournament championship following two prior championship game appearances.

2003 Big Ten men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	2002–03
Teams	11
Site	United Center Chicago, Illinois
Champions	Illinois Fighting Illini (1st title)
Winning coach	Bill Self (1st title)
MVP	Brian Cook (Illinois)
Big Ten men's basketball tournaments

2002–03 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 21 Wisconsin	12	–	4		.750			24	–	8		.750
No. 11 Illinois †	11	–	5		.688			25	–	7		.781
Purdue	10	–	6		.625			19	–	11		.633
Michigan State	10	–	6		.625			22	–	13		.629
Michigan	10	–	6		.625			18	–	12		.600
Indiana	8	–	8		.500			21	–	13		.618
Minnesota	8	–	8		.500			19	–	14		.576
Iowa	7	–	9		.438			17	–	14		.548
Ohio State	7	–	9		.438			17	–	15		.531
Northwestern	3	–	13		.188			12	–	17		.414
Penn State	2	–	14		.125			7	–	21		.250
† 2003 Big Ten tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

Seeds

All Big Ten schools played in the tournament. Teams were seeded by conference record, with a tiebreaker system used to seed teams with identical conference records. Seeding for the tournament was determined at the close of the regular conference season. The top five teams received a first round bye.

Seed	School	Conference
1	Wisconsin	12–4
2	Illinois	11–5
3	Michigan	10–6
4	Purdue	10–6
5	Michigan State	10–6
6	Indiana	8–8
7	Minnesota	8–8
8	Ohio State	7–9
9	Iowa	7–9
10	Northwestern	3–13
11	Penn State	2–14

Bracket

	Opening round March 13					Quarterfinals March 14					Semifinals March 15					Championship March 16
						1	#18 Wisconsin	50
						8	Ohio State	58
	8	Ohio State	66
	9	Iowa	64
											8	Ohio State	55
											5	Michigan State	54
						4	Purdue	42
						5	Michigan State	54
																8	Ohio State	59
																2	#13 Illinois	72
						2	#13 Illinois	94
						10	Northwestern	65
	7	Minnesota	64
	10	Northwestern	76
											2	#13 Illinois	73
											6	Indiana	72
						3	Michigan	56
						6	Indiana	63
	6	Indiana	77
	11	Penn State	49

Honors

All-Tournament Team

• Brian Cook, Illinois – Big Ten tournament Most Outstanding Player
• Roger Powell, Illinois
• Tom Coverdale, Indiana
• Brent Darby, Ohio State
• Sean Connolly, Ohio State