SI: 2018 Big Ten basketball tournament to Madison Square Garden

Though it'd been speculated about for some time, according to a report from Sports Illustrated's Pete Thamel, the 2018 Big Ten Basketball Tournament is bound for Madison Square Garden and New York City.

The bad news, is that per Thamel, the Big East will continue hosting their tournament in MSG, meaning the Big Ten's will be a week earlier than usual. According to Thamel's report, the Big Ten tournament's championship game will culminate an entire week prior to Selection Sunday.

How the reported eleven day lull (from the conference's title game to the first games of the opening round of the NCAA tournament) impacts Big Ten teams' seeding remains to be seen. It's long been argued that capping the tourney so close to the selection committee's announcement wasn't doing the league any favors, but going so dramatically earlier might result in more of the same. Thamel states that the news will be made official early next week.