the big ten had seven teams invited to the 68-team 2011 ncaa men's division i basketball tournament (ncaa tournament) and one team invited to the 2011 national invitation tournament (nit). ohio state was a number one seed and along with wisconsin survived until the sweet sixteen round. no big ten teams made the elite eight and the big ten finished with a 7–7 record in the tournament. northwestern made the elite eight round of the 32-team nit before being eliminated.