Brent Yarina, BTN.com Senior Editor, September 7, 2011

For the fifth consecutive season, every regular-season Big Ten men's hoops conference game will be nationally televised. On Wednesday, the Big Ten office released that BTN will air 64 men's conference games, to go along with what CBS and ESPN will carry. All together, it means Big Ten fans can once again catch every Big Ten game. See the entire schedule inside and get Brent Yarina's top 5 Big Ten games.

Brent's Top 5 BTN Games
1. Indiana at Purdue/Purdue at Indiana, 7 ET Feb. 4/6 ET March 4 – The series has been down since the Kelvin Sampson mess set Indiana back a few years, but there are few rivalries that top this one. Purdue returns Robbie Hummel and expects to compete for the Big Ten crown, while Indiana welcomes back almost all of its youthful roster and adds freshman Cody Tyler Zeller. This could be the year that the rivalry starts to become competitive again.

2. Ohio State at Northwestern, 8:30 ET Feb. 29 – Northwestern, as everyone knows, is still searching for its first NCAA tourney appearance. With John Shurna and Drew Crawford, among others back, the Wildcats figure to be in contention for that elusive first berth. A win over likely very high-ranked Ohio State would serve as that all-important signature win. Before you roll your eyes, don't forget that the Wildcats scared the top-ranked Buckeyes in last season's 58-57 decision in Evanston.

3. Minnesota at Wisconsin, 8 ET Feb. 28 – Bet you didn't know Minnesota has won three of the past four meetings in this heated series. One of those wins came at the Kohl Center, too, where the road team barely ever wins. The Gophers return star big man Trevor Mbakwe and figure to be a formidable opponent, so the chance for another road upset could be there. They'll have to do it in front of a raucous Kohl Center, though.

4. Minnesota at Illinois, 7:30 ET, Dec. 27 – It's BTN's first conference game of the season, in addition to the teams' Big Ten openers, and that's enough to get me interested. Be honest, at this point in the season, you're beyond frustrated with all the non-conference mismatches and can't wait to watch some competitive action. This one should deliver.

5. Indiana at Michigan State, 7:30 ET Dec. 28 – This is another conference opener for both teams, but it also pits Tom Crean and Tom Izzo, former Michigan State assistants and friends, against each other. The Hoosiers are coming off a third straight down year, however they took the Spartans to overtime last season at the Breslin Center before falling 84-83.

Big Ten Men's Hoops TV Schedule

DECEMBER
27. Minnesota at Illinois 7:30 p.m. BTN
28. Northwestern at Ohio State 5:30 p.m. BTN
Indiana at Michigan State 7:30 p.m. BTN
Purdue at Iowa 9:30 p.m. BTN
29. Penn State at Michigan 7:30 p.m. BTN
31. Iowa at Wisconsin 1 p.m. BTN
Michigan State at Nebraska 3 p.m. BTN

JANUARY
1. Minnesota at Michigan 4 p.m. BTN
3. Nebraska at Ohio State 6:30 p.m. BTN
4. Illinois at Northwestern 7 p.m. BTN
Iowa at Minnesota 9 p.m. BTN
5. Purdue at Penn State 8 p.m. BTN
7. Nebraska at Illinois 1 p.m. BTN
Ohio State at Iowa 3 p.m. BTN
8. Indiana at Penn State Noon BTN
Purdue at Minnesota 6 p.m. BTN
10. Iowa at Michigan State 7 p.m. BTN
11. Northwestern at Michigan 6:30 p.m. BTN
Penn State at Nebraska 8:30 p.m. BTN
12. Minnesota at Indiana 8 p.m. BTN
14. Michigan at Iowa 1 p.m. BTN
Michigan State at Northwestern 3 p.m. BTN
15. Minnesota at Penn State 4 p.m. BTN
Nebraska at Wisconsin 6 p.m. BTN
17. Iowa at Purdue 8 p.m. BTN
18. Indiana at Nebraska 7 p.m. BTN
Northwestern at Wisconsin 9 p.m. BTN
21. Ohio State at Nebraska 8 p.m. BTN
22. Penn State at Indiana Noon BTN
Wisconsin at Illinois 2 p.m. BTN
Northwestern at Minnesota 4 p.m. BTN
25. Penn State at Ohio State 6:30 p.m. BTN
Minnesota at Michigan State 8:30 p.m. BTN
28. Illinois at Minnesota 8 p.m. BTN
29. Iowa at Indiana 6 p.m. BTN
31. Wisconsin at Penn State 8 p.m. BTN

FEBRUARY
1. Indiana at Michigan 6:30 p.m. BTN
Minnesota at Iowa 8:30 p.m. BTN
4. Indiana at Purdue 7 p.m. BTN
5. Minnesota at Nebraska 1 p.m. BTN
Northwestern at Illinois 3 p.m. BTN
8. Penn State at Michigan State 6:30 p.m. BTN
Michigan at Nebraska 8:30 p.m. BTN
9. Illinois at Indiana 8 p.m. BTN
12. Northwestern at Purdue 6 p.m. BTN
15. Northwestern at Indiana 6:30 p.m. BTN
Purdue at Illinois 8:30 p.m. BTN
18. Illinois at Nebraska 5 p.m. BTN
Minnesota at Northwestern 7 p.m. BTN
19. Indiana at Iowa 4/6 p.m. BTN wildcard
Michigan State at Purdue 4/6 p.m. BTN wildcard
Penn State at Wisconsin 4/6 p.m. BTN wildcard
21. Michigan at Northwestern 8 p.m. BTN
22. Nebraska at Purdue 6:30 p.m. BTN
Michigan State at Minnesota 8:30 p.m. BTN
25. Nebraska at Michigan State 8 p.m. BTN
25/26. Purdue at Michigan 6 p.m. BTN wildcard
Wisconsin at Ohio State 6 p.m. BTN wildcard
Indiana at Minnesota 6 p.m. BTN wildcard
26. Iowa at Illinois 6 p.m. BTN
28. Minnesota at Wisconsin 8 p.m. BTN
29. Penn State at Purdue 6:30 p.m. BTN
Ohio State at Northwestern 8:30 p.m. BTN

MARCH
3. Nebraska at Minnesota 12:30 p.m. BTN
Northwestern at Iowa 2:30 p.m. BTN
4. Michigan at Penn State Noon BTN wildcard
Ohio State at Michigan State Noon BTN wildcard
Illinois at Wisconsin 1 p.m. BTN wildcard
Purdue at Indiana 6 p.m. BTN
8. Big Ten Tournament Game 1 11:30 a.m. BTN
Big Ten Tournament Game 2 25 min. after Game 1 BTN
9. Big Ten Tournament Game 7 6:30 p.m. BTN
Big Ten Tournament Game 8 25 min. after Game 7 BTN

All dates and times subject to change All Times Eastern

This hoops season, don?t forget about our awarding winning series, ?The Journey.? We?ll also have ?Big Ten Basketball And Beyond,? and the ?Tip-off Show? back for another season. Oh, and give our expert analyst, @BTNJimJackson, a follow on Twitter.

Check out the full release from BigTen.org:

"Sixty-four Big Ten men?s basketball conference games will appear on BTN during the 2011-12 regular season, marking the fifth consecutive year that every regular-season conference game will be nationally broadcast.

Combined with the 44 games appearing on CBS, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU that the Big Ten announced yesterday, the conference?s latest media agreements result in more than 100 conference games appearing on national networks for the coming season.

BTN will carry the first game of the conference season as Illinois hosts Minnesota at 7:30 p.m. ET on Dec. 27. BTN will typically air one game on Tuesday nights, before or after the start of the ESPN game that same evening. BTN will also broadcast Super Wednesday doubleheaders with games typically starting at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. ET. BTN will also carry games on Thursdays and frequent Saturday and Sunday doubleheaders throughout the season.

The Big Ten Men?s Basketball Tournament will be held Thursday, March 8, through Sunday, March 11, at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. With the expansion of the Big Ten to 12 teams, the tournament will feature 11 games for the first time in history. All games will be broadcast nationally on ESPN, ESPN2, BTN and CBS Sports. BTN will carry the first two games on Thursday and the two primetime contests on Friday."