2019 Big Ten Conference men's soccer season
The 2019 Big Ten Conference men's soccer season was the 29th season of men's varsity soccer in the conference. The regular season began on August 30, 2019, and concluded on November 3, 2019. The season culminated with the 2019 Big Ten Conference Men's Soccer Tournament to determine the conference's automatic berth into the 2019 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament. The tournament began on November 10, 2019 and concluded on November 17, 2019.
Indiana enters the season as the defending regular season and tournament champions. Maryland enters the season as the defending NCAA Tournament champions. Indiana went on to win the Big Ten regular season and tournament.
Background
Previous season
The previous season was the 28th season of men's varsity soccer in the conference. The 2018 Big Ten regular season began on August 24, 2018 concluded on October 28, 2018. The season culminated with the 2018 Big Ten Conference Men's Soccer Tournament to determine the conference's automatic berth into the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament. Indiana went on to win both the regular season and the tournament, winning all eight of their Big Ten Conference games. They defeated Michigan in the Big Ten Men's Soccer Championship Game.With the Big Ten title, Indiana earned the conference's automatic berth into the 2018 NCAA Tournament, where Maryland, Michigan, and Michigan State joined as at-large berths. The conference had the strongest showing in the NCAA Tournament, where three of their four berths reached the College Cup of the tournament. Big Ten side, Maryland, would defeat Akron in the National Championship Game to win their fourth NCAA title, and their first since 2008.
Concluding the tournament, Indiana senior and captain, Andrew Gutman, won the TopDrawerSoccer.com National Player of the Year Award as well as the Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy. Gutman would forgo an opportunity to sign a homegrown contract with the Chicago Fire and signed with Celtic in Scotland. Indiana sophomore forward, Griffin Dorsey was the highest Big Ten player selected in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft, being drafted by Toronto FC ninth overall. Eleven other Big Ten players were selected in the MLS SuperDraft, the most of any collegiate conference, and an additional four signed homegrown player contracts with their parent MLS clubs.
Coaching changes
, the former head coach of Rutgers was fired following the 2018 season and was replaced by Fordham head coach, Jim McElderry.| School | Outgoing coach | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming coach | Date of appointment |
| Rutgers |  Dan Donigan | Fired | Preseason | Jim McElderry |
Head coaches
| Team | Head coach | Previous job | Years at school | Overall record | Record at school | Big Ten record | NCAA Tournaments | NCAA College Cups | NCAA Titles |
| Indiana | Todd Yeagley | Wisconsin | 9 | 10 | 3 | 1 | |||
| Maryland | Sasho Cirovski | Hartford | 26 | 25 | 9 | 3 | |||
| Michigan | Chaka Daley | Providence | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Michigan State | Damon Rensing | Michigan State | 10 | 8 | 1 | 0 | |||
| Northwestern | Tim Lenahan | Lafayette | 18 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Ohio State | Brian Maisonneuve | Indiana | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Penn State | Jeff Cook | Bethlehem Steel | 2 | 9 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Rutgers | Jim McElderry | Fordham | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Wisconsin | John Trask | UIC | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Preseason
Preseason poll
The preseason poll was released on August 26, 2019.Preseason national polls
The preseason national polls will be released in July and August 2019.| United Soccer | CSN | Top Drawer Soccer | |
| Indiana | 2 | 9 | 5 |
| Maryland | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| Michigan | 24 | 16 | 13 |
| Michigan State | 7 | 10 | 8 |
| Northwestern | — | — | — |
| Ohio State | — | — | — |
| Penn State | — | — | — |
| Rutgers | — | — | — |
| Wisconsin | RV | RV | — |
Regular season
Early season tournaments
Early season tournaments will be announced in late Spring and Summer 2019.| Team | Tournament | Finish |
| Indiana | IU Credit Union Classic | 1st |
| Indiana | Mike Berticelli Tournament | 1st |
| Maryland | Audi Field Classic | 2nd |
| Northwestern | IU Credit Union Classic | 3rd |
| Northwestern | Chicago Classic | 4th |
| Ohio State | Dayton Classic | 1st |
| Ohio State | Wolstein Classic | 3rd |
| Wisconsin | Chicago Classic | 2nd |
Postseason
Big Ten Tournament
The Big Ten Tournament was played from November 9–17. Indiana won the tournament, defeating Michigan in the final.NCAA Tournament
The NCAA Tournament will begin in November 2019 and conclude on December 17, 2019.Rankings
National rankings
Regional rankings - USC North Region
The USC North Region compares teams across the Big Ten Conference, Horizon League, and Mid-American Conference.| Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | |
| Indiana | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Maryland | 1 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 |
| Michigan | NV | 10 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 2 |
| Michigan State | 4 | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
| Northwestern | 7 | NV | NV | 9 | 5 | NV | NV | NV | 10 | 10 | 9 | NV |
| Ohio State | NV | 6 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 6 | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
| Penn State | NV | 9 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Rutgers | 10 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 9 | NV | NV |
| Wisconsin | 9 | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
Statistics
Goals
Assists
Shutouts
Awards and honors
Player of the week honors
Postseason honors
All-Americans
To earn "consensus" status, a player must win honors based on a point system computed from the four different all-America teams. The point system consists of three points for first team, two points for second team and one point for third team. No honorable mention or fourth team or lower are used in the computation. The top five totals plus ties are first team and the next five plus ties are second team.Other awards
- TopDrawerSoccer.com National Freshman of the Year Award: Aidan Morris, Indiana
2020 MLS Draft
| Player | Team | School | |||
| 1 | 2 | DF | Nashville SC | Indiana | |
| 1 | 16 | MF | Portland Timbers | Penn State | |
| 1 | 23 | DF | Atlanta United | Michigan State | |
| 2 | 46 | DF | Real Salt Lake | Michigan State | |
| 2 | 50 | MF | Los Angeles FC | Michigan | |
| 2 | 51 | DF | Real Salt Lake | Indiana | |
| 3 | 53 | MF | FC Cincinnati | Indiana | |
| 3 | 65 | GK | D.C. United | Michigan | |
| 3 | 74 | GK | New York City FC | Ohio State |
Homegrown players
The Homegrown Player Rule is a Major League Soccer program that allows MLS teams to sign local players from their own development academies directly to MLS first team rosters. Before the creation of the rule in 2008, every player entering Major League Soccer had to be assigned through one of the existing MLS player allocation processes, such as the MLS SuperDraft.To place a player on its homegrown player list, making him eligible to sign as a homegrown player, players must have resided in that club's home territory and participated in the club's youth development system for at least one year. Players can play college soccer and still be eligible to sign a homegrown contract.
| Original MLS team | Player | School | Ref. | |
| Columbus Crew | Indiana |