The Big Ten Conference tournament kicks off on Wednesday in Chicago, after a wild final weekend of the season finally set the bracket.
Going into Sunday, the only seeds that were solidified were the Purdue Boilermakers locking up the #1 slot and the bottom 2 seeds with Minnesota (14) and Ohio State (13).
Big Ten Standings
- Purdue: 15-5
- Indiana: 12-8
- Northwestern: 12-8
- Michigan State: 11-8
- Illinois: 11-9
- Maryland: 11-9
- Iowa: 11-9
- Michigan: 11-9
- Penn State: 10-10
- Rutgers: 10-10
- Wisconsin: 9-11
- Nebraska: 9-11
- Ohio State: 5-15
- Minnesota: 2-17
The Big Ten season was a roller coaster this year, with 9 teams within two games of each other going into the final weekend. Purdue led the entire way after starting 13-0 on the season, until a stunning loss to Rutgers at home, but they righted the ship to get to #1 in the country again.
They sputtered a bit with two losses to Indiana, a loss to Northwestern, and Maryland. The rest of the conference has been as inconsistent as any team in America. The final regular season AP poll will feature only two teams, with Purdue being in the top 5 and Indiana being a top 20 team.
Click the image for live odds
Going into the tournament, the Purdue Boilers are the obvious favorite at 225 to win the whole thing. They will kick things off against either Rutgers (700, good for third-best odds) or Michigan (3000) on Friday morning.
Rutgers poses a tough matchup for Purdue with old guards and a big who can hang a little bit with Zach Edey. Michigan has all the talent in the world, and they have made runs in the month of March recently, but the coaching at end-of-game situations has been a disaster.
The Indiana Hoosiers have the second-best odds at 400 to win the B1G tournament. They have had an up-and-down year, but they have the second-best player in the conference in Trayce Jackson-Davis.
They also have one of the only NBA-type guards in the conference in Jalen Hood-Schifino. If they get good play out of JHS and the other role players can make some shots, they are a very dangerous team.
Tournament Schedule |
|
|---|---|
| Wednesday, March 8 (First Round) | Game 1 (#12 Wisconsin vs. #13 Ohio State) – 5:30 p.m. CT (BTN) Game 2 (#11 Nebraska vs. #14 Minnesota) – 25 minutes following Game 1 (BTN) |
| Thursday, March 9 (Second Round) | Game 3 (#8 Michigan vs. #9 Rutgers) – 11 a.m. CT (BTN) Game 4 (#5 Iowa vs. Game 1 winner) – 25 minutes following Game 3 (BTN) Game 5 (#7 Illinois vs. #10 Penn State) – 5:30 p.m. CT (BTN) Game 6 (#6 Maryland vs. Game 2 winner) – 25 minutes following Game 5 (BTN) |
| Friday, March 10 (Quarterfinals) | Game 7 (#1 Purdue vs. Game 3 winner) – 11 a.m. CT (BTN) Game 8 (#4 Michigan State vs. Game 4 winner) – 25 minutes following Game 7 (BTN) Game 9 (#2 Northwestern vs. Game 5 winner) – 5:30 p.m. CT (BTN) Game 10 (#3 Indiana vs. Game 6 winner) – 25 minutes following Game 9 (BTN) |
| Saturday, March 11 (Semifinals) | Game 11 (Game 7 vs. Game 8 winner) – 12 p.m. CT (CBS) Game 12 (Game 9 vs. Game 10 winner) – 25 minutes following Game 11 (CBS) |
| Sunday, March 5 (Championship) | Game 13 (Game 11 vs. Game 12 winner) – 2:30 p.m. CT (CBS) |
Another team to look at would be the Iowa Hawkeyes at 1000. They have a smooth scorer in Kris Murray as well as multiple other shooters all over the floor. They can score with anyone in the nation, but they are not one of the four double-byes, those belonging to Purdue, Michigan State, Northwestern, and Indiana.
This tournament is wide open as any of these teams have shown that they can get beat on any night. Maryland has had some special moments but has struggled on the road.
Illinois has two of the best wins in the conference, but again, can go ice-cold shooting the ball. Northwestern is the two-seed, but they are Northwestern and can really struggle to shoot the ball, despite having two sturdy guards.
The 2023 #B1GMBBT bracket is set!
Who’s taking home the 🏆❓ pic.twitter.com/8JzmrtN4UF
— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) March 6, 2023
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| Title: Big Ten Tournament Preview
| Author: Matt Catton
| Date: Mar 6, 2023
