Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
The Big Ten Tournament will tip-off Thursday in Chicago with the league's bottom eight teams trying to play their way into Friday's quarterfinals. The top four seeds- Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan State and Wisconsin- all have byes, and will not play Thursday.
Few conference tournaments will be as anticipated this March as the Big Ten's, which tips off Thursday in Chicago with a handful of teams battling to try and secure NCAA Tourney bids. Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan State and Wisconsin all have first round byes, while the bottom eight teams will match-up to try and advance to Friday's quarterfinals.
In the tournament opener, the No. 8 seeded Illinois Fighting Illini and No. 9 seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers will meet, with each club sitting firmly on the NCAA Tournament bubble and needing a victory here to help solidify their at-large cause. These two teams split their season series, with each winning on each others home-court.
Next up, the fifth seeded Michigan Wolverines will look to bounce back after Sunday's devastating loss to Indiana, when they face the league's worst team in the Penn State Nittany Lions. Penn State finished just 2-16 in the Big Ten during the regular season, however one of those victories came February 27 against Michigan at home.
The night session will open up with a 7-10 match-up pitting the Purdue Boilermakers (15-16, 8-10 in the Big Ten) taking on the Nebraska Cornhuskers which finished the regular season just 5-13 in Big Ten play. Purdue won the only regular season match-up between these two clubs on January 16 at Nebraska.
Finally, the first day of the Big Ten Tournament will conclude with the No. 6 seeded Iowa Hawkeyes battling No. 11 Northwestern. Iowa finished the regular season at 20-11 overall and 9-9 in conference, and like Minnesota and Illinois could play their way into the NCAA Tournament with another win or two in Chicago.
A link to the full Big Ten bracket can be found here.
No. 9 Minnesota vs. No. 8 Illinois, 1 p.m. ET
TV: Big Ten Network
Online: BTN2Go
Radio: Learfield/1500 ESPN (Minnesota); Fighting Illini Sports Network (Illinois)
No. 12 Penn State vs. No. 5 Michigan 2:30 p.m. ET
TV: Big Ten Network
Online: BTN2Go
Radio: This game is not available on radio
No. 10 Nebraska vs. No. 7 Purdue, 6:30 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN2
Online: WatchESPN
Radio: IMG Husker Sports Radio Network (Nebraska); Purdue Sports Network (Purdue)
No. 11 Northwestern vs. No. 6 Iowa, 9:00 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN2
Online: WatchESPN
Radio: AM 560 and WGN Radio (Northwestern)
More in College Basketball:
• Tracking March Madness automatic bids
• Full coverage of the Big East Tournament
• Richard Pitino makes his own name
• Projecting the bracket with Easy Bubble Solver
• Full coverage of the Big Ten Tournament
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