Michigan ran away from the usually-tight Big Ten this season, winning the championship outright by a comfortable three games. As the no. 1 seed, the Wolverines are now also the favorites to win the Big Ten Tournament, which will be held from March 14-16 at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indiana.
Read on to dig into our preview of the championship of the nation’s strongest conference and pick up all the tips you need to bet these teams when the Madness begins next week.
Big Ten Conference Tournament Preview
The Schedule
How the Tournament Shakes Out
The first four seeds – Michigan, Wisconsin, Michigan State and Nebraska – will all have first round byes as they await their quarterfinal opponents.
Michigan will be hoping no. 9 Illinois gets by no. 8 Indiana, as the Wolverines have beaten Illinois in their last six meetings. They may well get their wish, as the Illini have split the last eight meetings against the Hoosiers.
[sc:NCAAB240banner ]Wisconsin will similarly be praying for no. 10 Penn State to move on against no. 7 Minnesota. The Badgers are 8-2 SU in their last 10 vs. the Nittany Lions, but are just 1-9 ATS. However, the Gophers swept the season series vs. Penn State this year.
Both no. 3 Michigan State and no. 4 Ohio State should have no issue reaching the semis. The Spartans are a combined 17-3 SU against their prospective opponents, Iowa and Northwestern, while the Buckeyes are 11-1 SU vs. Purdue/Nebraska.
Ohio State has reached the final in seven of the last eight years, but could be hard pressed to win its fourth title in five years. That’s because the Buckeyes will have to get past Michigan, who’ve won five in a row thanks to the great play of the probable Big Ten Player of the Year, Nik Stauskas (21 PPG in last five games).
How the Tournament Affects the Madness
Unless Minnesota improbably makes a run at the final and grabs the automatic berth as champion, the Big Ten looks set to send six teams to the Big Dance. The name of the game now for those schools will be to maximize seeding in the NCAA tournament.
Michigan still has a shot to join Wisconsin as a possible no. 2 seed with a strong showing in the conference tournament. Likewise, the winner of the probably Michigan State-Iowa quarter-final can mitigate their terrible regular season finishes by going deep in the tournament.
Similarly, the winner of the possible Ohio State-Nebraska quarter-final still has a lot to gain. The Buckeyes have an outside chance of grabbing a top five seed, while red-hot Nebraska can crack into a top ten seed by continuing its strong end-of-season run in the Big Ten tourney.
Who do you think will run the table in the Big Ten? Get into the tournament championship action and bet on college basketball at Top Bet, America’s best online sportsbook.
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