The Big Ten has been as competitive as any conference this season, nine teams were separated by one game between second and 11th place, setting up for what should be an epic week in Chicago, Illinois.
At the top, Purdue survived the Big Ten gauntlet en route to a regular season title, but it didn’t come without several close calls as teams such as Indiana and Maryland notched wins against them during league play.
The Big Ten has several bubble teams looking to improve their standing ahead of Selection Sunday, including Michigan, Wisconsin, Penn State and Rutgers, so there is a ton of intrigue around the conference tourney.
Here’s everything you need to know for the Big Ten tournament.
Big Ten Conference tournament odds
Big Ten Conference tournament standings and bracket
Here’s the Big Ten tournament bracket:
Big Ten Conference tournament schedule (Dates, time, channel)
The first round of the Big Ten tournament tips on Wednesday night on the Big Ten Network, which will televise the first, second and quarterfinals rounds through Friday.
The semifinals will be on CBS at 1 p.m. EST on Saturday, followed by the second semifinals matchup.
The Big Ten finals will be on CBS at 3:30 p.m. EST.
Big Ten Conference tournament Finals prediction and pick
As mentioned above, the Big Ten has been a bloodbath this season with little separating a majority of the teams, and I think that the parity of the conference can lead to some teams further down the seed list to make a run into the tournament.
The Wolverines have been a top 20 in the country since the start of Feb. 1, per Bart Torvik, but unable to win tight games to get off the NCAA Tournament bubble. However, I believe the team is primed for a run given their favorable matchup against a banged up Rutgers team that they beat by double digits on the road last week and matchup well in the first round, which can be a launching point for the rest of the week.
The team is slated to play Purdue in the quarters, but given their ability to shut down the interior, I think that the Wolverines are a tough out for them. The Wolverines lost by five as 4.5-point underdogs in their lone meeting. Michigan has been the second best Big Ten defense, per KenPom, and has allowed the lowest effective field goal percentage in league play.
Hunter Dickinson and co. is ripe for a Big Ten run given their recent form and I like them as a long shot play in what has been the tightest conference top to bottom.
Track all of Reed’s bets at Betstamp HERE!
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
