Big Ten Tournament 2023: Men's Bracket, Schedule and Championship Odds

The Big Ten men's basketball tournament has the largest variance of outcomes compared to the rest of the Power Five conference tournaments.

Nine teams finished within two losses of each other in the regular-season standings beneath the Purdue Boilermakers.

For example. the No. 2 seed Northwestern Wildcats could have been the No. 9 seed in the bracket had they lost to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Sunday.

Most of the Big Ten teams are on the same level, and that could make for some chaotic games from Wednesday through Sunday in Chicago.

Purdue is by far the class of the conference and should reign supreme at United Center, but the rest of the outcomes are harder to figure out.

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Big Ten Tournament Bracket and Schedule

Big Ten Tournament Odds

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

Purdue (+150; bet $100 to win $150)

Indiana (+550)

Michigan State (+600)

Maryland (+650)

Northwestern (+900)

Illinois (+1200)

Rutgers (+2000)

Iowa (+2200)

Penn State (+2500)

Michigan (+2500)

Wisconsin (+6000)

Ohio State (+6000)

Nebraska (+25000)

Minnesota (+100000)

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Preview

Purdue will be expected to win the Big Ten tournament.

Matt Painter's team finished three games clear of Northwestern, Indiana and Michigan State in the regular-season standings.

The Boilermakers also have a National Player of the Year candidate in Zach Edey, who is averaging 21.9 points and 12.8 rebounds per game.

If you take Purdue out of the picture, the Big Ten tournament is remarkably difficult to predict because few teams displayed consistency throughout the regular season.

Northwestern landed the No. 2 seed with a road win over Rutgers, but it entered New Jersey on a three-game losing streak. No. 3 Indiana alternated a loss and win over its final six contests. The No. 4 Michigan State Spartans closed with a 5-2 stretch but was coming off a 2-5 stretch.

All three of those teams could be susceptible to upsets in the quarterfinal round, and that is a good thing for the programs in need of victories to feel secure about their spots in the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

ESPN's Joe Lunardi listed Rutgers on the "Last Four Byes" line, the Wisconsin Badgers and Penn State Nittany Lions on the "Last Four In" line, and the Michigan Wolverines in the "Next Four Out" section.

Michigan needs to beat Rutgers in the second round and then must spring an upset over Purdue in the quarterfinals to launch itself in the field. Rutgers must beat Michigan to hold its spot in the field of 68.

Wisconsin landed the No. 12 seed. A run of five games in five days to the final seems unlikely for the Badgers, but if they beat the Iowa Hawkeyes in the second round, they can rack up another quality win.

Penn State needs to beat Illinois and then probably has to defeat Northwestern to lift itself away from the bubble.

The Nittany Lions won five of their last six games and could be the team that goes on a run. They recently beat Illinois and Northwestern, and both of those higher seeds are not in great form. The Fighting Illini lost two of their last three games.

Winning a few games is possible for the bubble teams, but taking home the tournament title is a tough task because of the number of games they have to play.

Purdue is the far superior team against the Rutgers-Michigan winner, and it beat the Michigan State Spartans twice in the regular season.

Northwestern's poor form to end the season could affect it in Chicago, and that may lead to Indiana getting into the final as the No. 3 from a weakened bottom half of the bracket.

A Purdue-Indiana final would a great spectacle to end Championship Week, and the Hoosiers are probably the best equipped team from the rest of the pack to challenge the Boilermakers.

Purdue is still the better team and should win a final against any program. Indiana produced two challenges to the Boilermakers and that can at least make for a good final.

Prediction: Purdue beats Indiana in Big Ten tournament final.

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