Big Ten Tournament 2024: Men's Bracket, Schedule and Championship Odds

The Purdue Boilermakers were the best team for the entire Big Ten regular season.

Purdue is the clear favorite to win the Big Ten tournament in Minneapolis, but it faces one major threat from the Illinois Fighting Illini.

Illinois played the closest set of games against Purdue in the regular season and it is playing its best basketball right now.

Purdue and Illinois appear to be on a collision course to meet in the final on Sunday, but a few teams may alter that course.

A team seeded fifth or worse advanced to the Big Ten tournament final in five of the last six seasons, including the No. 10 seed Penn State Nittany Lions in the championship game last season.

It will be difficult for a Cinderella run to happen because Purdue and Illinois are in a tier of their own, but you can't rule anything out in a tournament that typically features some upsets.

Big Ten Tournament Bracket and Schedule

Luke Hales/Getty Images

ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN - MARCH 10: Keisei Tominaga #30 of the Nebraska Cornhuskers dribbles the ball against Nimari Burnett #4 of the Michigan Wolverines during the second half at Crisler Arena on March 10, 2024 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images)

Full bracket can be found here.

Wednesday, March 13

No. 12 Maryland vs. No. 13 Rutgers (6:30 p.m. ET, Peacock)

No. 11 Penn State vs. No. 14 Michigan (9 p.m. ET, Peacock)

Thursday, March 14

No. 8 Michigan State vs. No. 9 Minnesota (Noon ET, BTN)

No. 5 Wisconsin vs. No. 12/13 winner (2:30 p.m. ET, BTN)

No. 7 Iowa vs. No. 10 Ohio State (6:30 p.m. ET, BTN)

No. 6 Indiana vs. No. 11/14 winner (9 p.m. ET. BTN)

Friday, March 15

No. 1 Purdue vs. No. 8/9 winner (Noon, BTN)

No. 4 Northwestern vs. No. 5 vs. 12/13 winner (2:30 p.m. ET. BTN)

No. 2 Illinois vs. No. 7/10 winner (6:30 p.m. ET, BTN)

No. 3 Nebraska vs. No. 6 vs. 11/14 winner (9 p.m. ET, BTN)

Saturday, March 16

Semifinal No. 1 (1 p.m. ET, CBS)

Semifinal No. 2 (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS)

Sunday, March 17

Championship Game (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS)

Big Ten Tournament Odds

G Fiume/Getty Images

COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND - DECEMBER 02: Terrence Shannon Jr. #0 of the Illinois Fighting Illini handles the ball against the Maryland Terrapins at Xfinity Center on December 02, 2022 in College Park, Maryland. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images)

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.

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

Illinois (+300)

Nebraska (+700)

Michigan State (+1000)

Wisconsin (+1500)

Northwestern (+1600)

Ohio State (+3500)

Iowa (+3500)

Maryland (+6000)

Indiana (+8000)

Minnesota (+10000)

Penn State (+15000)

Rutgers (+20000)

Michigan (+35000)

Prediction

Jeffrey Brown/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

WEST LAFAYETTE, IN - MARCH 10: Purdue Boilermakers guard Braden Smith (3) signals that its Purdue's ball in the first half of play during a mens college basketball game between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Purdue Boilermakers on March 10, 2024 at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, IN.(Photo by Jeffrey Brown/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

A Purdue-Illinois final would be a great spectacle on Sunday leading into the NCAA men's basketball tournament selection show.

Both teams need to win two games to reach that point and they each have desperate teams ready to take them down in the quarterfinals.

The Michigan State Spartans lost four of their last five games, but they are still safely in the field of 68.

Michigan State could use the Big Ten tournament as a chance to turn around its season and prove to its doubters it is worthy of a spot in the NCAA tournament.

The Spartans lost to Purdue and Illinois by a combined nine points and beat Illinois on February 10, so there is a chance they raise their level to compete with Purdue.

Illinois should face an Iowa Hawkeyes team on the outside of the bubble in the quarterfinals.

Iowa is currently on the "Last Four Out" line, per ESPN's Joe Lunardi. The Hawkeyes need to beat Illinois to leapfrog a handful of other bubble teams.

Iowa's first opponent, the Ohio State Buckeyes, could be the Cinderella team to watch. The Buckeyes are on a four-game winning streak and are 5-1 with a win over Purdue under interim head coach Jake Diebler.

Illinois is the better all-around team than both the Hawkeyes and Buckeyes. The Illini just held Iowa to 61 points on Sunday.

If Sunday's version of Illinois shows up in Minneapolis, it will crush the bubble hopes of Iowa and it could contend with Purdue for the tournament crown.

If Purdue and Illinois face off on Sunday, it will be the first Big Ten tournament final contested between the top two teams since 2007.

Prediction: Illinois over Purdue

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