Big Ten Tournament 2012 Bracket: Seeds, Predictions, Matchups and More

The Big Ten Tournament will give us an accurate assessment of what we can hope to enjoy in the NCAA Tourney. There is hardly a more talented conference, and that guarantees an amazing week of basketball. 

The conference is up for grabs, and there are a few teams that can make their way to Sunday in surprising fashion. 

Despite some heavyweights at the top, I still think the field is ripe for some upsets. Michigan State was hit hard with injury news ahead of the tournament portion of the season. Let's take a look at the schedules, seeds and breakdown some predictive odds. 

Full Schedule (via Big Ten website, all times ET)

Thursday, March 8th

Game 1: No. 8 Iowa vs. No. 9 Illinois, 11:30 a.m., BTN

Game 2: No. 5 Indiana vs. No. 12 Penn State, 25 minutes following Game 1 conclusion, BTN

Game 3: No. 7 Northwestern vs. No. 10 Minnesota, 5:30 p.m., ESPN2

Game 4: No. 6 Purdue vs. No. 11 Nebraska, 25 minutes following Game 3 conclusion, ESPN2

Friday, March 9th

Game 5: No. 1 Michigan State vs. Game 1 Winner, Noon, ESPN

Game 6: No. 4 Wisconsin vs. Game 2 Winner, 25 minutes following Game 5 conclusion, ESPN

Game 7: No. 2 Michigan vs. Game 3 Winner, 6:30 p.m., BTN

Game 8: No. 3 Ohio State vs. Game 4 Winner, 25 minutes following Game 7 conclusion, BTN

Saturday, March 10th

Game 9: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner, 1:40 p.m., CBS Sports

Game 10: Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner, 25 minutes following Game 9 conclusion, CBS Sports

Sunday, March 11th

Game 11: Tournament Championship, 3:30 p.m., CBS Sports

Odds

The Las Vegas have not yet been released, but here are the seeds with odds that I attribute to each program. Here are my predictive odds in how I believe the tournament will shake out. 

Here is the order of finish, with what the odds should be just before the tourney starts. 

No. 3 Ohio State: 6-to-1

No. 1 Michigan State: 2-to-1

No. 2 Michigan: 3-to-1

No. 4 Wisconsin: 15-to-1

No. 5 Indiana: 18-to-1

No. 7 Northwestern: 25-to-1

No. 6 Purdue: 18-to-1

No. 8 Iowa: 25-to-1

No. 9 Illinois: 30-to-1

No. 10 Minnesota: 30-to-1

No. 11 Nebraska: 35-to-1

No. 12 Penn State: 50-to-1 

Prediction

Ohio State over Michigan State
 

The loss of Branden Dawson is huge for Michigan State, but they still have one of the best teams in the nation. 

I contend they still have enough to wade through the Big Ten and land at the finals, where they will be beat by a deep Ohio State team. I am also looking at Michigan to show some passion and form ahead of what could be a special NCAA tournament. 

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