Big Ten Tournament 2012: Northwestern and Teams in Need of Huge Performances

After an extremely competitive regular season, the Big Ten tournament is set to begin this week with plenty of NCAA tournament implications hanging in the balance. Teams like Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin and Indiana are clearly heading to the Big Dance, but there are other teams that could go either way.

Every year there seems to be a few teams who enter their respective conference tournaments with little hope of making the NCAA tournament, but they pick up a couple wins and will their way in. There are several teams who will hope to catch lightning in a bottle and do that in the Big Ten tourney.

Here are three Big Ten teams who need to make some noise in order to be involved in March Madness.

Northwestern

Perhaps no team in the nation is as firmly on the bubble right now as the Northwestern Wildcats. The Wildcats are 18-12 overall and 8-10 in the conference, and they have some impressive wins on their resume, including a triumph over Michigan State.

At the same time, though, Northwestern struggled to beat some of the conference's other elite teams like Ohio State and Michigan. With that in mind, the Wildcats need at least one win in the tournament to stay alive.

Northwestern will face another bubble team in Minnesota in the first round. It will likely act as an elimination game with the loser missing out on the NCAA tournament.

Even if the Wildcats do win, though, there is no guarantee that it will be enough. A second-round win over Michigan would make Northwestern a lock, but anything less than a single win will effectively end the Wildcats' NCAA hopes.

Illinois

Since starting the season 10-0, everything has been a struggle for the Illinois Fighting Illini. Illinois has lost 11 of its past 13 games and is now in a very precarious position.

The squad has to win two games in the Big Ten at the very least, as their overall record is just 17-14, but three wins are needed in order to ensure a berth in the NCAA tournament. That obviously won't be easy, though, as Illinois will have to go through Iowa in the first round and top-seeded Michigan State in the second.

Illinois head coach Bruce Weber very well may be a lame duck, but if he is able to inspire his team to a great performance in the Big Ten tournament, then perhaps there is hope for him to keep his job. At this point there is nothing for him or the Fighting Illini to lose, so they might as well empty the chamber.

The second half of the season has been a nightmare, but that would all be forgotten with a magical run in the Big Ten tourney.

Minnesota

Like Illinois, the Minnesota Golden Gophers started the season in grand fashion, but have faltered down the stretch. Prior to beating Nebraska in its last game, Minnesota had lost six straight and hit a low point for the season.

At 18-13 overall the Gophers still have a chance, but they absolutely must win two games in the Big Ten tournament in order to continue playing. They will face an equally desperate Northwestern team in the first round.

Minnesota's 6-12 Big Ten record sticks out like a sore thumb, so in addition to a win over Northwestern the Gophers will need a signature win against Michigan.

There haven't really been any signs of life out of Minnesota recently, so that doesn't seem likely, but teams have sleep walked into their conference tournaments before and turned it on out of nowhere. Unless Minnesota does the same, though, it won't be playing in anything better than the NIT.