Big Ten Tournament Bracket 2012: Why Indiana Is the Most Dangerous Team

The 2012 Big Ten tournament starts tomorrow, and you'd be best to go against the chalk this time. Indiana may not be the best team in the conference, but they are the most dangerous in the tournament.

The Hoosiers are the No. 5 seed in the Big Ten tournament behind Wisconsion (No. 4), Ohio State (No. 3), Michigan (No. 2) and Michigan State (No. 1).

However, they broke even in games against the Buckeyes, Wolverines and Sparty, going 3-3.

They can hang with the best in the nation, and don’t forget it.

On New Year's Eve against Ohio State, Indiana used their typical three-guard, two-forward lineup and were able to steal a four-point victory over the Buckeyes at Assembly Hall. In that game, they shut down OSU's leading scorer Jared Sullinger from the field. He was held to just 3-of-5 shooting and was forced to do most of his damage from the free-throw line.

Eight days ago, they beat then-No. 5 Michigan State and Big Ten Player of the Year Draymond Green in impressive fashion. For that game, they employed a different strategy. They let Green get his points (he finished with 29), but shut down the rest of the Spartans. Second-leading scorer Keith Appling was held to just six points.

They also held Michigan State to 10 rebounds less than their season average.

They beat then-No.13 Michigan on January 5th.

You can't forget about their marquis victory of the season, which came at home against previously unbeaten Kentucky on a buzzer-beating three by Christian Watford.

What do all these games have in common? They were played on Indiana's home court.

Indiana lost just one game at home all year, falling three points short to lowly Minnesota. Guess where the Big Ten tournament will be played. That's right you got it, in the state of Indiana. 

The games won't be played at Assembly Hall, but they'll be played just over an hour away in Indianapolis at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

The Hoosiers have this guy named Cody Zeller. Maybe you've heard of him. He's a freshman, but he's got ice in his veins. He's been talked about as a Freshman of the Year candidate and would probably win the award if not for Kentucky's Anthony Davis.

Zeller, six-time Freshman of the Week, is 12th in the nation in field-goal percentage, shooting almost 64 percent.

Look for the Hoosiers to run their offense through Zeller to take advantage of Penn State in the opening round of the tournament.

If No. 15 Indiana can get on a roll in their first game, they will be a forced to be reckoned for the next four days.