Big Ten Tournament 2015: Bracket, Schedule and Championship Odds

Set to unveil a five-day format for the first time ever, the 2015 Big Ten tournament won't be too much different given the appeal of superstar talent and elite national powerhouses is still there.

The event takes place in Chicago's United Center, mimicking the format of the SEC tournament with the lowest four finishers in the conference taking part in Wednesday's opening-round games. Six schools don't take the court until Thursday, while Top 10 forces Wisconsin and Maryland as well as Iowa and Michigan State can kick their feet up until Friday.

The regular season may have just ended, but time is fleeting and Wednesday's duo of games to open play in Chicago are right around the corner. With that said, let's preview what's to come.

Date	Time (ET)	Game	TV
March 11	4:30 p.m.	Game 1: No. 13 Penn State vs. No. 12 Nebraska	ESPN2
March 11	7 p.m.	Game 2: No. 14 Rutgers vs. No. 11 Minnesota	BTN
March 12	12 p.m.	Game 3: No. 9 Michigan vs. No. 8 Illinois	BTN
March 12	2:30 p.m.	Game 4: No. 5 Iowa vs. Game 1 winner	BTN
March 12	6:30 p.m.	Game 5: No. 10 Northwestern vs. No. 7 Indiana	ESPN2
March 12	9 p.m.	Game 6: No. 6 Ohio State vs. Game 2 winner	ESPN2
March 13	12 p.m.	Game 7: No. 1 Wisconsin vs. Game 3 winner	ESPN
March 13	2:30 p.m.	Game 8: No. 4 Purdue vs. Game 4 winner	ESPN
March 13	6:30 p.m.	Game 9: No. 2 Maryland vs. Game 5 winner	BTN
March 13	9 p.m.	Game 10: No. 3 Michigan State vs. Game 6 winner	BTN
March 14	1 p.m.	Game 11: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner	CBS
March 14	3:30 p.m.	Game 12: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner	CBS
March 15	3:30 p.m.	Game 13: Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner	CBS

Note: Tournament schedule courtesy of BigTen.org.

Bracket

Big Ten Tournament Odds

Team	Odds
Wisconsin	3-1
Maryland	6-1
Iowa	12-1
Michigan State	12-1
Ohio State	16-1
Purdue	16-1
Illinois	40-1
Indiana	40-1
Michigan	50-1
Minnesota	50-1
Northwestern	100-1
Nebraska	100-1
Penn State	100-1
Rutgers	100-1

Note: Tournament odds were devised by the author.

Big Ten Tournament Preview

USA TODAY Sports

This Big Ten season has brought a whirlwind of surprises, but none of them came at the top.

As expected, head coach Bo Ryan's Wisconsin Badgers built off last year's Final Four run by rummaging through their conference slate en route to a 28-3 record. Only two of those losses came in conference play, one of which was to last-placed Rutgers very early in the Big Ten slate.

Wisconsin wrapped up the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament early last week, before an emphatic beatdown of Ohio State on Sunday. ESPN College BBall summed it up on Twitter:

"

Big ten champs! No. 6 Wisconsin beats Minnesota 76-63 to clinch its 18th Big Ten Title outright. pic.twitter.com/9yUlGfbSPL

— ESPN College BBall (@ESPNCBB) March 6, 2015"

However, the Badgers don't have to look far for a reminder of how dangerous the opposition in Chicago will be.

On Feb. 24, Wisconsin fell 59-53 to the surging Maryland Terrapins to snap a 10-game winning streak and halt the Badgers' run toward a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. And it's not just that victory that has Maryland on an upward trend—the team has won seven straight to close out the regular season.

Not bad for a team picked in the preseason to finish 10th in the conference, as told by NCAA March Madness:

A Sunday final between Maryland and regular-season champs Wisconsin feels like an inevitability with how the two teams are playing, and it's safe to say that exacting revenge will boost the Badgers' No. 1 seed resume. Seth Davis of CBS Sports observed that plenty is still in play:

Wisconsin and Maryland represent the only elite teams in the tournament, but that doesn't mean those two are locked for a meeting in Sunday's championship.

The Iowa Hawkeyes have put together a solid NCAA tournament resume, and could give Maryland fits in its half of the bracket. Fran McCaffery's squad toppled the Terps 71-55 in their only meeting this season, and the Hawkeyes are a combined 3-0 against potential Thursday opponents Penn State and Nebraska.

It's not exactly a banner year for Michigan State and head coach Tom Izzo, but the Spartans' 21-10 record mimics Iowa's. Former Michigan State great Magic Johnson has no reservations about the tournament:

There are Naismith Player of the Year finalists to observe in Wisconsin's Frank Kaminsky and Ohio State's D'Angelo Russell, but the big story to watch in Chicago will be the championship poise—or lack thereof, potentially—from the two giants.

Most expected Wisconsin to be here with only a couple of losses, but the Badgers will need to build on their strong finish to the season if they're keen on making a deep run into April. Maryland has seemingly come out of nowhere to emerge as a dark-horse national title contender, but would leave no doubt about the their chances if they cut down the nets in the United Center.

Perhaps a completely different team will take the spotlight from both of them. Given the madness that tends to unfold this time of year, I wouldn't rule anything out.