Big Ten Tournament 2015: Bracket Seeds, Odds, Matchups and Predictions
From a potential No. 1 NCAA tournament seed making its case to bubble teams looking to solidify their resumes, the 2015 Big Ten tournament in Chicago is not at a shortage for enticing storylines.
Just as was the case this time last year, it's the Wisconsin Badgers dominating talk after taking the regular-season title with a 28-3 record (16-2 in conference). If Bo Ryan's crew avenge the road loss to surging Maryland—winners of seven straight—in Sunday's final, it would go a long way toward getting a No. 1 seed.
But Maryland isn't the only team that the Badgers will have to look out for, with five surefire NCAA at-large teams in the fold along with teams like Illinois and Indiana still trying to navigate their way off the bubble.
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Here's a full breakdown of the Big Ten tournament.
Schedule of Matchups
| 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
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 |
Preview and Predictions
When it comes to Big Ten basketball, the buck stops with Wisconsin.
With Ohio State and Indiana slipping over the last couple of seasons, it's been the Badgers almost single-handedly keeping the conference in the national spotlight throughout the season as they chase a repeat trip to the Final Four. But, of course, a national title is the ultimate goal with a veteran group that has been building on last year's successes and failures for this season's run.
Speaking of last year, that's where Wisconsin's pursuit of a No. 1 seed truly comes into focus. Should the Badgers fall to a No. 2 seed, Sports Illustrated's Brian Hamilton explained why it's a doomsday scenario for them:
"If Wisconsin is not a No. 1 seed, it almost assuredly will be the best No. 2 seed on the board. And it nevertheless almost assuredly will be dropped into the same region as the best No. 1 seed. Which is Kentucky. Kentucky, the 31-0 colossus. The same Kentucky that beat Wisconsin in the Final Four a year ago. The same Kentucky that very reasonably could be beat by a team built exactly like Wisconsin.
By all logical applications of basketball justice, this should not happen before the Final Four.
"
Yes, that Kentucky. With the Badgers standing firm at No. 6 in the Associated Press poll and teams like Duke, Virginia, Villanova and Arizona ahead of them, failing to make a resounding run in Chicago could mean a much tougher road to Indianapolis for the Final Four.
They won't be the only squad with its NCAA seeding in mind, as the Terrapins have seen their stock soar from a fringe at-large bid to one of the hottest teams in the nation. Nobody would have expected Maryland to be ranked eighth (eighth!) nationally entering the Big Ten tournament, especially when media selected them to finish 10th out of 14 teams, per NCAA March Madness:
Maryland's recent success isn't a farce, either. It built confidence with a big nonconference win over Iowa State, and its only loss out of conference came against Virginia. Big Ten first-teamer Dez Wells is a do-everything star who ranks second on the team in points, rebounds and assists per game, while the emergence of freshman Melo Trimble has taken them to the next level.
It will take a tremendous performance to dethrone either Maryland or Wisconsin in Chicago. The Terrapins are red-hot off seven straight victories, while the Badgers haven't fallen to anyone in their half of the bracket.
A potential Sunday championship meeting between the Badgers and Terps would be an exciting rematch of a Feb. 24 game, and you can bet Wisconsin will be intent on setting the record straight. Michigan fell in last year's tournament championship as the top seed, but before that the No. 1 seed had won six of the previous eight tournaments.
Now is the time that truly elite teams find their stride, and that's a group that Wisconsin has proved it is a part of. If the Badgers want to sidestep Kentucky, they better hope that's the case, and they better bring their best to Chicago.
Prediction: Wisconsin beats Maryland in championship.
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