Big Ten Tournament 2025: Men's Bracketology Predictions Before Final Games

The final weekend of the Big Ten Tournament's regular-season slate will have the final say in the upcoming conference tournament.

And that, in turn, will have a direct impact on the NCAA Tournament that follows, since the Big Ten has a handful of teams still jostling for prime seeding and a few fighting to keep their bubbles from bursting.

After providing the Big Ten Tournament's broadcast schedule, we'll make some March Madness bracket predictions determining who will and won't go dancing.

Big Ten Tournament Schedule

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Wednesday, March 12 | First Round

Game 1 | 3:30 p.m. ET (Peacock)

Game 2 | 25 minutes after Game 1 (Peacock)

Game 3 | 25 minutes after Game 2 (Peacock)

Thursday, March 13 | Second Round

Game 4 | Noon ET (BTN/Fox Sports App)

Game 5 | 25 minutes after Game 4 (BTN/Fox Sports App)

Game 6 | 6:30 p.m. ET (BTN/Fox Sports App)

Game 7 | 25 minutes after Game 6 (BTN/Fox Sports App)

Friday, March 14 | Quarterfinals

Game 8 | Noon ET (BTN/Fox Sports App)

Game 9 | 25 minutes after Game 8 (BTN/Fox Sports App)

Game 10 | 6:30 p.m. ET (BTN/Fox Sports App)

Game 11 | 25 minutes after Game 10 (BTN/Fox Sports App)

Saturday, March 15 | Semifinals

Game 12 | 1 p.m. ET (CBS/Paramount+)

Game 13 | 25 minutes after Game 12 (CBS/Paramount+)

Sunday, March 16 | Championship

Game 14 | 3:30 p.m. ET (CBS/Paramount+)

Who's In?

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Any chance we could wait and answer this after Saturday's Ohio State-Indiana clash? There's probably only one NCAA Tournament ticket available to the two teams, and Saturday's winner will feel better about its chances of snagging it than the loser.

The Hoosiers, who host Saturday's contest, haven't had many quality wins (though they did knock off Michigan State and Purdue), but they've avoided bad losses. The Buckeyes reeled off impressive wins inside of the Big Ten (Purdue, Maryland) and outside of it (Kentucky, Texas), but they've also gone just 3-3 against Quad 2 opponents.

Neither resume looks great, but our crystal ball likes Ohio State's chances of getting this game, getting at least one more in conference tournament play and ultimately earning an invitation to the Big Dance, as a No. 10 or No. 11 seed.

As far as teams we think are getting in, there's nothing else to figure out beyond seed lines. Michigan State might be locked into a No. 2, Wisconsin could land a No. 3, and then there are Purdue, Maryland, Michigan and Oregon all fighting for position on the Nos. 4 and 5 seed lines. UCLA and Illinois aren't too far behind, but a No. 6 seed might be the best either can do.

Who's Out?

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There isn't much brewing on the bubble. Barring some wildly unexpected developments in the conference tournament, there might only be three schools that are uncertain about their NCAA Tournament fate: Ohio State, Indiana and Nebraska.

Our crystal ball already sent the Buckeyes dancing, but the Hoosiers and Huskers won't be as lucky.

Indiana is the closest of the two, but a 1-7 skid from January to February—lowlighted by losses to Iowa and Northwestern—might have effectively spoiled its season. The Hoosiers have work to do, and we don't see them getting it done.

Nebraska has resembled an NCAA Tournament team at times, like when it rallied from a six-game losing streak to win four in a row, including triumphs over Illinois and Oregon. However, the Huskers are just 1-5 since that mini-spurt, and the kind of run they'd need to go on at the Big Ten Tournament to score an invitation won't be happening.