Big Ten Tournament 2016: Bracket, TV Schedule, Dates, Live Stream, Predictions

This year hasn't quite gone according to plan for Wisconsin, but the Badgers will have a chance to defend their Big Ten title when they travel to Indianapolis for the conference tournament next week.

The reigning conference champions won't be the favorites to repeat, but they had built some nice momentum before Sunday's loss to Purdue. The Badgers head into the tournament winners in 11 of their last 13 games, which includes victories on the road over then-No. 2 Maryland and No. 8 Iowa.

Interim head coach Greg Gard has done more than enough to warrant a long-term extension, and his reputation would only grow if he can lead Wisconsin to its fourth Big Ten tournament title.

Here's a look at the full schedule for the tournament. The tourney bracket is available to view on the conference's official website, and every tournament game will be available to live stream on BTN2Go.

Big Ten Tournament Schedule

Game	Date	Time (ET)	Matchup	TV Info
1	Wednesday, March 9	4:30 p.m.	Minnesota vs. Illinois	ESPN2
2	Wednesday, March 9	7 p.m.	Rutgers vs. Nebraska	BTN
3	Thursday, March 10	Noon	Northwestern vs. Michigan	BTN
4	Thursday, March 10	25 min. after Game 3	Game 1 Winner vs. Iowa	BTN
5	Thursday, March 10	6:30 p.m.	Penn State vs. Ohio State	ESPN2
6	Thursday, March 10	25 min. after Game 5	Game 2 Winner vs. Wisconsin	ESPN2
7	Friday, March 11	Noon	Game 3 Winner vs. Indiana	ESPN
8	Friday, March 11	25 min. after Game 7	Game 4 Winner vs. Purdue	ESPN
9	Friday, March 11	6:30 p.m.	Game 5 Winner vs. Michigan State	BTN
10	Friday, March 11	25 min. after Game 9	Game 6 Winner vs. Maryland	BTN
11	Saturday, March 12	1 p.m.	Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner	CBS
12	Saturday, March 12	3:30 p.m.	Game 9 Winner vs. Game 10 Winner	CBS
13	Sunday, March 13	3 p.m.	Game 11 Winner vs. Game 12 Winner	CBS

Preview

In the space of six months, Indiana head coach Tom Crean has gone from sitting on one of the hottest seats in college basketball to celebrating a regular-season conference title. ESPN.com's John Gasaway argued Crean has done the one of the best jobs of any tournament-eligible coach in the country:

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In November there was speculation that this could be Crean's final season. Now his team has won the Big Ten title outright. The Hoosier defense has improved by leaps and bounds since 2014-15, and IU's formerly worrisome turnover rate has been dropping steadily throughout the conference season. NCAA tournament opponents beware: Indiana gets the look it wants as often as any offense in the nation.

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Indiana started 5-3 through its first eight games, with the last of those eight being a 94-74 drubbing at the hands of the Duke Blue Devils. It looked as though Crean's job was in serious jeopardy—at least if the Hoosiers' inconsistent play carried through the rest of the year.

Then, IU finished 20-3 through its final 23 games. In an interview with Big Ten Network, senior point guard Yogi Ferrell talking about his team's resurgence:

One of the bigger questions around Indiana is whether the Hoosiers can beat Michigan State. The two teams played just once this year in East Lansing, Michigan. The Spartans won, 88-69. Their defense held Ferrell, junior forward Troy Williams and freshman center Thomas Bryant—three of Indiana's top four scorers—to 19 points on 7-of-26 shooting.

Michigan State may have ceded the regular-season Big Ten title to Indiana, but the Spartans are one of the most talented teams in the country. They sit second in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll, with Ken Pomeroy ranking them one spot lower in his Pythagorean rating.

Michigan State boasts a wealth of experience, particularly with seniors Bryn Forbes, Denzel Valentine and Matt Costello, while head coach Tom Izzo always seems to get the best out of his teams come March.

As good as the Spartans are this year, though, anarchy has ruled college basketball to a certain extent this year. FiveThirtyEight's Neil Payne explained how the gap between the top teams and the rest of the country isn't all that significant. At the time of the article, he estimated Michigan State had a 10 percent chance of winning a title, whereas a team in its position usually boasts a 17 percent championship chance.

That general unpredictability could easily seep into the Big Ten tournament. On its best day, any one of Purdue, Maryland, Wisconsin, Iowa or even Michigan—albeit without leading scorer Caris LeVert—could make a deep run in Indianapolis.

The Wolverines and Ohio State Buckeyes will have a lot to play for, considering ESPN.com's Eamonn Brennan estimates that those two are sitting on the NCAA tournament bubble.

The Hawkeyes and Boilermakers—16th and 17th, respectively, on KenPom.com—will likely be the strongest challengers to Indiana and Michigan State. And between the two, Iowa could make a deep run in March, both in the conference tournament and the Big Dance.

In senior forward Jarrod Uthoff, the team has one of the best players in the country. He's averaging 18.8 points on 44.7 percent shooting and 6.5 rebounds a game. ESPN's Jay Bilas argued Uthoff owns statewide supremacy over Iowa State's Georges Niang:

Junior guard Peter Jok is also scoring 15.8 points a night and shooting 40.3 percent from behind the arc. Jok and Uthoff are the kind of scorers who can single-handedly carry a team during this time of the year.

The Big Ten tournament won't be lacking in drama as the best teams will be jostling for top seeds in the NCAA tournament, with others fighting for their tourney livelihoods.

Note: Tournament seedings are courtesy of Big Ten Network.