Big Ten Tournament 2016: Preview and Predictions for Every Team
The Big Ten tournament begins Wednesday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis with 14 teams looking to earn the conference's automatic bid with a win in Sunday's final.
The six best teams in the conference have already assured themselves of a spot in the NCAA men's basketball tournament, but two more teams could join them if the results go the right way.
In addition to Michigan and Ohio State's quests to secure a spot in the field of 68, a few teams at the top of the conference are in the fight to earn the best possible seed on Selection Sunday.
With all that in mind, we made conference tournament predictions for every Big Ten team.
Continue reading for our Big Ten tournament preview and predictions.
14. Rutgers
1 of 14
First matchup: No. 11 Nebraska (Wednesday, 7 p.m. ET)
Prediction: Loses opening game
Rutgers ended its 32-game conference losing streak Saturday with a 75-52 win over a depleted Minnesota team. However, a second straight win is unlikely for the Scarlet Knights.
The Scarlet Knights lost their two regular-season meetings with the Nebraska Cornhuskers by a combined 58 points.
If Rutgers keeps it close, it will be because of the play of freshman Corey Sanders, who averaged 16.2 points per game in the regular season.
13. Minnesota
2 of 14
First matchup: No. 12 Illinois (Wednesday, 4:30 p.m. ET)
Prediction: Loses opening game
Just like Rutgers, Minnesota experienced a rough last three months of Big Ten play. The Golden Gophers should be put out of their misery early in Indianapolis.
Richard Pitino's team did play the Illinois Fighting Illini close January 23, but that was when the Golden Gophers had a fully stocked bench.
Minnesota started Saturday's game against Rutgers with just five scholarship players. If the Golden Gophers somehow win a game at the Big Ten tournament, it would be one of the most unlikely things to happen all postseason.
12. Illinois
3 of 14
First matchup: No. 13 Minnesota (Wednesday, 4:30 p.m. ET)
Prediction: Wins opening game, loses in second round
The good news for Illinois is it plays Minnesota in the opening round Wednesday in Indianapolis.
The bad news for the Fighting Illini is they enter the postseason with one win in their last five games and have a date with the Iowa Hawkeyes in the second round.
Illinois' tournament outlook looks even worse when you look at Kendrick Nunn's recent stat lines. The team's second-leading scorer has found his way into double digits just once in the last four contests.
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11. Nebraska
4 of 14
First matchup: No. 14 Rutgers (Wednesday, 7 p.m. ET)
Prediction: Wins opening game, loses in second round
After the Nebraska Cornhuskers beat the Michigan State Spartans on January 20, we thought head coach Tim Miles and Co. would make a run at the NCAA tournament.
Since recording their only win over a team in the AP Top 25, the Cornhuskers are 2-9, with their only wins coming against the Penn State Nittany Lions and Rutgers.
Nebraska should get past Rutgers in the first round, but defeating the Wisconsin Badgers in the second round will be too tall of a task for the Cornhuskers.
10. Penn State
5 of 14
First matchup: No. 7 Ohio State (Thursday, 6:30 p.m. ET)
Prediction: Loses opening game
Penn State comes into the Big Ten tournament with a nice spell of results, but its opening matchup is too tough for it to handle.
The Nittany Lions have four wins in their last six games, but facing a tournament-hungry Ohio State Buckeyes team will be too much for them.
If an upset happens, it will be because of big games from the team's top two scorers, Brandon Taylor and Shep Garner.
9. Northwestern
6 of 14
First matchup: No. 8 Michigan (Thursday, noon ET)
Prediction: Loses opening game
The Northwestern Wildcats appear to have plenty of momentum heading into the Big Ten tournament with wins in their last three games, but they won't be able to make noise in Indianapolis.
The Wildcats created a ton of momentum for themselves with wins over Rutgers, Penn State and Nebraska at the end of the regular season, but their first opponent in the postseason has too much on the line.
The Michigan Wolverines should come out Thursday and handle Northwestern before they look for another quality win. Another factor going against the Wildcats is their 5-6 record on the road. Even if they pull off an upset, they will most likely fall Friday since they have an 0-7 mark against the AP Top 25.
8. Michigan
7 of 14
First matchup: No. 9 Northwestern (Thursday, noon ET)
Prediction: Wins opening game, loses to Indiana in quarterfinals
In order for Michigan to avoid falling off the bubble, it has to dodge a bad loss in the second round against Northwestern.
The next task for the Wolverines would be to secure another quality win over Indiana on Friday, but given the way the Hoosiers are playing at the moment, that is unlikely to happen.
If the games go to chalk, Michigan will spend Selection Sunday on the edge of its seat as a bubble team.
7. Ohio State
8 of 14
First matchup: No. 10 Penn State (Thursday, 6:30 p.m. ET)
Prediction: Wins opening game, upsets No. 2 Michigan State, loses in semifinals
The Ohio State Buckeyes are the Big Ten team with the most to gain in Indianapolis this week.
Thad Matta's team is hovering around the bubble, and it needs a few things to go in its favor over the next six days to secure a spot in the field of 68.
Ohio State should take care of Penn State in the second round and set up a rematch with Michigan State, who beat the Buckeyes by a combined 34 points on February 23 and March 5.
With revenge and the Big Dance on their minds, the Buckeyes will be able to pull off one upset at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. However, they won't be able to down the Maryland Terrapins in the semifinals. One more quality win combined with a bad showing from Michigan at the Big Ten tournament would help Ohio State's resume a good amount.
6. Wisconsin
9 of 14
First matchup: No. 11 Nebraska vs. No. 14 Rutgers winner (Thursday 9 p.m. ET)
Prediction: Wins opening game, loses to No. 3 Maryland in quarterfinals
Wisconsin surged onto the national scene with a seven-game winning streak from January 17 to February 13. The Badgers also won four straight from February 21 to March 2 to secure a spot in the field of 68.
With a presumably easy second-round matchup against either Nebraska or Rutgers on Thursday, Wisconsin should be preparing for Maryland already.
Although they played two good games against the Terrapins, the Badgers will fall in the quarterfinal round because of a tremendous individual performance from Melo Trimble.
5. Iowa
10 of 14
First matchup: No. 12 Illinois vs. No. 13 Minnesota winner (Thursday, 2:30 p.m. ET)
Prediction: Wins first game, loses to Purdue in quarterfinal
The Iowa Hawkeyes don't have to win to get into the NCAA tournament this week, but they need to pull off a few victories in order to regain confidence after losing five of their last seven regular-season games.
Iowa shouldn't have an issue getting past Minnesota or Illinois in the second round, but it will experience trouble in the quarterfinal against Purdue.
Beating a team three times in a season is no easy task, and the Hawkeyes will not be able to accomplish that against the Boilermakers.
With only three wins in eight games entering the Big Dance, it will be hard for anyone to trust the Hawkeyes while filling out their brackets.
4. Purdue
11 of 14
First matchup: No. 5 Iowa vs. No. 12 Illinois/No. 13 Minnesota winner (Friday, 2:30 p.m. ET)
Prediction: Wins first game, defeats Indiana in semifinals, loses to Maryland in final
Purdue enters the Big Ten tournament with an ideal map to the championship game.
The Boilermakers don't have to play until Friday's quarterfinals, where they will most likely face a struggling Iowa team. After beating Iowa, Purdue will face an Indiana team susceptible to an upset after being on a high from winning the regular-season title.
Purdue's pair of key wins will boost its NCAA tournament seeding, but it won't be able to earn the automatic bid out of the Big Ten, as it will fall to Maryland in the final.
3. Maryland
12 of 14
First matchup: No. 6 Wisconsin vs. No. 11 Nebraska/No. 14 Rutgers winner (Friday, 9 p.m. ET)
Prediction: Defeats Wisconsin in quarterfinals, records win over Ohio State in semifinals, downs Purdue in final
March is all about standout individuals driving their teams to new heights at the most important part of the season.
The Big Ten tournament in Indianapolis this week will see a spectacular set of games from Maryland guard Melo Trimble.
Trimble will set the tone for a strong March on Friday against Wisconsin in the final eight. Maryland will end Ohio State's potential Cinderella bid in the semifinals before Trimble takes over in the final against Purdue.
The trio of victories will help Maryland's NCAA tournament seeding and could boost the Terrapins all the way up to a No. 2 seed.
2. Michigan State
13 of 14
First matchup: No. 7 Ohio State vs. No. 10 Penn State winner (Friday, 6:30 p.m. ET)
Prediction: Loses in quarterfinal to Ohio State
Michigan State enters Indianapolis as the sexy pick to lock up a No. 1 seed during championship week.
However, the Spartans will fall victim to an upset in their first game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse because of how desperate Ohio State is at the moment.
A loss to the Buckeyes won't damage Michigan State's NCAA tournament seeding a ton, but it won't earn a top seed due to the defeat.
1. Indiana
14 of 14
First matchup: No. 8 Michigan vs. No. 9 Northwestern winner (Friday, noon ET)
Prediction: Wins first game over Michigan, loses to Purdue in semifinals
Just like Michigan State, Indiana enters the Big Ten tournament with a ton of momentum, but it won't be the team hoisting the trophy Sunday.
The Big Ten regular-season champions should dispense of Michigan with ease Friday, but it will have trouble dealing with a hungry Purdue team led by A.J. Hammons.
The defeat to Purdue would drop Indiana's record against the AP Top 25 to 4-3, which isn't a bad mark compared to the other teams in the conference. A No. 3 or No. 4 seed will likely be assigned to Indiana on Selection Sunday.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.
All statistics obtained from ESPN.com.
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