Big Ten Tournament 2017: Bracket, Schedule and Championship Odds

The Big Ten men's basketball tournament should be very competitive this season. Per the Ken Pomeroy college basketball rankings, eight teams sit between 13th and 50th, with five of them bunched up between 22nd and 38th.

The odds (see below) tell a similar story. Purdue and Wisconsin are the clear favorites, but six teams sit between 8-1 and 14-1 odds to win the Big Ten championship.

It should be a fun week of basketball in Washington D.C. this week. Here's a look at the schedule, the bracket, the latest odds and a quick preview and prediction.

Big Ten Tournament Schedule

Date	Game	Round	Matchup	Time (ET)	TV
Wednesday, March 8	1	First	No. 13 Penn State vs. No. 12 Nebraska	4:30 p.m.	ESPN2
Wednesday, March 8	2	First	No. 14 Rutgers vs. No. 11 Ohio State	7 p.m.	BTN
Thursday, March 9	3	Second	No. 9 Illinois vs. No. 8 Michigan	Noon	BTN
Thursday, March 9	4	Second	No. 5 Michigan State vs. Game 1 winner	25 minutes after Game 3	BTN
Thursday, March 9	5	Second	No. 10 Indiana vs. No. 7 Iowa	6:30 p.m.	ESPN2
Thursday, March 9	6	Second	No. 6 Northwestern vs. Game 2 winner	25 minutes after Game 5	ESPN2
Friday, March 10	7	Quarterfinals	No. 1 Purdue vs. Game 3 winner	Noon	ESPN
Friday, March 10	8	Quarterfinals	No. 4 Minnesota vs. Game 4 winner	25 minutes after Game 7	ESPN
Friday, March 10	9	Quarterfinals	No. 2 Wisconsin vs. Game 5 winner	6:30 p.m.	BTN
Friday, March 10	10	Quarterfinals	No. 3 Maryland vs. Game 6 winner	25 minutes after Game 9	BTN
Saturday, March 11	11	Semifinals	Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner	1 p.m.	CBS Sports
Saturday, March 11	12	Semifinals	Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner	3:30 p.m.	CBS Sports
Sunday, March 12	13	Final	Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner	3 p.m.	CBS Sports

Information via grfx.cstv.com. All games will take place at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.

Big Ten Tournament Bracket

Big Ten Championship Odds

Team	Odds
Purdue	+175
Wisconsin	+240
Michigan	+800
Minnesota	+900
Maryland	+1000
Michigan State	+1000
Northwestern	+1400
Indiana	+1400
Iowa	+3300
Ohio State	+3300
Illinois	+4000
Nebraska	+5000
Penn State	+5000
Rutgers	+15000

Odds as of March 1 at BetOnline (h/t OddsShark)

Preview

The Big Ten tournament features two great stories this year that will gain prominence as March progresses. One involves a player (Purdue forward Caleb Swanigan) and the other involves a team (Northwestern).

Swanigan overcame almost insurmountable obstacles as a child to earn a scholarship to play college basketball at Purdue. If you have the time, watch CBS News' piece on Swanigan that aired on Friday and again on CBS Morning News on Sunday.

These days, Swanigan is not only the best player in one of the elite conference in college basketball, but he's climbing up NBA draft boards as well should he decide to forgo his last two years of eligibility (the latest DraftExpress mock has him going 26th overall to Brooklyn).

The sophomore is averaging 18.6 points and 12.5 rebounds per game this season and has registered a double-double in every game this year but five. 

Swanigan is an impossible matchup for some teams. Against Northwestern on Sunday, he consistently beat double-teams, as GoldandBlack.com noted:

He and Purdue will be a difficult out for anyone in March.

If you haven't noticed already from all the Northwestern alums in media tweeting about their alma mater, the Wildcats are having a great season and should earn an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

The Wildcats play hard every night, led by senior guard Bryant McIntosh and junior guard Scottie Lindsey, who each average 14.2 points per game.

Northwestern has stumbled a bit down the stretch, losing six of their last nine to close the regular season, although Lindsey did miss four of those games (Northwestern went 1-3 in those).

Still, the Wildcats are a fun team to watch (in part because it seems like so many of their games go down to the wire), and they could potentially be one of those pesky No. 8 or No. 9 seeds that typically gives a No. 1 seed all it can handle in the second round.

Outside Purdue and Northwestern, keep an eye on Wisconsin, who struggled to end the regular season (five losses in seven games) but finished with a strong 66-49 win over a tough Minnesota team, outscoring the Golden Gophers, 39-20 in the second half behind five three-pointers from senior Bronson Koenig.

Other Big Ten title contenders include Maryland, led by junior guard Melo Trimble (16.9 points per game), Minnesota (which finished 23-8 and beat Purdue in Lafayette this year), Michigan State (which, despite last year's disappointing tournament exit, should never be counted out in March) and Michigan (which has been on the wrong side of luck this year, losing two Big Ten overtime games and a third on a Hail Mary buzzer-beater to Northwestern).

Prediction

Purdue is the pick to win the Big Ten title, as it is the best team and has the best player. Swanigan is a matchup nightmare and will lead the Boilermakers to a top-four seed in the NCAA tournament with his play this week.

Indiana over Iowa will be the only upset for the tournament. Everything else will be won by the higher seed,, so expect Wisconsin to meet the Boilermakers in the final.