Big Ten Tournament 2017: Quarterfinal Schedule, Live Stream, Bracket Predictions

The average margin of victory in the second round of the Big Ten men's basketball tournament was 22.75 points on Thursday, naturally suggesting there were some boring games.

However, the competition should be turned up to 11 on Friday with the top-four Big Ten seeds taking the floor and facing off against the second-round winners.

Here's the Big Ten schedule, live-streaming information and some quarterfinal-round predictions.

Big Ten Tournament Schedule

Date	Game	Round	Matchup	Time (ET)	TV
Wednesday, March 8	1	First	No. 13 Penn State 76, No. 12 Nebraska 67 (OT)	4:30 p.m.	ESPN2
Wednesday, March 8	2	First	No. 14 Rutgers 66, No. 11 Ohio State 57	7 p.m.	BTN
Thursday, March 9	3	Second	No. 8 Michigan 75, No. 9 Illinois 55	Noon	BTN
Thursday, March 9	4	Second	No. 5 Michigan State 78, No. 13 Penn State 51	25 minutes after Game 3	BTN
Thursday, March 9	5	Second	No. 10 Indiana 95, No. 7 Iowa 73	6:30 p.m.	ESPN2
Thursday, March 9	6	Second	No. 6 Northwestern 83, No. 14 Rutgers 61	25 minutes after Game 5	ESPN2
Friday, March 10	7	Quarterfinals	No. 1 Purdue vs. No. 8 Michigan	Noon	ESPN
Friday, March 10	8	Quarterfinals	No. 4 Minnesota vs. No. 5 Michigan State	25 minutes after Game 7	ESPN
Friday, March 10	9	Quarterfinals	No. 2 Wisconsin vs. No. 10 Indiana	6:30 p.m.	BTN
Friday, March 10	10	Quarterfinals	No. 3 Maryland vs. No. 6 Northwestern	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 bigten.org. All games will take place at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. and be live-streamed on BTN2Go, WatchESPN or CBSSports.com, depending on what channel the game will be played.

Quarterfinal Predictions

1. No. 1 Purdue vs. No. 8 Michigan

Don't look at the seed difference between Purdue and Michigan and expect that the Boilermakers will win this one running away. According to OddsShark, Purdue is only a three-point favorite heading into this contest—a line that was perhaps partially in reaction to Michigan's emphatic 75-55 win over Illinois in the second round on Thursday.

The other part? Michigan is better than its Big Ten seeding indicates. The Wolverines have gone 7-2 in their last nine games, including wins over Wisconsin and Purdue, the latter of which was an impressive 82-70 victory. Furthermore, the Ken Pomeroy College Basketball rankings and Sagarin ratings believe that Michigan is the third-best team in the Big Ten.

The last time these two teams played, Michigan shot 54.5 percent from the field and made 11 three-pointers. Purdue big man Caleb Swanigan also managed to grab just five rebounds (he averages 12.6 for the season).

It's doubtful that Michigan shoots that hot and that Swanigan is held to a pedestrian game the second time around. Purdue will win, but this game will be in doubt until the last minute.

Pick: Purdue

2. No. 4 Minnesota vs. No. 5 Michigan State

The Spartans had no trouble against Penn State in the second round on Thursday, winning a 78-51 blowout.

Minnesota will pose a much tougher test for MSU. The Golden Gophers won eight straight games before playing a bad second half and losing 66-49 at Wisconsin to close the regular season.

MSU beat Minnesota twice this year, but that was before the Golden Gophers' hot run to finish the regular season at 23-8 (and 11-7 in Big Ten play).

This time around, Minnesota should be victorious. The Golden Gophers have a balanced scoring attack, with five players putting up at least 9.6 points per game. Furthermore, Minnesota has one of the best defenses in the country, ranking 15th in adjusted defensive efficiency, per the Pomeroy rankings.

While it's usually not smart to bet against Michigan State in March, the Spartans haven't done well outside East Lansing this year, going 4-11 in road or neutral games this season. MSU should keep this game close, but Minnesota will pull away late.

Pick: Minnesota

3. No. 2 Wisconsin vs. No. 10 Indiana

Indiana likely ended Iowa's NCAA tournament hopes with a dominant 95-73 victory on Thursday, outscoring the Hawkeyes 52-33 in the second half.

IU shot an eye-popping 60.3 percent from the field while hitting 12-of-20 three-pointers.

To be frank, that isn't happening against Wisconsin. Pomeroy ranks Iowa 105th in adjusted defensive efficiency, while Wisconsin sits 10th.

The Hoosiers have won three of their last four games, and they did beat Kansas and North Carolina earlier this season, but they aren't in the same class as Wisconsin, which finished 23-8 overall and second place in the Big Ten.

Seniors Bronson Koenig and Nigel Hayes will lead Wisconsin to the semifinals.

Pick: Wisconsin

4. No. 3 Maryland vs. No. 6 Northwestern

Northwestern went on a 31-0 run against Rutgers in its 83-61 win on Thursday. Although Rutgers finished the season in last place, a 31-0 run is impressive against anyone.

Against Maryland, the game plan is simple: Stop junior guard Melo Trimble. If the Wildcats are successful, they will win. If not, they will lose, as they did to the Terps in a 74-64 loss where Trimble scored 32 points on 12-of-17 shooting.

The edge goes to Trimble having another good game and leading the Terps to a victory over the Wildcats. Trimble may not score 32 points again, but he'll be the best player on the floor on Friday.

Northwestern junior point guard Bryant McIntosh should keep the game in arm's reach, though, as he averaged 19.2 points per game in his last 10 regular-season contests.

Pick: Maryland