Big 10 Tournament 2018: Schedule and Bracket Predictions for Conference Tourney

If it wasn't already clear, understand this: Big Ten men's college basketball is back.

With Michigan State (No. 2), Purdue (No. 6) and Ohio State (No. 8) in the top-10 of the AP Top 25 and Michigan ranked 22nd in the nation, the Big Ten tournament should prove to be electric this year.

Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany moved the 21st annual event to New York to "give the players and the teams and our fans there a chance to see the Big Ten in the Big Apple," so it will be played at Madison Square Garden from Feb. 28 - March 4.

Sure, it's not exactly the premier weekend of college basketball at the Garden, but the show must go on.

The Spartans, the Buckeyes, the Boilermakers and the Cornhuskers are the top four seeds, with Michigan State taking the regular-season title with a 68-63 win over Wisconsin Sunday.

The top seeds are always must see TV, but in this tournament, anything can happen.

Remember last year? 

The Michigan Wolverines went into the tourney as a lowly No. 8 seed, but they made the event theirs.

They went from plane crash to tournament champs, going through Illinois, Purdue, Minnesota and Wisconsin to win the title and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Will this season be just as exciting?

Here is the proposed bracket and TV schedule for the games in the Big 10 tournament. 

Big 10 Tournament Schedule

First Round—Wednesday, February 28

Game 1 | Illinois (12) vs. Iowa (13) | 4:30 p.m. CT, BTN

Game 2 | Minnesota (11) vs. Rutgers (14) | 7 p.m. CT, BTN

Second Round—Thursday, March 1

Game 3 | Maryland (8) vs. Wisconsin (9) | 11 a.m. CT, BTN

Game 4 | Michigan (5) vs. Illinois (12)/Iowa (13) | 1:30 p.m. CT, BTN

Game 5 | Penn State (7) vs. Northwestern (10) | 5:30 p.m. CT, BTN

Game 6 | Indiana (6) vs. Minnesota (11)/Rutgers (14) | 8 p.m. CT, BTN

Quarterfinals—Friday, March 2

Game 7 | Michigan State (1) vs. Maryland (8)/Wisconsin (9) | 11 a.m. CT, BTN

Game 8 | Nebraska (4) vs. Michigan (5)/Illinois (12)/Iowa (13) | 1:30 p.m. CT, BTN

Game 9 | Ohio State (2) vs. Penn State (7)/Northwestern (10) | 5:30 p.m. CT, BTN

Game 10 | Purdue (3) vs. Indiana (6)/Minnesota (11)/Rutgers (14) | 8 p.m. CT, BTN

Semifinals—Saturday, March 3

Game 11 | Semifinal 1 | 1 p.m. CT, CBS

Game 12 | Semifinal 2 | 3:30 p.m. CT, CBS

Championship—Sunday, March 4

Game 13 | Championship Game | 3:30 p.m. CT, CBS

*Per BTN.com, all games on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday will broadcast on the Big Ten Network. The semifinals on Saturday and the championship game on Sunday will be carried by CBS.

Favorite: Michigan State

Having gone on a 12-game winning streak to close out the regular season, one can't say that Michigan State (24-3, 16-2 in the Big 10) is on fire—it's more like an inferno.

As the second ranked team in the country, the Spartans are poised to stay boiling hot and win their sixth Big Ten crown.

And for those willing to put money on it, they are the plus-250 favorite to win it all, according to OddsShark.

The only true threat to Tom Izzo's squad is Purdue.

The Boilermakers have an impressive No. 3 adjusted offensive efficiency ranking on KenPom at 123.2, but they'll have one heck of a time getting past Michigan State's stingy defense and Miles Bridges.

Look for the Spartans to bully their way through this weekend.

Sleeper: Michigan

They did it last year.

Coming in cold and shaken from a plane crash, the Michigan Wolverines played four straight days and downed all the top seeds to win the title.

They only have plus-700 odds to win it, but this team has a way of defying the odds.

The Wolverines are coming in with five straight victories and are not a lock for the NCAA tournament, which means they need to win the Big Ten to get an automatic bid.

And they are more than capable of getting it done.

Winner: Michigan State

The Boilermakers are right there with Michigan State as the No. 6 team in the nation, and they are playing like it. 

But in the one game this season where they went head-to-head, the Spartans came out on top thanks to Miles Bridges, who drilled a tiebreaking long ball with 2.7 seconds left and finished with 20 points to lift the Spartans 68-65 over Purdue.

Bridges decided to forgo the NBA for another year with Michigan State, and he seems to be delivering on his goal to bring another chip to East Lansing. 

Michigan State will win the Big Ten and then go on to set the whole NCAA tournament on fire.