Big Ten Tournament 2020: Indianapolis Schedule, Bracket, Storylines to Watch

If the Big Ten regular season is any indicator of what we will see at the Big Ten tournament, it could be the most competitive one of Championship Week.

The Wisconsin Badgers, Maryland Terrapins and Michigan State Spartans all finished at 14-6 in league play. The Badgers took the No. 1 seed on tiebreakers.

At least 10 Big Ten programs are on track to qualify for the NCAA men's basketball tournament, and that total could rise depending on performances at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Since a few of the squads at the bottom of the regular-season standings have opportunities to improve their respective March Madness resumes, most games should carry additional meaning.

Big Ten Tournament Bracket

Storylines to Watch

How Will Bubble Teams Perform?

Justin Casterline/Getty Images

The initial focus in Indianapolis will be on the Indiana Hoosiers, Purdue Boilermakers and Minnesota Golden Gophers.

Indiana opens up Wednesday against the Nebraska Cornhuskers, while Minnesota plays the same night versus the Northwestern Wildcats.

Archie Miller's team is listed on the "last four in" column by ESPN's Joe Lunardi, but a loss or wins by a few bid thieves in other conferences could make that status more fragile.

Beating Nebraska will not move the needle with the NCAA tournament selection committee, but a loss would.

If the Hoosiers set up a second-round meeting with the Penn State Nittany Lions, they have an opportunity to improve their resume.

Indiana has victories over Michigan State, Penn State and the Iowa Hawkeyes, but it finished with a 9-11 conference mark and lost three of its last four.

Minnesota is off the bubble radar right now, but it could leap back on it by going on a deep run in Indianapolis.

That has to begin with avoiding an upset to Northwestern, but if the Golden Gophers can somehow muster a trip to the semifinals, it might make up for its 8-12 regular-season mark, but that is also dependent on results elsewhere.

Purdue faces the most difficult start in a matchup with the Ohio State Buckeyes. At the moment, Matt Painter's side is on Lunardi's "next four out" line.

If the Boilermakers get past their opening game, they will have a chance to earn a quality win over Michigan State in the quarterfinals.

Just like its fellow bubble members, Purdue may have to make a deep run with a few victories to persuade the selection committee to include it on Selection Sunday.

The odds are against those three teams carving a path to the semifinals since no programs seeded below No. 8 have advanced to that stage over the last five years.

Will the Michigan Stronghold Be Broken?

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

The last four Big Ten tournaments have been won by Michigan and Michigan State.

The Spartans are the reigning champion and they also came out on top in 2016, while Michigan won in 2017 and 2018.

In 2019, Michigan State defeated its in-state rival in the championship game. The Wolverines beat Wisconsin and Purdue to earn their crowns.

Juwan Howard's Wolverines are the No. 9 seed. Michigan previously won as a No. 8 seed, so a run to the final is possible.

But this is a different iteration of Michigan with Howard taking over for John Beilein, who made four Sweet 16 trips during his tenure in Ann Arbor.

Michigan also has to recover from three defeats in the last four games, which was preceded by a five-game winning streak.

Tom Izzo's Spartans are also in a familiar spot as the No. 2 seed, and they are playing some of the best basketball in Division I.

Michigan State enters Indianapolis on a five-game winning streak, with four of those triumphs coming against Top 25 foes.

Senior guard Cassius Winston is one of the most experienced players in the conference, and he has reached the 20-point mark in three of the last four contests.

Wisconsin and Maryland are the top contenders to end the state of Michigan's dominance.

The Badgers are on an eight-game winning streak and have lost once since the start of February, while Maryland rebounded from a rough patch with a win over Michigan on Sunday.

There could be some questions about the Terrapins because of the three losses they suffered in the closing five-game stretch, but they have one of the best inside-outside duos in Anthony Cowan Jr. and Jalen Smith.

The Illinois Fighting Illini have a similar duo in Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn, while Iowa always has a chance to be competitive with National Player of the Year candidate Luka Garza patrolling the paint.

The conventional logic leads us to take the field in this situation, but it would not be surprising to see Michigan State appear in the championship game based on its recent form.

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.