The Big Ten Tournament returns to the United Center this year with all 14 teams set to face off for the conference championship and an automatic bid to March Madness. The action starts Wednesday afternoon and runs for five consecutive days leading up to the title game on March 17, which will be broadcast nationally on CBS.
Michigan, the two-time defending champion, enters this year as the No. 3 seed after posting a 15-5 record in conference games. The Wolverines are one of four teams that earned an automatic bye to the quarterfinals along with No. 1 seed Michigan State, No. 2 seed Purdue and No. 4 seed Wisconsin. The teams seeded No. 6-10 received byes to the second round.
Only one of Illinois and Northwestern could reach the second round because they were matched up against each other in the first round. The Fighting Illini hung on in overtime to take down the Wildcats, 74-69.
For Illinois, and several others, pulling off a miracle by winning the conference championship is the only way they’ll reach the NCAAs.
Michigan State, Michigan, Purdue, Wisconsin and Maryland look like locks to reach March Madness this year. Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio State and Indiana could be considered on the bubble, so what happens in Chicago could vault one or more of those teams into the Big Dance.
Here’s the full bracket and schedule for the 2019 Big Ten men’s basketball tournament.
Schedule
First round – Wednesday, March 13
TV: Big Ten Network
No. 13 Nebraska 68, No. 12 Rutgers 61
No. 11 Illinois 74, No. 14 Northwestern 69
Second round – Thursday, March 14
TV: Big Ten Network
No. 8 Ohio State 79, No. 9 Indiana 75
No. 13 Nebraska 69, No. 5 Maryland 61
No. 7 Minnesota 77, No. 10 Penn State 72
No. 6 Iowa 83, No. 11 Illinois 62
Quarterfinals – Friday, March 15
TV: Big Ten Network
No. 1 Michigan State 77, No. 8 Ohio State 70
No. 4 Wisconsin 66, No. 13 Nebraska 62
No. 7 Minnesota 75, No. 2 Purdue 73
No. 3 Michigan 74, No. 6 Iowa 53
Semifinals – Saturday, March 16
TV: CBS
No. 1 Michigan State 67, No. 4 Wisconsin 55
No. 3 Michigan 76, No. 7 Minnesota 49
Championship Game – Sunday, March 17
TV: CBS
No. 1 Michigan State vs. No. 3 Michigan, 2:30 p.m.
