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Steve Greenberg

Sports Columnist

Steve Greenberg is a sports columnist at the Chicago Sun-Times.

I’m going with Zach Edey and the Boilermakers to win the Big Ten’s first men’s basketball title since 2000. Here’s my entire bracket.
The offense is humming. Terrence Shannon Jr. is going bonkers. But can the Illini finally get past the first weekend of the Big Dance, which they haven’t done since 2005?
There’s a lot of love for a soon-to-be rookie who’s about three and a half years younger than Justin Fields.
The Illini will face fifth-seeded Wisconsin — which they’ve beaten seven straight times — at 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
The Wildcats, despite another double-bye, stayed stuck on one semifinal appearance ever. Their tournament record: an abysmal 10-27.
The Badgers are a good enough team, apparently, that they are favored by 3½ points in Friday’s quarterfinal matchup against the fourth-seeded Wildcats.
Holtmann, a former Big Ten and Big East coach of the year, has led seven teams to the NCAA Tournament.