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Big Ten Basketball Tournament: Michigan, Purdue and Michigan State fight for the crown

By Eddie Herz

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 04: Head coach John Beilein of the Michigan Wolverines celebrates after defeating the Purdue Boilermakers 75-66 during the championship game of the Big 10 Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 4, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 04: Head coach John Beilein of the Michigan Wolverines celebrates after defeating the Purdue Boilermakers 75-66 during the championship game of the Big 10 Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 4, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /
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LINCOLN, NE – JANUARY 17: Thomas Allen #12 of the Nebraska Cornhuskers and Isaiah Roby #15 and Glynn Watson Jr. #5 walk off the court after the loss against the Michigan State Spartans at Pinnacle Bank Arena on January 17, 2019 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images)
LINCOLN, NE – JANUARY 17: Thomas Allen #12 of the Nebraska Cornhuskers and Isaiah Roby #15 and Glynn Watson Jr. #5 walk off the court after the loss against the Michigan State Spartans at Pinnacle Bank Arena on January 17, 2019 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images) /

Predicting the Big Ten Tournament

First Round

12. Rutgers vs. 13. Nebraska

Even though the first round of action solely features teams playing for NIT berths at best, these games will be fun because they are complete toss-ups.

The Scarlet Knights defeated Nebraska 76-69 earlier this season behind 20-points from emerging freshman Montez Mathis as well as superior rebounding. I like the chances of Steve Pikiell and company besting the Cornhuskers again. Neither team is playing great basketball right now, but the outlook in New Brunswick is definitely more positive than Lincoln. The Scarlet Knights are trending in the right direction, as they have a chance to finally do so some damage next season. Nebraska, instead, is spiraling downward amid a forgettable season. Rutgers will come in with more confidence having already defeated the Cornhuskers and pick up the victory.

11. Illinois vs. 14. Northwestern

Illinois honestly brought more to the table in Brad Underwood’s first season than its 11-20 record implies. The Illini’s schedule fell victim to an unforgiving schedule, as Illinois struggled to gain its footing early on. The 4-12 start probably resulted in a lack of confidence for the Illini. We eventually saw what Illinois was capable of when it got hot and won four straight in February. This is a tough pick because while it appears the Illini have partially given up, the Wildcats have lost 11 of their last 12 games.

Northwestern and Illinois split the season series after two highly competitive contests. Though NU’s win over OSU a few days ago probably has the program feeling better about itself than it did a week or two ago, I’m going with Illinois here. The Illini are just a better team, and the do-or-die scenario should spark up enough motivation to defeat the lowly Wildcats.

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