Big Ten Basketball: 2021 conference tournament preview and predictions
Favorite, threat, and darkhorse
Favorite – Michigan Wolverines
If the top three rankings in the AP Poll are not enough, perhaps the same ranking in the Pomeroy or the NET will be enough to convince you that Michigan Basketball is the favorite going into the Big Ten Tournament. If stats and analytics are not enough, the fact that they won the Big Ten Regular Season Championship outright, a feat that was last accomplished three seasons ago, should be enough.
The manner in which they did so, by losing just three conference games has only been done three other times over the past ten seasons. Coach Howard and the Wolverines beat every team that they could possibly face before the Big Ten Tournament Finals, which puts them as the favorite.
The threat to get an upset – Michigan State Spartans
Aside from Illinois Basketball being a huge obstacle for the Wolverines, those two teams would not meet until the final, and losing in a final to the No.2 seed is far from an upset, especially if said No. 2 seed defeated the favorite by 23 points less than two weeks earlier.
While taking Illinois out of the equation, the greatest threat to the Michigan Wolverines getting to the Big Ten Tournament Championship game is the Michigan State Spartans. This was a much bolder prediction prior to Michigan State defeating Michigan on senior night.
The bottom line is that Coach Izzo knew if they were ever going to have a chance to win the Big Ten Tournament they would have to go through Michigan at some point, so focusing their prep work on Michigan would not go to waste. On the other hand, Coach Howard’s attention would be best served to be divided as Michigan would have to overcome a number of challenges.
The darkhorse – Wisconsin Badgers
Wisconsin Basketball has had an awful end of the season. When the first AP Poll was released the Wisconsin Badgers were ranked No. 4, at that point, it was inconceivable that they would end the season winning just four of their last twelve games. The losses to the top teams in the Big Ten were all under 15 points, but they were clearly the lesser of the teams in each game.
With that said, they allow the second-fewest points per game in the conference and average the least amount of turnovers in Big Ten play. The problems the badgers need to fix, may not be possible but are clear, Nate Reuvers and Micah Potter need to play to their potential each game.
The 6’11 Reuvers has averaged 8 points and fewer than three rebounds, while the 6’10 Potter has averaged 13 points and 5 rebounds over the difficult stretch. They should be the most formidable frontcourt in the Big Ten that is capable of being better than just 3 and 9 versus Quad 1 teams.