Big Ten Tournament Seeding is Set!

With the final buzzer having sounded on Purdue's home win over Wisconsin this evening, this year's Big Ten Tournament seeding is set.  Earlier today, IU demolished Maryland to end up 15-3 in the Big Ten -- the Hoosiers' best conference record since going 17-1 in 1993.  They also finished the year undefeated at home.  March is always fun, but it's even that much better when your team is playing well (especially when the NCAA Tournament is as wide open as it is this year).  

Also, Northwestern beat Nebraska to get to 20 wins, which is the first time in program history the Wildcats have won 20 games in the regular season.  And let's not forget that yesterday, Rutgers took out all of the season's frustration on Minnesota, with a 75-52 victory, helping the Scarlet Knights avoid becoming the first team in 16 years to go winless in the Big Ten.

Here are the seeds for the Big Ten Tournament, along with my initial seeding predictions from February 8 in parentheses.

1.  Indiana (15-3) (Iowa)
2.  Michigan State (13-5) (Indiana)
3.  Maryland (12-6) (Maryland)
4.  Purdue (12-6) (Michigan State)
5.  Iowa (12-6) (Purdue)
6.  Wisconsin (12-6) (Michigan)
7.  Ohio State (11-7) (Wisconsin)
8.  Michigan (10-8) (Ohio State)
9.  Northwestern (8-10) (Northwestern)
10.  Penn State (7-11) (Nebraska)
11.  Nebraska (6-12) (Illinois)
12.  Illinois (5-13) (Penn State)
13.  Minnesota (2-16) (Rutgers)
14.  Rutgers (1-17) (Minnesota)

2 out of 14 ain't good.  I guess I really underestimated Penn State and overestimated Iowa.  Obviously, I'll gladly take how things turned out in real life.

Here is the schedule for the Big Ten Tournament with my predictions (all times Eastern):

3/9 – First Round

4:30 p.m. (ESPN2) (12) Illinois vs. (13) Minnesota.  Predicted winner:  Minnesota

7 p.m. (BTN) (11) Nebraska vs. (14) Rutgers.  Predicted winner:  Nebraska

3/10 – Second Round

12 p.m. (BTN) (8) Michigan vs. (9) Northwestern.  Predicted winner:  Michigan

2:30 p.m. (BTN) (5) Iowa vs. (13) Minnesota.  Predicted winner:  Iowa

6:30 p.m. (ESPN2) (7) Ohio State vs. (10) Penn State.  Predicted winner:  Ohio State

9 p.m. (ESPN2) (6) Wisconsin vs. (11) Nebraska.  Predicted winner:  Wisconsin

3/11 – Quarterfinals

12 p.m. (ESPN) (1) Indiana vs. (8) Michigan.  Predicted winner:  Indiana

2:30 p.m. (ESPN) (4) Purdue vs. (5) Iowa.  Predicted winner:  Purdue

6:30 p.m. (BTN) (2) Michigan State vs. (7) Ohio State.  Predicted winner:  Michigan State

9 p.m. (BTN) (3) Maryland vs. (6) Wisconsin.  Predicted winner:  Wisconsin

3/12 – Semifinals

1 p.m. (CBS) (1) Indiana vs. (4) Purdue.  Predicted winner:  Indiana

3:30 p.m. (CBS) (2) Michigan State vs. (6) Wisconsin.  Predicted winner:  Michigan State

3/13 – Finals

3 p.m. (CBS) (1) Indiana vs. (2) Michigan State.  Predicted winner:  Indiana