CBS Sports Releases Prediction For The Big Ten Tournament
The Big Ten basketball tournament is set to tip-off on Wednesday evening, as the sport’s deepest conference prepares to crown a postseason champion. The event will begin with a pair of games tomorrow between 12-seed Northwestern and 13-seed Minnesota, followed by 11-seed Penn State vs. 14-seed Nebraska.
It’s been a hotly contested year in the Big Ten, with no team emerging as the clear favorite. According to Joe Lunardi’s latest bracketology update, nine teams from the conference are slated to make the NCAA Tournament later this month.
With less than 48 hours to go until the start of the Big Ten Tournament, CBS Sports experts have made their picks. Chip Patterson will take the Purdue Boilermakers, while Kyle Boone is sticking with Iowa. The three other experts — Matt Norlander, Gary Parrish and Jerry Palm — will go with a slightly safer choice and pick Illinois.
The Fighting Illini carry the most momentum into March, having won 11 of their last 12 games. Brad Underwood’s squad has also won four straight, with three of those coming against top-25 conference opponents. With star guard Ayo Dosunmu back from a broken nose and Kofi Cockburn playing at a high level, Illinois looks tough to beat.
Iowa enters the Big Ten tourney as the No. 3 seed, also fresh off a strong last month of the regular season. The Hawkeyes have won seven of their last eight games, behind the effort of presumptive National Player of the Year, Luka Garza. After a difficult mid-season stretch for the senior big man, he’s returned to form at just the right time and will be a match-up problem for every opponent in this week’s tournament.
Purdue seems to be the biggest reach of a pick, as the Boilermakers enter the postseason tournament as a four-seed. Despite entering on tournament on a five-game win streak, Matt Painter’s group hasn’t picked up many marquee wins over the conference’s elite. Purdue will likely need to get by Ohio State and Michigan for a spot in the Big Ten Championship.
Notably absent from the CBS pick is top-seeded Michigan. The Wolverines have struggled over the last week, but should still hold onto a one-seed in the Big Dance, regardless of their performance in the conference tournament.
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