Big Ten Tournament Preview

The Big Ten tournament kicks off today in Chicago, and if the regular season has taught us anything this tournament could be the best one ever.  The conference is not only loaded with top end talent (4 teams in the top 10), but depth (8 and 9 seeds have spent time in the top 10).  The next 4 days could, potentially, have a major impact on NCAA tournament seeding and opening round location. 

Michigan will have a very difficult road just to play on Saturday.  The Wolverines open with an improving Penn State team that has already played the maize and blue extremely tough in two earlier meetings.  If Michigan can exact a little revenge today, they will then get to square off against the pesky Badgers.  The Wolverines are clearly more talented than both of these squads, but it will be interesting to see how this young team can respond in playing a game each day, especially against two teams with different styles.  Michigan should be able to all but guarantee a 2 seed if they can just make it to the weekend.  I am very interested to see how the Wolverines come out of the gate in the opening game against Penn State.  The last time they had a truly heartbreaking loss, the next game they were laughed off the court in East Lansing.  Maybe I am too optimistic, but I expect the team to play with a lot of passion and focus and advance to play another day in the tournament. 

The hottest team right now is Ohio State, and with a strong showing this weekend the Buckeyes could play themselves into a 2 seed.  The scarlet and gray await the winner of the Purdue vs Nebraska game tomorrow.  Even though the Boilermakers are playing some inspired basketball right now, their best game is no match to Ohio State’s current level of play. If Aaron Craft can continue to be a dangerous second scoring option, the Buckeyes might be the favorites to win this tournament right now. 

The obvious favorite is the regular season champs, Indiana.  The Hoosiers are expected to grab the number 1 seed in the Midwest region regardless of the tournament outcome.  It will be interesting to see how the team responds to the high praise.  After they clinched at least a share of the regular season title they lost on their home floor and managed to steal a game in Ann Arbor.  I have a hard time seeing Indiana playing with the focus needed to win 3 games in 3 days, especially when they could be playing 3 teams that have already beat them once this season.  I think Tom Crean will look to rest some of his players in preparation for the tournament in March that really matters.

The team with the most to prove is Minnesota.  The Golden Gophers seemed to clinch an NCAA tournament bid with a win over Indiana just a few short weeks ago, but then they responded with one of their most discouraging weeks of the season.  Minnesota has been able to play up to top competition, and if they can focus this weekend I wouldn’t be surprised to see them playing on Sunday afternoon.  However, if this mentally weak team has already checked out, I think Illinois will dominate them in the tournament opener. Then the question will be, has Minnesota done enough early in the season to stumble into the tournament?