Big 10 Tourney Preview

At Conseco Fieldhouse (Indianapolis)
FIRST ROUND
Thursday, March 12
Game 1: No. 8 Minnesota vs. No. 9 Northwestern, noon
Game 2: No. 7 Michigan vs. No. 10 Iowa, ESPN2, 2:30 p.m.
Game 3: No. 6 Penn State vs. No. 11 Indiana, ESPN2, 5 p.m.

QUARTERFINALS
Friday, March 13
Game 4: No. 1 Michigan State vs. Game 1 winner, ESPN, noon
Game 5: No. 4 Wisconsin vs. No. 5 Ohio State, ESPN, 2:30 p.m.
Game 6: No. 2 Illinois vs. Game 2 winner, 6:30 p.m.
Game 7: No. 3 Purdue vs. Game 3 winner, 9 p.m.

SEMIFINALS
Saturday, March 14
Game 8: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 1:40 p.m.
Game 9: Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 winner, 4:05 p.m.

CHAMPIONSHIP
Sunday, March 15
Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner, 3:30 p.m.


Team to watch: Michigan State. The Spartans still have a chance to claim a number one seed. To do so, they must win the conference tourney. They already own the most victories over top 50 teams in the RPI (10) but have a big loss to Maryland and Northwestern as well.

Player to watch: Manny Harris. Michigan is one of many borderline teams in the Big 10 and Harris is the one that makes the Wolverines go. He averages 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists per game and if he is on, Michigan is a very difficult team to beat.

Upset watch: Northwestern. The Wildcats come into the tournament as the number nine seed with an outside hope of being an at-large team. To do so, they have to win a minimum ot two games. Northwestern is also the ONLY power conference school to NEVER reach the NCAA tournament.

Tourney watch: Michigan State, Purdue, Illinois are solidly in the tournament. Then it gets interesting. Ohio State, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Penn State, and Northwestern are all bubble teams. Ohio State is probably the safest out of that group. None can afford to lose their first game because they are all fighting for the same spots. It should be a great tournament to watch (if you like low scoring games) and I still like Michigan State to capture the championship.