Now that the men's basketball Big Ten Tournament is officially set, the staff here at Nittany Nation offers our best guess at what the bracket might look like in the end.
Will top-seeded Purdue run the table or will one of the lower teams play spoiler? The Big Ten appears to be wide open and looks like anyone could win the tournament.
Check out our picks below.
RICHIE SCHNYDERITE'S BRACKET...
In the wise words of Jon Rothstein, grab your nitroglycerin pills, as the Big Ten Tournament is going to be absolutely bonkers as just about any team could win it all this year.
Round one will likely go as expected in my opinion, but round two is when the fun begins as I have Penn State beating Illinois and Maryland losing to Nebraska for the second time this season. After that I got Purdue losing to Michigan as they will take on Michigan State in the semi-finals to break the season series tie, currently sitting at 1-1. On the other side I have Penn State versus Indiana with the Hoosiers winning that one handedly.
In the end, Michigan wins this one as they arguably have the most talented team in the conference as this one will be on the coaching staff to get the Wolverines through the tournament.
DYLAN CALLAGHAN-CROLEY'S BRACKET...
"It's the most wonderful time of the year," Wait. It's not the holidays! No, it's time for some true March basketball to be played, starting with the Big Ten conference tournament.
As I said earlier this week on our podcast, I really can see any of the top 6-7 seeds winning this tournament. So many strong teams that, if they get hot, are going to be able to wreck not just the Big Ten bracket but potentially the NCAA Tournament.
I do think the Nittany Lions could make a nice run here; matchups against Illinois and Northwestern would be somewhat favorable.
Now let's go through my bracket quickly. Starting on Wednesday, give me Wisconsin and Nebraska. The Badgers are not a good team this year, but Ohio State is at the bottom of the Big Ten barrel this season. That could be an ugly game. Nebraska, on the other hand, is one of the hottest teams in the Big Ten, and Minnesota has been bad throughout this season. While they finished their regular season off with some promising performances, the Gophers still have a lot of work to do going forward.
In the second round, I like Michigan to beat the Scarlet Knights; Rutgers hasn't been the same as they've dealt with injuries, while Michigan has some strong momentum heading into the tournament. I like Iowa to take down Wisconsin on Thursday as well; potential for another ugly game, but the Hawkeyes are the better team here.
Penn State's beaten Illinois twice, and I have them doing it for a third time; I love how the Nittany Lions matchup here and think a third win is in the cards. Finally, rounding out the second round -- Nebraska could certainly upset Maryland with the way they've been playing but give me the Terrapins by a hair.
In the quarterfinals, I have Purdue beating Michigan in a tight one before Michigan State takes care of business against Iowa after blowing a double-digit lead in under two minutes just last week. I have the Nittany Lions taking down Northwestern for a second time as well, with Indiana beating Maryland after coming off a double-bye.
In the semifinals, Purdue takes down Michigan State in a good one, while Indiana will be just too much for the Nittany Lions. The good news for Penn State is two wins should lock them into the NCAA Tournament and possibly get out of having to play in one of The First Four games.
In the end, I'm sticking with the team that's been the best in the conference throughout the entire season, even with some February struggles, the Purdue Boilermakers to beat Indiana in the Big Ten championship game.
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