There's still a month left of Big Ten basketball and the race is tight pretty much all over the board but it's especially bunched up in those middle spots, where Wisconsin finds itself. Those spots will matter a lot for the Big Ten bracket rewards you handsomely if you finish at the top of the conference. Only four seeds get the double-bye (though you could even call it a triple-bye).
On the men's side, no matter what place you finish, every team gets to play in the Big Ten Tournament. However, if you land in 16-18th place in the conference, you would need to win six games in six straight days. Essentially impossible. If you finish 1-4, you only need to win three games in three days. Much more doable.
If the season ended today, here's how the seeds would fall:
1 - Michigan Wolverines
2 - Illinois Fighting Illini
3 - Nebraska Cornhuskers
4 - Michigan State Spartans
5 - Purdue Boilermakers
6 - UCLA Bruins
7 - Wisconsin Badgers (tie-breaker with Iowa)
8 - Iowa Hawkeyes
9 - Indiana Hoosiers
10 - Ohio State Buckeyes (tie-breaker with USC)
11 - USC Trojans
12 - Minnesota Golden Gophers (tie-breaker with Washington)
13 - Washington Huskies
14 - Maryland Terrapins
15 - Rutgers Scarlet Knights (tie-breaker with Northwestern)
16 - Northwestern Wildcats
17 - Oregon Ducks (tie-breaker with Penn State)
18 - Penn State Nittany Lions
The tiebreakers are head-to-head, then the highest conference win. So, Wisconsin's win over Michigan may go a long way at the end of the season if the Wolverines stay at the top and Wisconsin is the only team to beat them.
Here's what the Big Ten Tournament bracket would look like:
Tuesday, March 10 – First Round (Peacock)
Game 1: No.17 Oregon vs. No. 18 Penn State
Game 2: No. 15 Rutgers vs. No. 16 Northwestern
Game 3: No. 9 Indiana vs. Winner of Game 1
Game 4: No. 12 Minnesota vs. No. 13 Washington
Wednesday, March 11 – Second Round (Big Ten Network)
Game 5: No. 8 Iowa vs. Winner of Game 2
Game 6: No. 5 Purdue vs. Winner of Game 3
Game 7: No. 7 Wisconsin vs. No. 10 Ohio State
Game 8: No. 6 UCLA vs. Winner of Game 4
Thursday, March 12 – Third Round (Big Ten Network)
Game 9: No. 1 Michigan vs. Winner of Game 5
Game 10: No. 4 Michigan State vs. Winner of Game 6
Game 11: No. 2 Illinois vs. Winner of Game 7
Game 12: No. 3 Nebraska vs. Winner of Game 8
Saturday, March 13 – Semifinals (CBS)
Game 13: Winner of Game 9 vs. Winner of Game 10
Game 14: Winner of Game 11 vs. Winner of Game 12
Sunday, March 14 – Championship (CBS)
Game 15: Winner of Game 13 vs. Winner of Game 14
There's still a month of basketball left, and a lot can change, but if the season ended today, Wisconsin would have to play Ohio State, Illinois, most likely Nebraska, and probably Michigan to win it all. Tough draw all the way through, but that's the nature of the Big Ten.