Predicting the Big Ten Tournament results for Wisconsin basketball

The Wisconsin Badgers' next big challenge will be the Big Ten Tournament, and they have a lot to prove after falling on their face in the final game of the season. The Badgers will look to put together at least a couple of wins in the Big Ten Tournament to get ready for the NCAA tournament and hopefully increase their stock for selection Sunday.

Wisconsin's first game in the Big Ten Tournament is against the winner of the No. 12 Minnesota Golden Gophers and the No. 13 Northwestern Wildcats. That game is on Thursday, March 13th, and will take place around 1:30 p.m. CT. If Wisconsin wins that game, they will play a very rested UCLA Bruins team that got the fourth seed and a double-bye.

The Big Ten Tournament Bracket

First Round Predictions

The first round is interesting for the Big Ten as Rutgers and USC are both streaky teams, and either of them could pull off a win. The matchup between Ohio State and Iowa may be the easiest to predict as Iowa is not good and barely made the tournament. Ohio State has some huge wins on its resume but also some baffling losses. The Buckeyes should be able to handle the Hawkeyes.

Northwestern and Minnesota both entered the tournament with two final losses to end the season. Neither team looks all that impressive. However, Minnesota is more healthy right now, and that should matter.

Rutgers defeats USC 83-76
Ohio State defeats Iowa 78-69
Minnesota defeats Northwestern 71-65

Second Round Predictions

In the second round, we start to see more of the top-end of the Big Ten, and yet the upset I think could happen here is Ohio State being Illinois. I'm not sure why; I just feel like they could pull it off. I also wouldn't be surprised to see Rutgers beat Purdue, but I won't go that far in the predictions.

Purdue defeats Rutgers 84-75
Ohio State defeats Illinois 79-78
Wisconsin defeats Minnesota 87-74
Oregon defeats Indiana 89-85

Third Round Predictions

This is when the Big Ten tournament gets interesting as the teams start to be really close. I don't love Michigan's chances against Purdue. The Wolverines have had a lot of lucky games this year and it may be time that it catches up to them.

Purdue defeats Michigan 77-74
Maryland defeats Ohio State 85-71
Wisconsin defeats UCLA 85-81
Michigan State defeats Oregon 72-62

Fourth Round Predictions

It's the final four of the tournament, if you will, and it becomes anyone's game. These were the four best teams in the Big Ten, no matter how the standings fell out: Michigan State, Wisconsin, Maryland, and Purdue. It's anyone's tournament to win or lose.

Maryland defeats Purdue 81-79
Michigan State defeats Wisconsin 72-71

Big Ten Championship Prediction

Finally, the championship comes down to Maryland and Michigan State. I'm going to go with the upset here. It'll be a bit of a rock fight if I had to guess.

Maryland defeats Michigan State 68-65