Big Ten Basketball: Predicting the 2018 Conference Tournament

With the Big Ten Tournament starting today, all eyes turn to New York City. Ohio State, Michigan State, and Purdue are favorites to win the tournament.

With the great Big Ten regular season, all done, as fans now we look to see the Big Ten Tournament starting later today. With Michigan State winning the Big Ten Regular Season, they get the first overall seed. Will the Michigan State Spartans roll through the conference tournament like they did the regular season, or will someone else rise up like the Michigan Wolverines did to win it last season?

Here are my game-by-game predictions for the 2018 Big Ten Tournament.

Game 1: Illinois vs. Iowa

Iowa and Illinois only played once during the regular season and two of the worst teams in the Big Ten proved to be a good fit for each other. The game went into overtime where Iowa came out on top. Trent Frazier for Illinois finished with 27 points, while Jordan Bohannon went for a game-high 29 points in a thrilling 104-97 victory for Iowa. In a rematch, I would expect close to the same turnout. Iowa winning the game because of there consistent offense and good free throw shooting. Playing Michigan on Thursday, don’t expect Iowa to go much longer than this.

Prediction: Iowa 78-75

Game 2: Minnesota vs. Rutgers

In the only time Minnesota and Rutgers met in the regular season Minnesota prevailed by a heavy margin. On a game in early December, it showed Nate Mason getting a game-high 26 points and getting help from teammate Jordan Murphy getting 18 points. While Rutgers struggled shooting from the field at 32%. I would expect Rutgers’ shooting to improve ten or more percentage points but still not being enough to prevail against the senior point guard of Nate Mason for the Golden Gophers. Minnesota will have to play Indiana on Thursday, which will be a good test for both teams.

Prediction: Minnesota 77-63