The parity in college basketball this season could be on display with arguably the most unpredictable Big Ten men's basketball tournament since it began in 1998.
Unpredictable Big Ten basketball tournament will have several legitimate title contenders
A three-way tie for the regular-season title points toward an expected wide-open tournament.
March 11, 2020 at 12:33PM
Picking a favorite this year in Indianapolis is basically a role of the dice once the tournament gets underway Wednesday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Wisconsin, Maryland and Michigan State shared the regular-season championship, the first three-way tie since 2011-12. Their six losses each were the most in league history to finish in first place. There was even a four-way tie for fifth place with nine losses.
"I think it's a wide-open tournament," Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "I think it's a tournament for a lot of people to really help themselves. Hopefully, we can help ourselves."
Having 10 Big Ten teams projected to make the NCAA tournament speaks to the depth of the conference this year. That also means no team is immune to an upset.
Anything can happen in the league tournament, beginning with the opening game Wednesday between the 12th-seeded Gophers and 13th-seeded Northwestern. The lowest seed to win the tournament was No. 8 Michigan trouncing No. 2 Wisconsin 71-56 in 2017. The Badgers are the No. 1 seed, but they could be vulnerable despite an eight-game winning streak.
The Badgers have only lost one game at home this season, but they are only 6-6 on the road, which includes falling 70-52 in their last defeat at Minnesota.
Wisconsin, though, joins Maryland and Iowa as the only three Big Ten teams that haven't lost more than two games in a row in league play. The Terrapins had sole possession of the conference title in their grasp until dropping three of their past five games. They could easily have lost four in a row, but they stole a 74-73 victory from the Gophers on a last-second three-pointer on the road on Feb. 26. Maryland had to beat Michigan 83-70 on Sunday to get a share of the crown.
"This is the best conference that I've coached in top to bottom," Maryland coach Mark Turgeon said. "We had to survive a lot and win some tough games."
The Hawkeyes finished tied for fifth, but they are arguably the most dangerous team outside the tri-champions.
Big Ten Player of the Year Luka Garza gives Iowa an edge against nearly every opponent in the paint. But even Garza's dominance doesn't guarantee a long run this week, Hawkeyes coach Fran McCaffery knows.
"It's a phenomenal conference," McCaffery said. "The quality of teams we have. The quality of players. Just how competitive the games have been bodes well for all of us moving into the conference tournament to be equally exciting."
Center Dawson Garcia played despite a groin injury, and starting guard Mike Mitchell Jr. and four others were absent for the Gophers. Among the results: a 14-point first half.
