2009 Big Ten Tournament Preview, Schedule and Team Rundown

The Big-10 Men's Basketball Tournament begins on Thursday, March 12, at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. The tournament features all eleven Big Ten teams as they duke it out to win the Big Ten Tournament championship.

The Favorites

Leading the pack are the Michigan State Spartans, Illinois Fighting Illini, and the Purdue Boilermakers. All three of these teams had spectacular regular seasons.

The Spartans are coached by one of the Big Ten's most experienced and well-respected coaches in Tom Izzo. In addition, they have two of the Big Ten's best players in Kalin Lucas and Goran Suton. They are the top seed in this tournament, and have to be considered the odds-on favorite to win the tournament after a spectacular regular season.

Illinois and Purdue can both be major contenders in this tournament. Illinois has four players averaging 9.9 points per game or better. Mike Davis is one of the Big Ten's best rebounders, averaging 7.9 rebounds per game.

The Purdue Boilermakers are led by star forward Robbie Hummel, but also have two very good players supporting him in JaJuan Johnson and E'Tawun Moore. With two strong forwards and a standout guard, look for the Boilers to be a real threat to win the Big Ten Tournament.

The Contenders

The Big Ten has a slew of bubble teams this year and an incredibly strong mid-pack. The Wisconsin Badgers and Ohio State Buckeyes are the fourth and fifth seeds in the tournament, and both should have their tickets punched to the NCAA tournament. However, the Penn State Nittany Lions, Michigan Wolverines, and Minnesota Golden Gophers all find themselves either on the bubble or very close to it.

The intriguing matchup from the second round (quarterfinals round) is the matchup between the Badgers and Buckeyes. With Wisconsin's depth, look for them to overtake Evan Turner and the Buckeyes in that game.

Out of the three bubble teams, I like the Golden Gophers and the Wolverines the best. Minnesota guard Lawrence Westbrook will be relied upon to carry the Gophers, who defeated the Wisconsin Badgers in their second-to-last regular season game.

The Michigan Wolverines are led by two experienced players in forward DeShawn Sims and guard Manny Harris. The combination of Sims and Harris should elevate the Wolverines in this tournament, and make them a darkhorse to potentially win it all.

Penn State barely got past Indiana at the end of February, and lost to the Iowa Hawkeyes to close out the regular season.

The Bottom-Feeders

The Northwestern Wildcats, Iowa Hawkeyes, and Indiana Hoosiers are the Big Ten's bottom feeders, and there doesn't seem to be an awful lot of upside in this group.

The Wildcats are firmly outside the bubble, but they could upset Minnesota in the first game. Led by forward Kevin Coble and guard Craig Moore, they have experienced scoring who will give Minnesota fits.

I don't believe that the Hawkeyes or the Hoosiers will get out of the first round. Watch out for Iowa star Jake Kelly, as he can easily become a scoring machine.

Here is the official schedule of the tournament.

Big Ten Tournament Schedule

First Round
Thursday, March 12
Game 1: No. 8 Minnesota vs. No. 9 Northwestern, noon
Game 2: No. 7 Michigan vs. No. 10 Iowa, 2:30 p.m.
Game 3: No. 6 Penn State vs. No. 11 Indiana, 5 p.m.

Second Round (Quarterfinal Round)
Friday, March 13
Game 4: No. 1 Michigan State vs. Game 1 winner, noon
Game 5: No. 4 Wisconsin vs. No. 5 Ohio State, 2:30 p.m.
Game 6: No. 2 Illinois vs. Game 2 winner, 6:30 p.m.
Game 7: No. 3 Purdue vs. Game 3 winner, 9 p.m.

Third Round (Semifinal Round)
Saturday, March 14
Game 8: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 1:40 p.m.
Game 9: Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 winner, 4:05 p.m.

Fourth Round (Championship Round)
Sunday, March 15
Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner, 3:30 p.m.

Source: http://bigten.cstv.com/