The Big Ten has featured some exciting basketball this year with some major surprises to pair with it. 2019 is coming to a close, but the conference tournament is seeded out and ready to deliver some shocking basketball. Purdue, Michigan State, and Michigan will look to solidify their seeding and win a championship. The Wolverines are hoping to win their third straight Big Ten Conference Tournament Championship. Wisconsin and Maryland will be looking to play spoiler to those top three seeds.
Let’s take a look at the Tournament bracket and breakdown some potential matchups and key players to watch.
The 2019 Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament bracket. #B1GTourney pic.twitter.com/jIWfLEoU9k
— Big Ten Men's Hoops (@B1GMBBall) March 10, 2019
Indiana and Ohio State are fighting for their NCAA Tournament lives and the winner of that matchup may find themselves in while the loser goes home dejected. Michigan State and Cassius Winston should prove too much for either team in the next round. Maryland should advance easily to play Wisconsin and despite their youth, they can defeat the Badgers to move on to the Semifinals. Purdue will likely play Minnesota and win that game behind an impressive showing from Carsen Edwards. Iowa has struggled late in the season and will struggle to match the Michigan Wolverines this year.
Michigan State and Maryland could be a thrilling game and it will be interesting to see if the Spartans can continue their hot run despite the missing players. The game will come down to Bruno Fernando and his improved play late in the year. The Maryland Terrapins are young, but they can easily continue their dark horse run this year. Tom Izzo will fall short of his goal of a Big Ten Championship.
Purdue and Michigan will be hard fought and could be an instant classic much like the other semifinal game. The rematch of last years Championship game. The Boilermakers have had an amazing season when many thought they would struggle to win games. The Wolverines should prove to be too much for Purdue at the end of the game. Michigan will be advancing to the final to try and win their third straight Big Ten Conference Tournament.
Championship Prediction
The Maryland Terrapins were beaten by the Wolverines both times in the regular season. The team is young and has never played a game of this magnitude. The Wolverines have history working against them this year. A team has not won the Big Ten Championship three times in a row in the modern era. Beating a team three times in a season is extremely difficult to do.
Bruno Fernando and Anthony Cowan will need to play the best games of their careers, but they can. Mark Turgeon is capable of pulling the best out of his crew when they need it most. The dark horse champions would be a Big Ten story for the ages. This would be the Terrapins first Big Ten Championship.
Big Ten Tournament MVP Prediction
The Maryland Terrapins have relied on big man Bruno Fernando all season and will need him to dominate in the Championship. Fernando is amazing at scoring and rebounding for Maryland, but the real story is his improved passing. The tall forward will need to keep up his developed passing ability for the Terrapins to win. The Big Ten is unpredictable and anyone could win. Michigan ran the table two years ago as a dark horse, and now it is Maryland’s turn.
