Big Ten Tourney Picks!

With the Big Ten Tournament set to begin downtown this afternoon, here are my picks:

First Round
#11 Penn State over #6 Minnesota
#7 Northwestern over #10 Indiana
#8 Michigan over #9 Iowa

As much as I would love to pick Indiana to beat Northwestern back-to-back games, I just don't see how it happens. The Hoosiers played one of their best offensive games (43% shooting, 10-23 3-PT, 26-32 FT) of the season last Saturday against the Wildcats, and still needed overtime to survive John Shurna & Co. Meanwhile, Penn State has split their last six meetings, and three losses have only come by 8, 2, and 4 points to the three top teams in the conference (Ohio St., Michigan St. Purdue). I think they'll sneak up on Minnesota.

Quarterfinals
#4 Wisconsin over #5 Illinois
#3 Michigan State over #11 Penn State
#2 Purdue over #7 Northwestern
#1 Ohio State over #8 Michigan

Illinois is the only team that hasn't locked up an NCAA bid with legitimate at-large hopes going into this week. Even though they have played well in the Big Ten Tournament, it's hard to see them bouncing back from a lifeless performance in Sunday's 15-point home loss to the same Wisconsin team that they'll face on Friday. The Spartans survive a scare from the Nittany Lions like they did last week, Purdue does enough to get by Northwestern, and Ohio State flexes their muscle against the overmatched Wolverines.

Semifinals
#3 Michigan State over #2 Purdue
#1 Ohio State over #4 Wisconsin

It would be a great story if the Boilers rallied around each other and put together a run, but this is a team that has yet to prove they can beat quality opponents without Robbie Hummel. They had a forgettable effort in a home loss to Michigan State, beat a bad IU team, and barely scraped by last-place Penn State. Wisconsin is scrappy, and I actually think the winner of this game will win the Tournament, but the Buckeyes are rolling right now.

Championship
#1 Ohio State over #3 Michigan State

Ohio State's depth issues will prevent them from making a serious National Championship run, but they're good enough to get by a maddeningly inconsistent Spartans squad. Just to add to the chalkiness of my bracket, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Evan Turner earns MOP honors. I'm feeling risky today.