Get ready for an exciting showdown as the Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament is set to begin! 15 teams are gearing up to battle it out in Indianapolis for an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. But before the games begin, let's take a closer look at the bracket and see how the teams stacked up during the regular season. The Iowa Hawkeyes, champions in three of the last four years, are the 2 seed, while the reigning champion UCLA Bruins earned the top seed after going undefeated in Big Ten play.
Here's a breakdown of the matchups and the last meetings between the teams:
Wednesday, March 4th
- #13 Indiana Hoosiers (17-13, 6-12) vs #12 Nebraska Cornhuskers (18-11, 7-11): Nebraska won the last meeting 78-73 in Lincoln on Jan 8.
- #15 Wisconsin Badgers (13-16, 5-13) vs #10 Illinois Fighting Illini (19-10, 9-9): Illinois won the last meeting 92-60 in Champaign on Feb 11.
- #14 Purdue Boilermakers (13-16, 5-13) vs #11 Oregon Ducks (20-11, 8-10): Oregon won the last meeting 71-65 in West Lafayette on Feb 25.
Thursday, March 5th
- #9 USC Trojans (17-12, 9-9) vs #8 Washington Huskies (20-9, 10-8): USC won the last meeting 59-50 in Los Angeles on Dec 7.
- #5 Ohio State Buckeyes (24-6, 13-5) vs #12 Nebraska/#13 Indiana: Ohio State defeated Nebraska 90-71 in Columbus on Feb 1 and Indiana 81-67 in Columbus on Jan 22.
- #7 Michigan State Spartans (22-7, 11-7) vs #15 Wisconsin/#10 Illinois: Michigan State lost to Wisconsin 78-64 in Madison on Dec 7 but defeated Illinois 81-75 in East Lansing on Jan 4.
- #6 Maryland Terrapins (23-7, 11-7) vs #14 Purdue/#11 Oregon: Maryland defeated Purdue 99-66 in College Park on Feb 22 but lost to Oregon 68-61 in College Park on Jan 31.
Friday, March 6th
- #1 UCLA Bruins (28-1, 18-0) vs #9 USC/#8 Washington: UCLA swept USC in their two-game season series (80-46 at UCLA, 73-50 at USC) and defeated Washington 82-67 in Los Angeles on Feb 19.
- #4 Minnesota Golden Gophers (22-7, 13-5) vs #5 Ohio State/#12 Nebraska/#13 Indiana: Minnesota won all three games against those opponents, with an average margin of victory of 17.7 points. They defeated Ohio State 74-61 in Minneapolis, Nebraska 84-67 in Minneapolis, and Indiana 71-48 in Bloomington.
- #2 Iowa Hawkeyes (24-5, 15-3) vs #7 Michigan State/#10 Illinois/#15 Wisconsin: Iowa won all three games against those opponents, with an average margin of victory of 13.3 points. They defeated Michigan State 75-68 in Iowa City, Illinois 82-78 in Iowa City, and Wisconsin 81-52 in Madison.
- #3 Michigan Wolverines (24-5, 15-3) vs #6 Maryland/#11 Oregon/#14 Purdue: Michigan won all three games against those opponents, with an average margin of victory of 23.7 points. They defeated Maryland 87-69 in Ann Arbor, Oregon 92-87 in 2OT in Eugene, and Purdue 104-56 in Ann Arbor.
So who will come out on top and earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament? Stay tuned to find out! And don't forget to share your thoughts in the comments below. What do you think are the biggest upsets in the bracket? And which team do you think will surprise everyone and make a deep run in the tournament?
