Favorites Michigan And Illinois Lead Deep Big Ten Conference Basketball Tournament

The Big Ten Conference Basketball Tournament has tipped off at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Penn State rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit to beat bottom seed Nebraska, and Minnesota advanced over Northwestern to leave 12 teams remaining. Michigan and Illinois are the favorites, and also projected as No. 1 seeds for next week’s NCAA Tournament that is also held at select locations in Indiana with the Elite Eight and Final Four at Lucas Oil Stadium.

I chipped in some coverage at Forbes for the Big Ten Conference Basketball Tournament, and have noted the pre-tournament odds below. Also included is some insight on some of the top teams and players, stats and picks to win the tournament.

We’ll chip-in some picks along the way, including one for Thursday, March 11 below. Follow via Twitter with anything of interest in the college conference tournaments (CCT’s), including the Big Ten.

Big Ten Basketball Conference Tournament Odds 2021

Seed	Team	Odds
1	Michigan	+160
2	Illinois	+350
3	Iowa	+420
5	Ohio State	+500
4	Purdue	+950
6	Wisconsin	+1500
9	Michigan State	+3200
8	Maryland	+4000
7	Rutgers	+4200
10	Indiana	+5500
11	Penn State	+6500
13	Minnesota	+7500
12	Northwestern	+15000
14	Nebraska	+20000

Big Ten Tournament Picks and Bracket

Thurs., March 11

Minnesota (+11) vs Ohio State

The Buckeyes are on a 0-4 SU/ATS run entering the Big Ten Tournament. This is the largest point spread in any of their conference games since they beat bottom-feeder Nebraska at home in December.

The Big Ten was the top-ranked conference in college basketball this season, according to KenPom. Next was the Big 12, which I also previewed at Forbes. The Big Ten looks like it will have 9 teams in the NCAA Tournament.

The conference stats leaders lead the Big Ten’s top defensive teams in the quarterfinals which begins Thursday. Michigan, Illinois, Iowa and Purdue all allowed 41.2% or less field goal shooting by opponents this season.

Check out additional tournament coverage, stats, odds and information you can bet on in my update at FanDuel.

The Picks: Illinois and Iowa, and printable bracket. Semi-sleeper: Purdue, who closed the season on a 5-0 SU/ATS run.

You can watch the action on The Big Ten Network Thursday and Friday, with Saturday’s semifinals and Sunday’s championship game on CBS at 3:30 p.m. ET. That game will be followed immediately by the NCAA March Madness Selection Show on CBS at 6:00 p.m. ET, where Illinois and Michigan are expected to be No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament.

You can bet on it.