The 2023-24 Big Ten regular season is finished, which means that it's time for the 2024 Big Ten Tournament. #2 Ohio State clinched the Big Ten regular season championship -- and the 1-seed in the Big Ten Tournament -- earlier this week. #6 Iowa's 93-83 win over Ohio State earlier today allowed the Hawkeyes to lock up the 2-seed in the tournament.
Iowa and #14 Indiana (the 3-seed) split the season series (both teams won at home) and finished with matching 15-3 conference records. The Hawkeyes won the tiebreaker over the Hoosiers because of a superior record against the Big Ten champion Buckeyes; Iowa went 1-1 against OSU this season, while Indiana lost its only game against Ohio State.
As the 2-seed, Iowa gets a double-bye in the tournament and will not play until Friday. The Hawkeyes will face the winner of Thursday's 7-10 game. 7-seed Penn State (18-11 overall, 9-9 Big Ten) will face 10-seed Wisconsin (13-15 overall, 6-12 Big Ten) at 5:30 PM CT on Thursday, March 7.
Iowa will face the winner of PSU-Wisconsin at 5:30 PM CT on Friday, March 8. BTN will televise the game.
Iowa went 3-0 against the Nittany Lions and Badgers this season. Iowa blitzed Penn State 111-93 in the teams' only meeting this season, in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. You might recall that as the game where Hannah Stuelke went supernova and set a new Carver-Hawkeye Arena scoring record (for one week) with 47 points. Stuelke was absolutely electric in the game, finishing 17-of-20 from the field. Caitlin Clark added 27 points and 15 assists, while Kate Martin had 16 points and 16 rebounds.
READ MORE: #2 Iowa 111, Penn State 93: Hannah Stuelke Goes Supernova
Iowa swept the season series against Wisconsin this year and have won 29 games in a row over the Badgers. Wisconsin last beat Iowa in 2007. #4 Iowa blasted Wisconsin 87-65 in the first meeting in Madison, as the Hawkeyes went 6-of-8 from behind the arc in the second half to blow the game open. Clark finished with 28 points, Stuelke added 21, and Sydney Affolter had 7 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 assists off the bench.
READ MORE: #4 Iowa 87, Wisconsin 65: Caitlin Clark is Kohl-Blooded
The second meeting between Iowa and Wisconsin was even more of a rout, with #2 Iowa torching Wisconsin, 96-50. Iowa used a big second quarter to take control of the game, then outscored Wisconsin 50-20 (!) in the second half to turn the game into a blowout. Wisconsin shot just 32% in the game and only 20% from 3-point range. Iowa had 25 assists on 29 made field goals and went 15-of-37 from behind the arc. Clark scored 32, Martin had 16, and Affolter added 12 for the Hawkeyes.
READ MORE: #2 Iowa 96, Wisconsin 50
Iowa is the two-time defending Big Ten Tournament champions and has won three of the past five tournaments. The Hawkeyes have made the Big Ten Tournament final in four of the past five seasons, only missing out in 2020. Iowa split Big Ten Tournament finals with Maryland in 2019 (a win) and 2021 (a loss) and has knocked off Indiana (2022) and Ohio State (2023) over the past two seasons.
Coincidentally (or not), Iowa won the Big Ten Tournament from the 2-seed slot in 2019, 2022, and 2023. To three-peat as champions this season, Iowa will need to beat Penn State or Wisconsin in the quarterfinals, and then beat either Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, or Rutgers in the semifinal. (It would be some upset for either Minnesota or Rutgers to make it past Michigan on Thursday, let alone make it all the way to a semifinal against Iowa on Saturday.)
If the Hawkeyes make it to Sunday, a rubber match with Ohio State could await in the Big Ten Tournament final, barring an upset in the top half of the bracket. The Big Ten Tournament is an environment that the Hawkeyes have absolutely thrived in, especially during the Caitlin Clark era. Iowa has gone 9-1 in the BTT with Clark on the court.
The Hawkeyes have won five Big Ten Tournament championships overall, tied with Ohio State and Maryland for the second-most in the league (behind Purdue's nine tournament titles).
