Iowa a 5-Seed in 2023 Big Ten MBB Tournament Bracket
The 2022-23 Big Ten men's basketball regular season wrapped up on Sunday, leaving just one final event before the 2023 NCAA Tournament: the 2023 Big Ten Tournament.
This year's Big Ten Tournament is being held in Chicago, IL; the United Center (home of the NBA's Chicago Bulls, the WNBA's Chicago Sky, and the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks) will be the site of all tournament games. The tournament is scheduled to take place from Wednesday, March 8 to Sunday, March 12.
A full bracket for the tournament has been released by the Big Ten:
As a result of Iowa's disappointing home loss to Nebraska and Northwestern's road win over Rutgers, Iowa earned the #5 seed in the Big Ten Tournament and will play on Thursday. Iowa is scheduled to play the winner of Wednesday's Wisconsin (#12 seed) versus Ohio State (#13 seed) game on Thursday, March 9 at approximately 1:30 PM CT (30 minutes after the conclusion of the Rutgers-Michigan game). BTN will broadcast the game.
The other teams in Iowa's half of the bracket are Purdue (#1 seed), Michigan State (#4 seed), Michigan (#8 seed), and Rutgers (#9 seed). If Iowa beats Wisconsin/Ohio State on Thursday, the Hawkeyes will play Michigan State in the quarterfinals on Friday at approximately 1:30 PM CT. BTN will also broadcast that game.
The Hawkeyes went just 1-3 against the Buckeyes and Badgers during the regular season. Wisconsin beat Iowa in overtime in Iowa City back in December and also in Madison a few weeks ago in one of Iowa's worst offensive performances of the season. Iowa split two games with Ohio State, losing 93-77 in Columbus, but torching the Buckeyes 92-75 in Iowa City last month.
Iowa's quarterfinal opponent would be Michigan State; Iowa also split two games against the Spartans during the regular season. The Hawkeyes lost 63-61 in East Lansing, then prevailed 112-106 in OT just a week ago in Iowa City in one of the wildest games of the season. A rubber match with the Spartans could be another thriller.
One silver lining to the 5-seed? Iowa was the 5-seed last year... and won four games in four days and became 2022 Big Ten Tournament champions. Time to see if history can repeat itself.
Full details on the 2023 Big Ten Tournament (including ticketing info) is available here.