The Big Ten Basketball tournament will get underway this Wednesday, February, 28 from New York City as the tourney will tip off for the first time ever in the Big Apple. This year’s tournament should be one of the most exciting in recent history, as the top seven teams in the Big Ten conference final regular season standings all have a legitimate shot at making the NCAA Tournament this March.

Spartans No. 1

The Michigan State Spartans are the No.

2 team in the country and are the team to beat in the 2018 Big Ten Tournament. The Spartans are the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament and are the favorite to bring home the tourney trophy this upcoming weekend - but it won't be easy!

Conference tournaments are always hard to judge, and with the Big Ten so stacked this season with talent, this certainly isn't a gimme for MSU, however, coach Tom Izzo knows how to get things done. The Spartans have won this tournament three of the last six years and they are heading into this tourney on a roll.

Michigan State is riding a 12-game winning streak and hasn't lost since January 13.

Early Matchups

The first two games of the Big Ten Tournament will take place on Wednesday, February 28.

Game 1 is set to tip at 5:30 p.m. ET and will feature No. 13 Illinois taking on No. 12 Iowa. The nightcap will feature No. 14 Rutgers squaring off against No. 11 Minnesota.

Thursday’s schedule looks this way. No. 9 Wisconsin will faceoff against No. 8 Maryland at 12:00 p.m. ET. The next game will feature No. 5 Michigan taking on the winner of the Illini/Iowa matchup at 2:30 p.m.

ET. The fourth and final game of the round two schedule will feature the Indiana Hoosiers battling the Rutgers/Minnesota winner.

The Spartans, along with the Ohio State Buckeyes, Purdue Boilermakers and Nebraska Cornhuskers have all earned a double-bye in the tournament and won’t play until Friday afternoon.

Odds, TV info

While the Spartans have been tabbed as the team to beat in the Big Ten tourney, the Buckeyes, Boilermakers, and Cornhuskers are not far behind.

And let's not forget last year's defending champion Michigan Wolverines as well. Big Ten fans can catch every game nationally on the Big Ten Network and streaming live online by downloading the Big Ten 2 Go app.

BTN (The Big Ten Network) will broadcast every game on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, with CBS taking over to televise the semifinals on Saturday and championship game on Sunday. Below is a look at the current odds to win the 2018 Big Ten Tournament. To print off your own copy of the Big Ten bracket, be sure to click the tweet posted above.

Odds to win Big Ten Tournament:

  • Michigan State -140
  • Purdue +120
  • Ohio State +140
  • Nebraska +165
  • Michigan +220
  • Indiana +300
  • Penn State +350
  • Maryland +400
  • Wisconsin +400
  • Field +550
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