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Update 3/13/10: This post was originally published on February 28th, 2010. The table below has been updated with all results leading up to Sunday’s title game between #1 Ohio State and #6 Minnesota.
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Prior to the season, the Big Ten was expected to be a Michigan State-Purdue battle for the top, and aside from Ohio State’s stellar play, it has been.
On Feb. 9, the Boilers demolished the Spartans in East Lansing, making the top of the conference a veritable log jam (pardon the cliché). But Feb. 28, while most of the naton focused on a classic gold medal hockey game, Purdue laid (perhaps an expected) egg in a disheartening, sloppy payback loss to “Sparty.”
Earlier in 2010, the Spartans were rolling along undefeated, with a huge conference lead through January, but an injury to a star player (Kalin Lucas) and three early February losses in a row opened the door for defending tourney champ Purdue, as well as the red-hot Buckeyes, Wisconsin, and the erstwhile surprising Illini of Illinois — to join them among the conference’s upper echelon.
Update: Now the question is how will the injury to Robbie Hummel affect the end of the regular season and the Big Ten Tournament?
The Big Ten’s top five teams may be good as any group in the nation, setting up what should be a thrilling 2010 Big Ten Tournament.
Here is the TV schedule and matchups for this year’s Big Ten Tournament, along with links for great deals on Big Ten Tournament tickets.
Big Ten Tournament Tickets and TV Schedule
- StubHub: Big Ten Tournament Tickets – All Session Pass
- StubHub: Individual Big Ten Tournament Tickets
- TicketMaster: Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament Tickets – All Session Pass
- TicketMaster: Individual Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament Tickets
2010 Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament Bracket and TV Schedule
| Game | Date | Matchup | Time | TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thu, March 11 | #8 Michigan 59 def #9 Iowa 52 | 2:30 ET | ESPN2 |
| 2 | Thu, March 11 | #7 Northwestern v #10 Indiana | 5:00 ET | ESPN2 |
| 3 | Thu, March 11 | #6 Minnesota 76 v #11 Penn State 55 | 7:30 ET | Big Ten Network |
| 4 | Fri, March 12 | #1 Ohio State 69 def #8 Michigan 68 (Wow!) | 12:00 ET | ESPN |
| 5 | Fri, March 12 | #5 Illinois 58 def #4 Wisconsin 54 | 2:30 ET | ESPN |
| 6 | Fri, March 12 | #2 Purdue 69 def #7 Northwestern 61 | 6:30 ET | Big Ten Network |
| 7 | Fri, March 12 | #6 Minnesota 72 def #3 Michigan State 67 | 9:00 ET | Big Ten Network |
| 8 | Sat, March 13 | #1 Ohio State 88 def #5 Illinois 81 (2 OT) | 1:40 ET | CBS |
| 9 | Sat, March 13 | #6 Minnesota 69 def #2 Purdue 42 | 4:00 ET | CBS |
| 10 | Sun, March 14 | #1 Ohio State v #6 Minnesota | 3:30 ET | CBS |
Of course Purdue, the defending Big Ten Tournament champion, is now without star forward Robbie Hummel. But don’t forget, the Boilers can still play with anyone. They were undefeated and impressive non-conference, ranked as highly as fourth nationally then, before losing three of their first five Big Ten games.
Prior to Sunday’s setback inside Mackey Arena, the Boilers had rebounded quite nicely over six weeks, winning at Champaign, Bloomington, Columbus, and beating the Badgers in West Lafayette. They capped their run off with the aforementioned win at East Lansing. After beating Penn State Saturday afternoon in State College, Purdue finished tied with MSU and OSU for a share of the regular season conference crown.
The Boilermakers, winners of 10 straight between mid-January and February’s final evening, will happily play in front of partisan crowds with the conference tourney at Conseco Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis, 65 miles from their campus. They would love to return a few weeks later for the Final Four across town at Lucas Oil Stadium.
We’ll find out next month whether or not Purdue can overcome adversity and add their name to the following table one more time. Here is the complete (though brief) history of the Big Ten Tournament: champions, runners-up, and Most Outstanding Players.
Big Ten Tournament History: Past Champions, Runners-Up, MOPs, and Sites
| Year | Big Ten Tournament Champions\ | Big Ten Tournament Runner-Up | Score | Big Ten Tournament MOP | Big Ten Tournament Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Michigan | Purdue | 76-67 | Robert Traylor | United Center - Chicago |
| 1999 | Michigan State | Illinois | 67-50 | Mateen Cleaves | United Center |
| 2000 | Michigan State | Illinois | 76-61 | Morris Peterson | United Center |
| 2001 | Iowa | Indiana | 63-61 | Reggie Evans | United Center |
| 2002 | Ohio State | Iowa | 81-64 | Boban Savovich | Conseco Fieldhouse |
| 2003 | Illinois | Ohio State | 72-59 | Brian Cook | United Center |
| 2004 | Wisconsin | Illinois | 70-53 | Devin Harris | Conseco Fieldhouse |
| 2005 | Illinois | Wisconsin | 54-43 | James Augustine | United Center |
| 2006 | Iowa | Ohio State | 67-60 | Jeff Horner | Conseco Fieldhouse |
| 2007 | Ohio State | Wisconsin | 66-49 | Mike Conley | United Center |
| 2008 | Wisconsin | Illinois | 61-48 | Marcus Landry | Conseco Fieldhouse |
| 2009 | Purdue | Ohio State | 65-61 | Robbie Hummel | Conseco Fieldhouse |
| 2010 | Ohio State | Minnesota | 90-61 | Evan Turner | Conseco Fieldhouse |
| 2011 | Ohio State | Penn State | 71-60 | Jared Sullinger | Conseco Fieldhouse |
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* – Matt Painter photo credit: Darron Cummings / Associated Press via CourierPress.com
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