Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament History and 2009 Preview

We are now firmly in the heart of the conference schedule as the 2008-2009 college basketball season sprints towards the glory of March Madness. Earlier today, we offered up a quick preview of the 2009 NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament, and now we will get a little more granular and preview the 2009 Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament.

I have to admit that doing this preview is a little bittersweet for me as an IU fan. This season’s Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament will most likely mark the first (and hopefully only) time that Indiana comes in as the #11 seed. As IU fans, we all understand that It is the price we have to pay for the era of the lying-cheating-bastard-who-shall-not-be-named, but it does not make it any easier to handle.

Still, there will be a twinge of excitement come March 12th when the Hoosiers tip off against whoever the #5 seed winds up being in this topsy-turvy season of Big Ten basketball. Maybe Devan Dumes and Matt Roth can get hot from the outside and the Hoosiers can pull off an upset. Not likely, I know. Still, the Hoosiers will have a definite home-court advantage playing in front of their fans in Indianapolis, and after last season’s heartbreaking loss to Minnesota on a wild last-second shot, the Big Ten Tournament owes us one.

Anyway, enough pipe-dreaming from me. Onto the particulars of the 2009 Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament:

• Dates: March 12-15
• Location: Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana
• TV: Big Ten Network, ESPN, ESPN2, CBS Sports (see below)
• StubHub Tickets: Buy Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament Tickets
• StubHub Tickets:2009 NCAA Tournament Tickets

And let’s take a quick trip down memory lane and count down the past Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament Champions: 1998 Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament Champion:

• #4 seed Michigan defeated #3 seed Purdue 76-67
• Chicago, IL

1999 Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament Champion:

• #1 seed Michigan State defeated #11 seed Illinois 67-50
• Chicago, IL

2000 Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament Champion:

• #2 seed Michigan State defeated #4 seed Illinois 76-61
• Chicago, IL

2001 Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament Champion:

• #6 seed Iowa defeated #4 seed Indiana 63-61
• Chicago, IL

2002 Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament Champion:

• #2 seed Ohio State defeated #9 seed Iowa 81-64
• Indianapolis, IN

2003 Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament Champion:

• #2 seed Illinois defeated #8 seed Ohio State 72-59
• Chicago, IL

2004 Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament Champion:

• #2 seed Wisconsin defeated #1 seed Illinois 70-53
• Indianapolis, IN

2005 Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament Champion:

• #1 seed Illinois defeated #3 seed Wisconsin 54-43
• Chicago, IL

2006 Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament Champion:

• #2 seed Iowa defeated #1 seed Ohio State 67-60
• Indianapolis, IN

2007 Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament Champion:

• #1 seed Ohio State defeated #2 seed Wisconsin 66-49
• Chicago, IL

2008 Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament Champion:

• #1 seed Wisconsin defeated #10 seed Illinois 61-48
• Indianapolis, IN

2009 Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament Champion:

• #3 seed Purdue defeated #5 seed Ohio State 65-61
• Indianapolis, IN

Who will this year’s Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament? At this point, it looks like a major toss-up. Michigan State, Michigan, Purdue, Illinois, Ohio State, Minnesota, and Penn State have looked capable of winning it at different points this season. And if history is any indicator, a dark horse may emerge once the balls get rolled out on March 12. Four times in the brief ten-year history of the Big Ten Tournament, a team seeded #8 or lower has played in the championship game. The lowest seeded team to ever win the Big Ten tournament, however, is #6 seed Iowa in 2001. So the smart money would go on one of the teams listed above.

Either way, I’m sure it will be an exciting weekend — and the only chance for Indiana to crack this year’s field of 64. No, it isn’t likely. But you better believe Hoosier Nation will be out in droves on March 12th hoping their undermanned Hoosiers can pull off an unlikely first round upset.

Missouri Tigers – Northwestern Wildcats to Meet At The Alamo

First off, I have to say how disappointed I was with the outcome of Mizzou’s Big 12 Championship match-up with Oklahoma. To lose is one thing but to lose that convincingly is another. I mean seriously, OU dominated every facet of the game from the beginning to the end.

There were spells during the game that it felt like Mizzou might actually get something going but then OU would make an adjustment and immediately shut things down. On the flip side I saw nothing that led me to believe Mizzou was trying different schemes or options to try and slow OU down. The most puzzling to me was how far off the line the corners were playing. They were giving OU receivers 5 to 8 yards of cushion the entire game. I mean come on, you’re down 38-7 at the half, what is there to lose by jamming some receivers and getting a little more physical?

Now, I will say that Oklahoma is very impressive; this squad is clicking on all cylinders right now. I keep hearing that Oklahoma will be an underdog to Florida in the Championship game. I don’t see it. Florida is a very good team as well but I honestly don’t see any college team beating the Sooners right now. You can’t tell me that OU’s defense is not good enough to hang with Florida. There’s no doubt Mizzou didn’t do themselves any favors by turning the ball over 3 times, but still, the OU D held the 6th ranked offense in the nation to only 21 points.

I do think this will be a great matchup between the Sooners and Gators but I have to give the edge to Oklahoma.

Meanwhile, Mizzou has accepted an invite to play in the Alamo bowl against Northwestern on Dec. 29th. Two teams with completely different expectations coming into the season, Missouri was a preseason National Championship favorite while Northwestern was just hoping to get into and win a bowl game.

These two teams have not faced each other since 1987 when the Tigers beat the Wildcats in Columbia 28-3. These teams have previously faced off 8 times and are split at 4 wins apiece.

Again, the strength of Mizzou is its explosive offense and its weakness is the 100th ranked defense. Mizzou has losses to three top 25 teams, getting beat by an average of 23 points. Northwestern has losses to two top 25 teams by an average of 26 points. Both teams faced Illinois this year with Mizzou winning by 10 and Northwestern winning by 17.

This should be a good ballgame. Mizzou has several seniors in which this will be their last hoorah, so I am sure they will want to go out on top and give Mizzou their first back to back 10-win seasons in school history.

Northwestern will be playing to reach that 10-win mark as well. Like Mizzou, Northwestern has 23 seniors that will be looking to go out on top. It has been 59 years since Northwestern has won a bowl game.

I have to give the edge to Mizzou on Offense and Northwestern on Defense. Should make for an interesting game. Go Tigers !!

coop92 is a contributing author to Midwest Sports Fans, as well as the editor at Midwest Sports Junkies. Check out his site for additional analysis of the St. Louis Cardinals, the BCS, and Missouri Tigers football.

Big Ten’s Big Matchup: Michigan State at Northwestern

There’s a big one happening north of the Windy City this weekend when the Spartans make the trek to Evanston to match up with the unbeaten Northwestern Wildcats. I’ve been patrolling the message boards, blogs etc. the tension is high. Big-Ten fans seem split, MSU fans contest, “Don’t be fooled, this isn’t a game” with an air of confidence that seems to say, “I’m a little nervous but I got a chip on my shoulder to hold off the cats”. Outsiders see it differently, people want to see David slay Goliath (MSU isn’t really Goliath this year but they are the toughest opponent the Cats have seen to this point) claiming that NW will slow down the Spartans and have an upset on their hands.

Being the ACC man that I am, I ensure that I will maintain a fair and balanced approach to the game (because I don’t believe in the Big-Ten that much. We will discuss that come bowl season.)

… Continue Reading