Rosemont, Ill. – Indiana, Michigan State, Maryland and Purdue are the top four seeds in the 2016 Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament, the conference office announced on Sunday night. The 19th annual event will be contested from March 9-13 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
After winning the outright Big Ten Championship for the second time in four years with a 15-3 conference record, Indiana is the tournament’s top seed and will open play at Noon ET on Friday. Second-seeded Michigan State completed the season with a 13-5 conference record. The Spartans will open play in the quarterfinals at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.
Iowa, Maryland, Purdue and Wisconsin finished the year with matching 12-6 conference marks. Based on conference tiebreaking procedures, the Terrapins are the No. 3 seed and the Boilermakers claimed the fourth seed, as both teams earned a double-bye. On Friday, Maryland will open play at approximately 9 p.m., while Purdue will get underway at approximately 2:30 p.m.
Iowa earned the No. 5 seed and will begin play in Thursday’s second round at approximately 2:30 p.m. Wisconsin is the sixth seed and will take the court at approximately 9 p.m. on Thursday.
Ohio State finished the conference season with an 11-7 record to earn the No. 7 seed. The Buckeyes will take on 10th-seeded Penn State at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. Michigan finished with a 10-8 conference record and claimed the eighth seed. The Wolverines will oppose No. 9 Northwestern at Noon on Thursday.
The first round of the 2016 event begins at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday when No. 12 Illinois faces No. 13 Minnesota, followed by No. 11 Nebraska against No. 14 Rutgers at 7 p.m.
Big Ten Tournament semifinal games will be played on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. ET. The championship game tips off at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday. Every Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament game will be nationally televised with coverage from CBS Sports, ESPN or ESPN2 and BTN. Since the event’s inception in 1998, every tournament contest has been televised.
Six different programs have won the Big Ten Tournament. Ohio State and Michigan State have each claimed four official titles. Defending tournament champion Wisconsin has won the event three times, Illinois and Iowa have won two titles, and Purdue has won the tournament once.
