The Big Ten Tournament is seen as Purdue and everyone else. Hence, the big question is whether the Boilermakers will exert themselves. Purdue is a near certainty to gain a number one seed for the NCAA Tournament. So head coach Matt Painter is not going to prioritize the Big Ten Tournament. By contrast, the rest of the field is playing to beat the College Basketball lines to either qualify for March Madness or improve seeing position. Namely, Illinois, Northwestern, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Iowa could make noise this week in Minneapolis.
2024 Big Ten Tournament
| Dates: | March 13-17, 2024 |
|---|---|
| Location: | Target Center, Minneapolis, MN |
| Big Ten Tournament TV Coverage: | BTN, Peacock, CBS, Paramount+ |
| Big Ten Tournament odds at SBG: | Click Here |
2024 Big Ten Tournament Team Overviews
Purdue Boilermakers
Purdue has ranked at or near the top of the national rankings all season. Also, C Zach Edey is a probable College Basketball Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. Edey is averaging 24.0 points and 11.8 rebounds per contest. Despite their immense public popularity, Purdue was able to turn an offshore betting profit this year. However, the Boilermakers lost value down the stretch with only three payouts in their final nine games. Out of 360 teams, Purdue ranks 8th for scoring offense and 124th for points allowed.
Illinois Fighting Illini
The second-best in the Big Ten this season was the Illinois Fighting Illini. Most important of all, Illinois was a decent value with the College basketball lines this season. Illinois lost only 11 of 29 games to the spread and went over the total 21 times. Specifically, Illinois has a prolific offense that ranked 7th in the nation. Offsetting that is a weak defense ranked 220th for points allowed. G Terrence Shannon Jr leads the Illini with 22.0 points per game.
Northwestern Wildcats
The Northwestern Wildcats enter the Big Ten Tournament in good form with eight payouts in their last 11 games. Although Northwestern was sneaky good, it had mediocre metrics. The Wildcats ranked 157th for scoring offense and 108th for points allowed. Northwestern had impressive wins over Purdue and Illinois earlier this season. First among Northwestern scorers was G Boo Buie, with 18.9 points per game.
Nebraska Cornhuskers
Nebraska athletic director Trev Alberts was smart to give head coach Fred Hoiberg time when most other programs would have fired him. Cornhuskers covered 19 out of 30 games and scored big wins over Purdue and Wisconsin along the way.
The Huskers showed themselves as a full-court team this year. To show, Nebraska ranked 99th for scoring offense and 99th for points allowed. G Keisei Tominaga leads Nebraska with 14.0 points per game. Nebraska covered five of its last seven games. The Huskers went over the total in 19 of 30 games.
Wisconsin Badgers
Following a hot start, the Badgers cooled off in the meat of the Big Ten schedule. Of great concern is that Wisconsin covered only two of their last 14 games with only six straight-up wins in that span. Wisconsin ranked 155th for scoring offense and 110th for points allowed. UW needs a strong showing at the Big Ten Tournament to ensure they get a Big Dance invite.
Iowa Hawkeyes
Late on, Iowa perked up with only one loss to the oddsmakers in its final five games. Iowa went over the total in 20 of 30 games with 12 payouts. As usual, Iowa ranked an impressive 13th for scoring offense but a dreadful 335th for points allowed. Iowa needs a deep run this week to get its ticket punched.