My Predictions: Big Ten Tournament 2013

Here are my predictions for the Big Ten
Tournament. After watching Cody Zeller
and the Hoosiers persevere through a final
minute deficit against Michigan on Sunday,
I believe they'll win the postseason
tournament as well.

With the Big Ten regular season not disappointing, we'll see how the post season tournament turns out. The tournament will begin today, and will end on Sunday with the championship game. Illinois and Minnesota tipped off today at Noon eastern time, while five-seed Michigan will look to avoid another collapse against twelve-seed Penn State at 2 pm eastern. I'm extremely interested to see where this tournament will take us, with teams like Illinois, Minnesota, and Iowa right on the edge of making the NCAA tournament. With a win or two in the Big Ten tournament, those three teams can earn themselves an at-large bid into the big dance.

Overall, I don't see anybody getting passed Indiana. After seeing what Cody Zeller could do for myself in Ann Arbor on Sunday, it's hard to go against them. I believe Illinois will defeat Minnesota to face Indiana on Friday, Michigan will beat Penn State to face four-seed Wisconsin, Purdue will defeat Nebraska to face Ohio State, and Northwestern will pull off a bit of an upset with a victory over Iowa. From there, I see Indiana certainly advancing over eight-seed Illinois, Michigan beating Wisconsin possibly in overtime, Ohio State winning easily over Purdue, and Michigan State winning extremely easily against the Wildcats of Northwestern.

Moving into the final four teams, Michigan will fall to Indiana as Tom Crean keeps the Hoosiers rolling towards the overall one-seed in the NCAA tournament, and I see Ohio State beating Michigan State in a thriller.

Finally, we're in the championship game on Sunday, which I believe will be between Indiana and Ohio State. The problem for the Buckeyes, is the offensive side of the ball against Indiana. Oladipo can shut anybody down, and DeShaun Thomas has been the only big time threat on offense. Overall, I see Zeller being too much for Amir Williams down low, as Indiana wins 74-70 over Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship.