Evan Turner

Without any further ado, I will supply my picks for this weekend’s Big Ten tournament, set for Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. (Click here for our preview of the tournament.)

Thursday’s Opening Round

* Michigan (8th seed; 14-16, 7-11) vs. Iowa (9th seed; 10-21, 4-14), 2:30 p.m. (ESPN2) – This is a battle of two teams that basically laid down on Sunday. In fact, it’s hard to figure which one laid down more. Michigan in its 64-48 loss at Michigan State or Iowa in its 88-53 loss at Minnesota. These teams are the opposite of hot. Iowa has lost five of its last six and UM has lost four of its last five. Michigan swept the season series against Iowa. Michigan 54-49 and it will be bowling shoe ugly

* Northwestern (7th seed; 19-12, 7-11) vs. Indiana (10th seed; 10-20, 4-14), 5 p.m. (ESPN2) – This is a rematch from last Saturday’s regular season finale, which IU somehow won 88-80 in overtime. That snapped an 11-game losing streak for the Hoosiers. NU won the first meeting 78-61 at Evanston. Tom Crean would love nothing more than to extend the season one more day. What the heck. I’ll bite. Indiana 77-71

* Minnesota (6th seed; 18-12, 9-9) vs. Penn State (11th seed; 11-19, 3-15), 7:30 p.m. (Big Ten Network) – Penn State may be the hottest last-place team in any major conference. The Lions went 3-3 down the stretch. In the final week, they had single-digit losses to co-champions Michigan State and Purdue. Minnesota needs a deep run to attract some attention from the NCAA Tournament committee. This ought to be a good one. Minnesota swept the season series, winning 75-70 at home and 66-64 at State College.  A Talor Battle three goes begging at the buzzer. Minnesota 68-65

Friday’s Quarterfinals

* Ohio State (1st seed; 24-7, 14-4) vs. Michigan (8^th seed), noon (ESPN) – Ohio State should be tanned, rested and ready after a 10-day break since its regular season finale against Illinois. The teams split their season series. UM won 73-64 on Jan. 3 in Ann Arbor in a game OSU’s Evan Turner missed with his back injury. In the rematch at Columbus, OSU trailed at halftime but went on for a 66-55 win on Feb. 27. The Buckeyes contain Manny Harris and DeShawn Sims and pull away late. But will the margin be enough for Thad Matta to use some of his bench? Ohio State 73-64

* Wisconsin (4th seed; 23-7, 13-5) vs. Illinois (5th seed; 18-13, 10-8), 2:30 p.m. (ESPN) – The Badgers have Jon Leuer back to full strength and they served notice by winning five of their last six, including Sunday’s 72-57 rout at Illinois. The Illini did win at Wisconsin on Feb. 9 (63-56), but they are in disarray heading into the tournament. Illinois is on the bubble and needs a win or two to get in the discussion for an NCAA bid. Can Bruce Weber and Demetri McCamey repair their rift for the common good? Wisconsin 71-63

* Purdue (2nd seed; 26-4, 14-4) vs. Indiana (10^th seed), 6:30 p.m. (Big Ten Network) – The Boilers are still getting their bearings playing without Robbie Hummel. Purdue swept the season series with rival IU, winning 78-75 at Bloomington and 74-55 last week at West Lafayette. Purdue 74-64

* Michigan State (3rd seed; 24-7, 14-4) vs. Minnesota (6^th seed), 9 p.m. (Big Ten Network) – This is where things could get real interesting. Minnesota should have beaten Michigan State in Minneapolis before falling apart in a 65-64 loss. MSU also downed the Gophers 60-53 in East Lansing. MSU finished with five wins in its last six games, but none of them were all that impressive. (OK, the one Sunday over Michigan was, but it was Michigan.) Minnesota has been up and down and you never know what team you’re going to see. MSU will be without guard Chris Allen, who has been suspended indefinitely. Michigan State 69-63, but a Minnesota upset would not surprise me, either

Saturday’s Semifinals

* Ohio State (1^st seed) vs. Wisconsin (4^th seed), 1:40 p.m. (CBS) – Turner missed OSU’s 65-43 loss at Madison on Dec. 31. Leuer was absent in UW’s 60-51 loss at Columbus on Jan. 16. These two teams have built a great rivalry the last few years. OSU may need a big day out of Jon Diebler here to shoot over the UW defense. Then again, Ohio State has lost one game to a Big Ten team since Jan. 9. Ohio State 68-64

* Purdue (2^nd seed) vs. Michigan State (3rd seed), 4:05 p.m. (CBS) – We just saw this game on Feb. 28 and MSU dealt Purdue a 53-44 defeat at West Lafayette. Hummel did not play in that game, obviously. He was on hand Feb. 9 when Purdue took a 76-64 win at MSU. Purdue has the players to pull this off and, as noted, MSU has been a bit skittish down the stretch. Just sit back and enjoy this one. These teams compete with the best of them. Michigan State 65-63

Sunday’s Championship Game

* Ohio State (1^st seed) vs. Michigan State (3rd seed), 3:30 p.m. (CBS) – OSU won the only match-up between the schools with its 74-67 win on Feb. 21 at East Lansing. That was quite a roller coaster of a game as the Buckeyes took a huge lead, MSU battled all the way back and Turner and Diebler put it away at the end. Each program has two Big Ten tournament titles (OK, one of OSU’s was vacated) and if this is the final the winner would have three. An NCAA two seed and opening round placement in Milwaukee could also be at stake.

Can OSU’s six-man rotation make it through three games in three days? OSU had the fewest bench minutes of any Division I team during the regular season. But this is essentially the same OSU team that advanced to the Big Ten title game a year ago. Plus, Ohio State’s length locked up MSU’s perimeter game in East Lansing, and that has not changed. Ohio State 79-74