Big Ten Tournament Bracket: When MSU, Michigan Will Play

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Photo credit © Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports
97.1 The Ticket -- With its 75-63 win over rival Michigan Saturday night, Michigan State earned a share of the Big Ten regular season title and the No. 1-seed for the Big Ten Tournament in Chicago.

The Spartans (25-6, 16-4 Big Ten) and Wolverines (26-5, 15-5) both earned double-byes for the tournament, which will tip off at the United Center Wednesday night. Purdue shared the regular season title with Michigan State, but the Spartans earned the top seed because they had a better record against Michigan than the Boilermakers (23-8, 16-4). Wisconsin earned the final double-bye, by knocking off Ohio State in overtime on Sunday.

The Spartans will take on the winner of the 8/9 matchup between Indiana and Ohio State, with the first quarterfinal of the day Friday set for 12:30 p.m. ET. MSU swept the Buckeyes, but lost both games against the Hoosiers.

Michigan will play the final quarterfinal of the day against either No. 6-seed Iowa, No. 11 Illinois or No. 14 Northwestern. That game will tip around 9:30 p.m. The Wolverines went 4-1 against those teams this season, with the lone loss coming at Iowa.

The 2019 Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament bracket. #B1GTourney pic.twitter.com/jIWfLEoU9k

— Big Ten Men's Hoops (@B1GMBBall) March 10, 2019

Should Michigan State win its opening game, the Spartans would play in the first semifinal on Saturday at 1 p.m., while Michigan would follow, should it win on Friday.

That leaves the possibility for another Michigan-Michigan State rematch in the championship, which would be at 3:30 p.m. on Selection Sunday.

The Spartans head into Chicago with a slim chance at earning a No. 1-seed in the NCAA tournament, should they win the Big Ten tourney title; they would need a little help from other non-Big Ten teams, namely North Carolina, Duke, Kentucky and Tennessee. With a strong showing, Michigan could secure a spot on the 2-line for the Big Dance.