The Big Ten is getting together for its annual conference tournament at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis this week. Action tipped off Wednesday afternoon, and Sunday’s championship game airs on CBS. UCLA was the outright champion of the conference regular season title after completing the first perfect Big Ten season in more than a decade. The Bruins are the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament and have likely already locked in a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
UCLA and the other top-four seeds got double byes and to the quarterfinals. UCLA cruised to a win over No. 8 Washington on Friday afternoon, and will now face No. 5 Ohio State in the semifinals after Ohio State beat No. 4 Minnesota. That win will go a long way towards helping the Buckeyes lock up a top-four seed in the NCAA tournament. Minnesota, a team that hasn’t been to the NCAA tournament since 2018 and hasn’t hosted NCAA tournament games since 2005, was one of the biggest surprises in the Big Ten this season. However, the loss to Ohio State puts their hosting chances in jeopardy. Iowa and Michigan will make their tournament debuts on Friday evening.
Iowa is the No. 2 seed for the Big Ten Tournament as Jan Jensen continues to succeed in the post-Lisa Bluder and post-Caitlin Clark era. Earlier this season, the Hawkeyes got three consecutive wins against top-15 opponents for the first time in program history.
Women’s basketball Big Ten Tournament bracket
Women’s basketball Big Ten Tournament schedule
All times Eastern
Wednesday, March 4 — First Round
- Game 1: No. 13 Indiana 72, No. 12 Nebraska 69
- Game 2: No. 10 Illinois 82, No. 15 Wisconsin 70
- Game 3: No. 11 Oregon 82, No. 14 Purdue 64
Thursday, March 5 — Second Round
- Game 4: No. 8 Washington 76, No. 9 USC 64
- Game 5: No. 5 Ohio State 83, No. 13 Indiana 59
- Game 6: No. 10 Illinois 71, No. 7 Michigan State 69
- Game 7: No. 11 Oregon 73, No. 6 Maryland 68
Friday, March 6 — Quarterfinals
- Game 8: No. 1 UCLA 78, No. 8 Washington 60
- Game 9: No. 5 Ohio State 60, No. 4 Minnesota 55
- Game 10: No. 10 Illinois vs. No. 2 Iowa– 6:30 p.m. (BTN)
- Game 11: No. 11 Oregon vs. No. 3 Michigan — 25 min. after Game 10 (BTN)
Saturday, March 7 – Semifinals
- Game 12: No. 1 UCLA vs. No. 5 Ohio State — 2 p.m. (BTN)
- Game 13: Game 10 winner vs. Game 11 winner — 4:30 p.m. (BTN)
Sunday, March 8 — Championship
Title game: Game 12 winner vs. Game 13 winner — 2:15 p.m. (CBS)
Big Ten Tournament odds
Odds as of March 6 via DraftKings
- UCLA: -300
- Michigan: +380
- Iowa: +1000
- Minnesota: +1500
- Ohio State: +2500
