Getty EAST LANSING, MI - MARCH 09: Head coach Tom Izzo and Cassius Winston #5 of the Michigan State Spartans react during the second half against the Michigan Wolverines at Breslin Center on March 9, 2019 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
The Big Ten tournament quarterfinals get underway Friday in Chicago, starting with a matchup between top seed Michigan State and an Ohio State squad looking to play its way off the bubble.
The game is scheduled to start at 12:30 p.m. ET and will be televised on Big Ten Network. If you don’t have cable, you can watch a live stream of BTN via one of the following live-TV streaming services:
FuboTV: Big Ten Network (and the BTN alternate channels) is one of 85-plus live-TV channels included in the main FuboTV bundle, which is largely tailored towards sports.
You can sign up for a free 7-day trial of FuboTV right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the game on your computer via the FuboTV website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast or other supported device via the FuboTV app.
PlayStation Vue: PS Vue–which doesn’t require an actual PlayStation console to sign up or watch–offers four different live-TV channel packages: The upper three bundles include Big Ten Network.
You can start a free 5-day trial of PS Vue right here (select “Start Streaming” in the upper-right corner), and you can then watch a live stream of the game on your computer via the PS Vue website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation (3 or 4), or other supported device via the PS Vue app.
Hulu With Live TV: In addition to a Netflix-like on-demand streaming library, Hulu also offers a bundle of 50-plus live TV channels, including CBS (available live in select markets) and Big Ten Network.
You can sign up for “Hulu with Live TV” right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the game on your computer via the Hulu website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Echo Show, or other streaming device via the Hulu app.
Michigan State vs Ohio State Preview
In what was potentially a de-facto play-in game between two teams right on the edge of the bubble, Ohio State took down Indiana, 79-75, on Thursday.
The Buckeyes are probably in. They’re only 55th in the NET rankings, but they grade out a little bit in the more established predictive models (45th in KenPom; 44th in Sagarin), and projections have them as one of the last four in the field. The 8-12 conference record is obviously ugly, but there are probably enough positives to get them in with a weak bubble.
“Certainly I feel like our body of work speaks for itself,” Holtmann said. “Obviously Kaleb makes a difference. We saw that, I think as much defensively as offensively.”
He’s referring to sophomore forward Kaleb Wesson, who missed three games–all losses for the Buckeyes–for an unspecified violation. But he returned on Thursday, piling up 17 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, two steals and three blocks in the win over Indiana.
Still, even if the Buckeyes are safe, they probably aren’t feeling overly confident. But they can change that with a win over the Spartans on Friday.
“Hope we’re in,” senior guard Keyshawn Woods said. “We win tomorrow, we’re definitely in.”
Of course, that’s easier said than done, as Michigan State won both head-to-head meetings this year. They did one with offense, scoring 86 in a nine-point win in Columbus in January, and did the other with defense, forcing the Buckeyes into nearly as many turnovers (15) as made field goals (18) in a 62-44 drubbing in February.
“They’re terrific. They’re an elite team, can get to a Final Four, can win a national championship,” Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann said about MSU. “They’re deserving of everything that’s come their way. We’ll need to play exceptional basketball for 40 minutes.”
Most believe the Spartans are locked into a two seed at this point, but if they run the table here in Chicago, there’s a legitimate chance they can jump up to the one-line–especially if Duke and Kentucky join Gonzaga as teams to not win their conference tournament.
The winner of this one will face the winner of No. 13 Nebraska and No. 4 Wisconsin on Saturday afternoon.