ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN - FEBRUARY 24: Cassius Winston #5 of the Michigan State Spartans talks with head coach Tom Izzo while playing the Michigan Wolverines at Crisler Arena on February 24, 2019 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan State won the game 77-70. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
The 2018-19 Big Ten Tournament begins on Wednesday from United Center in Chicago, Illinois.
The first-round games (Wed, March 13), second-round games (Thur, March 14) and quarterfinals (Fri, March 15) will all be televised on the Big Ten Network, while the semifinals (Sat, March 16) and championship (Sun, March 17) will be on CBS. If you don’t have cable, you can watch a live stream of both of those channels via one of the following live-TV streaming services:
FuboTV: CBS (available live in select markets) and Big Ten Network are two 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 every 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: All four include CBS (available live in select markets), while 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 every 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 every 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.
2019 Big Ten Tournament Preview
As of Wednesday, there are currently five Big Ten teams ranked inside the AP Top 25. Head coach Tom Izzo has the Michigan State Spartans (25-6; 16-4 in-conference) at No. 6, entering as the tournament’s top-seed. Purdue (23-8; 16-4 in-conference) knocked off Northwestern to earn a share of the Big Ten regular-season title with Michigan State, enter the tournament as the No. 2 seed, and rank 13th in the nation.
Michigan (26-5; 15-5 in-conference), Wisconsin (22-9; 14-6 in-conference) and Maryland (22-9; 13-7 in-conference) come in at No. 10, No. 19 and No. 21 in the country respectively.
Here’s how the Big Ten conference tournament bracket looks on Sunday morning
The First Round begins tonight, the Second Round on Wednesday, the Quarterfinals on Friday, Semifinals on Saturday, all leading up to the Championship Game on Sunday afternoon. Nebraska and Rutgers start the tournament slate, followed by Illinois and Northwestern.
The Full Big Ten Tournament schedule can be found here.
What to Watch Out For:
The Spartans recovered nicely following a three-game losing streak to win seven of their final eight games. Michigan State is led by junior guard Cassius Winston, averaging 19 points per game. Winston has also eclipsed 20 points in four of the Spartans’ final five games. The Spartans enter the tournament with an average +9 point-differential per game; Maryland is second not far behind with +8.8.
Is this the year Purdue finally reaches the top again? Boasting the conference’s overall leading scorer in Carsen Edwards, who is averaging 23.4 PPG, the Boilermakers are entering as hot as any Big Team. Winners of their last 16 games, Purdue has wins against Michigan State and Wisconsin during that span; including a narrow four-point loss to Minnesota.
Head coach Matt Painter is now in his 14th season and is regarded as one of the nation’s most underrated coaches. The Boilermakers have fallen short in the tournament championship twice in the past three seasons, in 2015-16 as a No. 4 seed and 2017-18 as a No. 3 seed. Senior Isaac Haas’ late season-ending elbow injury hindered the team’s stretch run last season.
Entering the tournament, possibly a bit overlooked, are the Terrapins. Maryland, while a mixed bag in games against then-ranked opponents, has more than proven they can play the best teams in the country tough and hold their own for two halves.
Starting with a slim five-point (76-71) home loss to No. 5 Virginia back on November 28 in College Park and 78-74 loss to Seton Hall in December, Maryland followed that up with a solid 13-7 record against Big Ten opponents, including multiple wins against Minnesota and Nebraska, and victories against Indiana, Wisconsin, Purdue and Iowa.
Big Ten Tournament History:
Five of the past six Big Ten Tournament winners did not do so as the top-overall seed. Michigan has won back-to-back conference tournament championships, including in 2016-17 as the No. 8 seed and 2017-18 as the No. 5 seed.
Prior to head coach John Beilein winning in consecutive years with the Wolverines, Izzo and the Spartans won three of the five previous conference tournaments, alternating wins in 2011-12, 2013-14, and 2015-16. Included is a run to the 2014-15 Championship Game, an 80-69 overtime loss to Wisconsin, which eventually saw the Spartans and Badgers make Final Four appearances, ultimately losing to Duke.
Michigan State owns the most with five since 1998, while Ohio State is second with four; the buckeyes, though, have the most tournament championship appearances with eight.