Big Ten Tournament Preview

It feels as if the entire B1G will be partaking in the NCAA Tournament next week. While that’s a gross overstatement, it still feels that way. As it stands right now, only Northwestern and Nebraska have absolutely no shot to partake in the Big Dance provided they don’t shock the college basketball betting community and win the Big Ten Tournament. Linemakers believe this tournament to be the Michigan State Spartans for the taking. Remember, Sparty opened the regular season as the No. 1 team in the nation only to fall out of that spot immediately. Right in back of them is the other co-winner of the regular season title in the Maryland Terrapins. Surprisingly, Wisconsin slots in back of them along with a Michigan team that online sportsbooks seem to be very high on regardless of its mediocre regular season outputs. As great the talent is up and down the league, the B1G Tournament has the capability to be one of the more wildly entertaining of the conference tourney season. Because of it, you might want to take some chances on the betting lines!

The Big Ten Tournament is set to tip-off on Wednesday, March 11, 2020 at 6 p.m. ET from Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, IN. The games will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network and CBS.

CBB Betting Odds at BookMaker.eu

ODDS TO WIN BIG TEN TOURNAMENT

Favorite to Bet: Maryland Terrapins +400

As solid MSU has looked over the last few weeks, I wouldn’t bat an eye if you decided to go with the tourney favorite. That said, I still think the Terps are the best team in this league regardless of the fact that it fizzled out terribly to close out the regular season. In doing so, it cost Maryland a shot at acquiring its first outright regular season title since becoming a member of the Big Ten. For my money, Anthony Cowan Jr. is the best player in this conference. No disrespect to Cassius Winston, but the Terps point guard is my guy! Backed by Jalen Smith down low and Aaron Wiggins on the perimeter, Maryland simply just has the type of makeup championship caliber teams are made of. That said, it all comes down to Mark Turgeon and the way he handles the pressure in the most intense of moments. Earning the No. 3 seed keeps them out of the tougher side of the bracket in my opinion. A third go round with MSU looks to be nothing short of a lock. Win that game and the Terps will become the odds on favorites to win the B1G tourney for the first time in program history.

Underdog to Bet: Iowa Hawkeyes +800

I’m such a glutton for punishment! No ifs, ands or buts about it. The Hawkeyes have cost me a ton of money this season. I bet on them, they fail. I bet against them, they excel. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t have the pulse of this team. Be that as it may, I like their draw and believe they have an excellent shot to reach the semis at the very least. It swept the Gophers in the regular season and also pummeled Northwestern by 13 in Evanston. The Hawkeyes also split with Michigan and defeated Rutgers in the lone meeting. To top it all off, Iowa also owns a win over the Wisconsin Badgers. While its 11.1 percent implied probability is much better than the 5.7 percent chance the folks at Teamrankings.com give Fran McCaffery’s kids to cut down the nets, I’m a believer in Luke Garza and company. Should Joe Wieskamp and CJ Fredrick get scorching hot from deep, Iowa has just as good a shot as anyone in this tournament to win it!

Longshot to Bet: Minnesota Golden Gophers +4000

If the Minnesota Golden Gophers were to win this tournament for the first time in program history, it would mean Pitino’s troops somehow managed to win five games in five days to pull off the feat. If you can believe it, there actually was a point in time that Minny was challenging the big wigs of the B1G for conference supremacy. Then all of a sudden the floor dropped out and the Gophers went into a downward spiral it never recovered form. Seriously, I have no clue how this team only managed two wins over its final eight games with both coming against the dregs of the conference; UNW and Nebraska. Daniel Oturu is arguably the best big man in the conference, and he’ll without a doubt hit the Bankers Life hardwood looking to make an enormous impact. He’s a physical presence that makes life tough on opposing big men, and his presence down low always opens wide open shots for Minny’s sharpshooters. Should Marcus Carr and Gabe Kalscheur benefit from those open looks, Minnesota’s offense could be incredibly tough to tame. This is a team ranked No. 29 overall by the current Pomeroy Ratings that’s much better than its sub .500 record indicates or 400-1 return suggests.

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