University of Minnesota Athletics
MBB: Field Set for 2005 Big Ten Basketball Tournament
3/6/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The eighth-annual Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament will tip off on Thursday, March 10, with No. 8 Northwestern (14-15/6-10) taking on No. 9 Michigan (13-17/4- 12) at 11 a.m. CST on ESPN. The Wildcats will look to extend their streak as NU has advanced to the quarterfinals the last two years, while the Wolverines reached the semifinals last season for the first time since 1998. The second game of the Tournament will feature No. 7 Iowa (19 -10/7-9) against No. 10 Purdue (7-20/3-13) at approximately 1:30 p.m. CST on ESPN. The final game on Thursday will include No. 6 Ohio State (19-11/8-8) and No. 11 Penn State (7-22/1-15) at roughly 4:05 p.m. CST on ESPN2.
Day two will begin with top-seeded Illinois facing the winner of the Northwestern/ Michigan game at 11 a.m. CST on ESPN. The Illini will look to reverse the history of top seeds in this event, as the No. 1 seed has only won the Tournament title once (Michigan State in 1999) and has been knocked off in its first game in four of the seven events. Last year, Illinois advanced to the championship game as the No. 1 seed but fell to second- seeded Wisconsin. The second game features the No. 4/5 contest at approximately 1:30 p.m. CST on ESPN, as fourth-seeded Indiana and No. 5 Minnesota will square off for the first time in Big Ten Tournament play. Second-seeded Michigan State, which won the 1999 and 2000 crowns, will begin Tournament action on Friday at 5:40 p.m. CST on ESPN Plus against the winner of the Iowa -Purdue contest. The second day will conclude with No. 3 Wisconsin, the defending Big Ten Tournament champion, facing the Ohio State-Penn State winner at approximately 8:10 p.m. CST on ESPN Plus. The Badgers are vying to become only the second squad to win the Tournament crown in consecutive seasons since MSU won in 1999 and 2000.
The Big Ten Tournament semifinals will take place on Saturday, March 12, with the first game beginning at 12:40 p.m. CST on CBS. Game two will start 30 minutes following the conclusion of game one at approximately 3:05 p.m. CST on CBS. The Tournament will conclude with the championship game on Sunday, March 13, at 2:30 p.m. CST on CBS.
Six different teams have won the Big Ten Tournament in its first seven years, as Wisconsin was victorious in 2004 while previous winners include Illinois (2003), Ohio State (2002), Iowa (2001), Michigan State (2000, 1999) and Michigan (1998). Three of the five sessions for the 2005 Big Ten Tournament are currently sold out, as standing room only tickets are available for the first two quarterfinal games on Friday morning (session 2), the two semifinal contests on Saturday (session 4) and the championship game on Sunday (session 5). Limited single-session tickets for the first-round games on Thursday (session 1) and the two quarterfinals on Friday night (session 3) are still available, as standing room only tickets will only be sold for those sessions once all tickets are purchased. Tickets can be purchased at the United Center box office, Ticketmaster outlets, www.ticketmaster.com or by calling Ticketmaster at (312) 559-1212.
Click here to view the Big Ten Tournament Bracket
