A Purdue-Illinois final would be a great spectacle on Sunday leading into the NCAA men’s basketball tournament selection show.
Both teams need to win two games to reach that point and they each have desperate teams ready to take them down in the quarterfinals.
The Michigan State Spartans lost four of their last five games, but they are still safely in the field of 68.
Michigan State could use the Big Ten tournament as a chance to turn around its season and prove to its doubters it is worthy of a spot in the NCAA tournament.
The Spartans lost to Purdue and Illinois by a combined nine points and beat Illinois on February 10, so there is a chance they raise their level to compete with Purdue.
Illinois should face an Iowa Hawkeyes team on the outside of the bubble in the quarterfinals.
Iowa is currently on the “Last Four Out” line, per ESPN’s Joe Lunardi. The Hawkeyes need to beat Illinois to leapfrog a handful of other bubble teams.
Iowa’s first opponent, the Ohio State Buckeyes, could be the Cinderella team to watch. The Buckeyes are on a four-game winning streak and are 5-1 with a win over Purdue under interim head coach Jake Diebler.
Illinois is the better all-around team than both the Hawkeyes and Buckeyes. The Illini just held Iowa to 61 points on Sunday.
If Sunday’s version of Illinois shows up in Minneapolis, it will crush the bubble hopes of Iowa and it could contend with Purdue for the tournament crown.
If Purdue and Illinois face off on Sunday, it will be the first Big Ten tournament final contested between the top two teams since 2007.
Prediction: Illinois over Purdue
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