2023 Big Ten Basketball Tournament: Updated projected seeds, schedule, magic numbers

It’s finally March and with that conference tournaments and the NCAA Tournament are on their way. That includes the Big Ten, which has been one of the more interesting and surprising conferences this season.

So, with help from PlayoffStatus.com, here is a look at the Big Ten standings, magic numbers, and the conference tournament schedule.

Current Standings

Here is a look at the current Big Ten standings:

1. Purdue, 24-5 (13-5)
2. Michigan, 17-12 (11-7)
3. Indiana, 20-10 (11-8)
4. Northwestern, 20-10 (11-8)
5. Maryland, 20-10 (11-8)
6. Iowa, 19-11 (11-8)
7. Illinois, 19-10, (10-8)
8. Michigan State, 18-11 (10-8)
9. Rutgers, 18-11 (10-8)
10. Penn State, 18-12 (9-10)
11. Wisconsin, 16-12 (8-10)
12. Nebraska, 15-15 (8-11)
13. Ohio State, 13-17 (5-14)
14. Minnesota, 7-20 (1-16)

Purdue has already clinched the top seed in the Big Ten Tournament. After that, there are eight teams (Michigan, Iowa, Maryland, Northwestern, Indiana, Illinois, Rutgers, and Michigan State) who could finish in second place. It’s an incredibly crowded field.

Iowa is most likely to take that second seed while Michigan is second most likely and actually controls its own destiny. The problem for the Wolverines is they play two more games, against Illinois and Indiana. The Wolverines have a magic number of two for that two seed.

At the bottom end of the Big Ten, Minnesota is locked into 14th place. Meanwhile, Ohio State is locked into 13th place.

Thursday’s Big Ten Basketball Schedule

There are three key Big Ten games that are scheduled for Thursday:

• Michigan at Illinois, 7:00 p.m. EST
• Rutgers at Minnesota, 7:00 p.m. EST
• No. 5 Purdue at Wisconsin, 9:00 p.m. EST

Big Ten Tournament Schedule

First Round: Wed., March 8

Game 1: No. 12 seed vs. No. 13 seed | 6:30 p.m. ET (BTN (Big Ten Network)/FOX Sports App)

Game 2: No. 11 seed vs. No. 14 seed | 25 minutes after Game 1(BTN/FOX Sports App)

Second Round: Thurs., March 9

Game 3: No. 8 seed vs. No. 9 seed | 12:00 p.m. ET (BTN/FOX Sports App)

Game 4: No. 5 seed vs. Game 1 winner | 25 minutes after Game 1 (BTN/FOX Sports App)

Game 5: No. 7 seed vs. 10 seed | 6:30 p.m. ET (BTN/FOX Sports App)

Game 6: No. 6 seed vs. Game 2 winner | 25 minutes after Game 5 (BTN/FOX Sports App)

Quarterfinals: Fri., March 10

Game 7: No. 1 seed vs. Game 3 winner | 12:00 p.m. ET (BTN/FOX Sports App)

Game 8: No. 4 seed vs. Game 4 winner | 25 minutes after Game 7 (BTN/FOX Sports App)

Game 9: No. 2 seed vs. Game 5 winner | 6:30 p.m. ET (BTN/FOX Sports App)

Game 10: No. 3 seed vs. Game 6 winner | 25 minutes after Game 9 (BTN/FOX Sports App)

Semifinals: Sat., March 11

Game 11: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner | 1:00 p.m. ET (CBS/Paramount+)

Game 12: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner | 25 minutes after Game 11 (CBS/Paramount+)

Championship Game: Sun., March 12 

Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner | 3:30 p.m. ET (CBS/Paramount+)