Big Ten Tournament Odds, Picks & Bracket | Are the Illini Worth a Look?

The Big Ten tournament field is set after the culmination of the regular season on Sunday.

The Purdue Boilermakers hold the top-seeded team in the field, but the Northwestern Wildcats fall on their side of the bracket.

The Illinois Fighting Illini and Nebraska Cornhuskers are the other two teams with the double bye.

All four have a serious shot at the finals, but will any other teams find themselves in the mix for the automatic bid? Fans only have to wait a few more days to find out, so here's Big Ten tournament odds, picks and the bracket.

Big Ten Tournament Odds

Big Ten Tournament Bracket

Clearly, Purdue is the best team in this conference, and the Boilermakers should probably be a one seed in the NCAA tournament regardless of their result in this event.

Purdue’s entire offense runs through Zach Edey. It ranks second in 3-point percentage because of solid outside shooters and how much of a distraction Edey can be.

Edey also gets to the free-throw line a ton. Being his size, it's easy to see why.

That said, there's a major discrepancy between the refereeing at Purdue and on a neutral court. The Boilermakers could blow by either Michigan State or Minnesota, but Purdue may struggle in the semifinals, especially if Northwestern wins in the quarterfinals.

Bear in mind, Northwestern already beat Purdue at home and then barely lost in overtime with a questionable fouling margin in West Lafayette.

Purdue is deep, but its defense and control over the basketball can be questionable at times.

Given how heavy of favorites the Boilermakers are, taking them to win the tournament may not be wise with their notable weaknesses.

The Illinois Fighting Illini are an intriguing pick to win the conference tournament, especially since they're on the opposite side of the bracket as Michigan State, Purdue, Maryland and Northwestern, all teams who beat them in the regular season.

Penn State is on their side, but the Nittany Lions have to do some work to get to the semifinals first.

Illinois’ line does seem a bit short, considering how well it's done against teams it would potentially meet in the quarterfinals or semifinals.

The Illini have had issues guarding the perimeter, and Nebraska can shoot. In fact, the Cornhuskers did take the Illini to OT in Champaign. This is clearly one of Illinois’ roadblocks, as teams are shooting about 35% on the Illini from outside.

That said, Illinois has a game-changer in Terrence Shannon Jr.

He's so good at getting out in transition. It also helps to have Coleman Hawkins and Marcus Domask to complete a hard-to-guard three-headed monster.

If the Illini can guard the arc — like they showed signs of in their final game against Iowa — they might have the easiest road to the finals and could be worth a look to win it all.

If you don't have confidence in the Illini guarding the perimeter, stay away.

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Nebraska also has a relatively easy road if it wins its first game. Illinois is tough to get by, but Nebraska’s shooting could very well lead it to the title game.

Having multiple deep threats is always a plus. Brice Williams, C.J. Wilcher, Keisei Tominaga and Reink Mast can all hit the 3. This is what led them to a rout over Purdue and allowed them to go to OT against Illinois in Champaign.

Although the Cornhuskers don't force many turnovers, this team has a rock-solid defense. They rank 15th in defensive effective field goal percentage, holding opponents to less than 32% from 3-point range and around 45% from 2-point range.

Rebounding could become an issue, but this is where Juwan Gary, Josiah Allick and Mast loom large. They could, for example, outshoot Illinois from 3-point range, while yielding a considerable rebounding margin. They did it in the last meeting and almost got away with it.

They also did the same against Purdue when they won by double digits at home.

Nebraska should be closer to +700, and a small bet at its current price should be in play.

Northwestern would be an interesting matchup for Purdue, especially if Matthew Nicholson’s injury status is positive. He may be out, which greatly inhibits NU’s ability to defend down low and rebound, and that's obviously bad news against Edey.

The Cats are already without their best 3-point threat in Ty Berry, but they have more reinforcements in the backcourt than down low.

If Nicholson is questionable or out, it's hard to think Northwestern could beat Purdue. Unless Boo Buie, Ryan Langborg, Nick Martinelli and Brooks Barnhizer all have the games of their lives at the same time, it's unlikely to happen.

Head coach Chris Collins may not push it with Nicholson because losing yet starter would crush any semblance of hope for an NCAA tournament run.

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No one has any clue what has transpired with the Badgers. Adding AJ Storr to the mix seemed to have this team in line for a deep NCAA tournament run, but their defense has been abhorrent as of late.

The Badgers dropped eight of their last 11 Big Ten regular season games.

Giving up a 37.3% 3-point rate and 50.7% 2-point rate is the reason for this team’s demise.

Paired with those issues, the Badgers don’t even take too many 3s themselves, so they desperately need to grab offensive rebounds to score.

They have far too many holes to back them, and it wouldn't be shocking if Maryland defeats them in the second round.

I haven't had much confidence in MSU all season. Advanced metrics love Sparty, but aside from Illinois crumbling on the road and early-season wins over Indiana State and Baylor, this team hasn't shown much.

The Spartans dropped four of their last five games and could land on the bubble with an early Big Ten tournament loss.

I’ve harped on it all year, but they rely too heavily on mid-range shots. They don't make many 3s, even if that's the most successful part of their offense.

They have Tom Izzo, but I’m not sure his magic can help too much with this broken offense.

Other Big Ten Tournament Teams to Watch

The other teams to watch are Iowa and Minnesota, as they could have an outside chance of dancing with a strong showing.

Minnesota, though, would have to play Purdue in its second game. As good of a coach as Ben Johnson has proven to be, allowed 3s and offensive turnovers could limit the Gophers.

Iowa is the other team to watch because the Hawks are likely two wins away from getting to the NCAA tournament. They're an offensive juggernaut that can slug their way to 90 points.

Question marks defensively could lead to an earlier exit, though.