2010 Big Ten Conference Tournament Predictions

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The 2010 Big Ten Conference Tournament is all set to get underway Thursday, March 11 and will extend through Sunday, March 14 at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. You can catch all the action on national television with ESPN, ESPN 2, the Big Ten Network and CBS Sports carrying the games. All 11 teams in the conference will have an opportunity to compete for automatic entry into the NCAA Tournament. NCAA basketball odds makers have listed the Michigan State Spartans as the +150 favorite to win the tourney.

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The Favorites: Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue and Wisconsin are the four schools that figure to have the best shot at winning the Big Ten Conference Tournament and the odds reflect that. Ohio State is listed at +175, Purdue at +500 and Wisconsin at +300. Michigan State, Ohio State and Purdue all earned a share of the Big Ten regular season title with 14-4 records. Wisconsin was one game behind the leaders with a 13-5 record. One thing these odds definitely reflect is the injury to Purdue’s Robbie Hummel. Many coaches around the Big Ten regarded Hummel as the best player for the Boilermakers. With Hummel not in the lineup, Purdue has to find a way to replace his 15.7 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. That will be no easy task, even for a team as talented as Purdue. Without Hummel, I just can’t see the Boilermakers winning this tournament. Of this group, I think Ohio State has the best shot. The Buckeyes played like the team we all expected them to be down the stretch, winning 10 of their last 11 games. During this span, Evan Turner was sensational. He is averaging 19.5 points, 9.4 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game on the season. William Buford, Jon Diebler and David Lighty all average in double figures as well. While Ohio State is my pick, we know it’s never wise to count out Michigan State or Wisconsin because of how well coached these teams are by Tom Izzo and Bo Ryan respectively.

Middle of the Pack: In this group we have Illinois +1500, Minnesota +2000, Northwestern +5000 and Michigan +5000. Illinois does have some nice wins over Michigan State and Wisconsin, but it really crumbled down the stretch, losing its last three and five of its last six. The Illini just aren’t playing good enough basketball to gain my support, even at a decent price. While Michigan has some very talented players in Manny Harris and DeShawn Sims, it has not been the same team that won a game in the NCAA Tournament a year ago. The Wolverines have been inconsistent all season long. They limp into the postseason having lost four of their last five. John Beilein is a good coach, but he’s been pulling his hair out right alongside Roy Williams this year due to how much of a disappointment his team has been. The team that could make some noise in this group is Northwestern, and it is showing excellent value. The Wildcats won 19 games this season and they have a legit scorer in John Shurna, who is averaging 18.5 points per game. The Wildcats certainly have some bad losses, but they have also proved how good they can be when they defeated Purdue.

The Longshots: These teams include Iowa, Penn State and Indiana and they have been grouped into the field category listed at +2500 to win the conference tourney. While none of these three teams has a serious shot at being Cinderella, if there was a gun to my head, I would say Penn State has the best shot. Down the stretch, the Nittany Lions played Ohio State to an 8-point game, Michigan State to a 2-point game and Purdue to a 4-point game. The one thing that makes a team like Penn State dangerous this time of year is that it can play very loose because it has nothing to lose and everything to gain. If you’re not familiar with Taylor Battle, make sure you watch Penn State play. The kid can really score the basketball in a variety of ways. He has in the gym range and is also great in transition. He is averaging 18.8 points per game. Indiana may have the support of the crowd, but the Hoosiers have been awful, losing 11 of their last 12 games. Iowa lives and dies by the 3-point shot so if it got hot it could maybe win a game, but Iowa hasn’t shot a very good percentage all season long from deep.

About the Author: Jimmy Boyd is known for his consistency. He's a proven winner in college and pro football, college and pro basketball and pro baseball. He finished as the No. 1 ranked MLB handicapper in 2007 by earning $1,000/game bettors $50,050. He also finished as the No. 1 ranked basketball handicapper in the 2008-09 season, profiting $1,000/game bettors 38,530. His basketball plays have banked $1,000/game bettors nearly $80,000 the last five years. Check out Jimmy's premium picks for tonight!
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