Ohio State already knew it was locked into the No. 4 seed ahead of the final week of the regular season, but with regular-season games having wrapped, the Buckeyes now know what the remainder of the bracket will look like when the Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament begins on Wednesday.
Ohio State finished in the standings behind No. 3 Maryland, No. 2 Iowa and No. 1 Indiana but were still able to secure a double-bye, meaning the Buckeyes will not take the floor until the quarterfinals on Friday. Ohio State’s first matchup will be either No. 5 Michigan, No. 12 Minnesota or No. 13 Penn State, with the the Nittany Lions and Golden Gophers playing Wednesday and the winner facing the Wolverines on Thursday.
Ohio State went a combined 5-0 against those teams in the regular season. On the flip side of things, the Buckeyes were swept by the Hoosiers, who are the likely favorites to win the tournament. If Ohio State gets past the quarterfinals, a matchup would be set for either Indiana or, in the case of an upset, either No. 8 Nebraska or No. 9 Michigan State, who will play on Thursday.
Elsewhere on the bracket, No. 11 Rutgers and No. 14 Northwestern will play on Wednesday for the right to face No. 6 Illinois on Thursday, with the winner of that game going on to face Maryland on Friday. Iowa, the other top-four seed, will play either No. 7 Purdue or No. 10 Wisconsin.
The Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament – played at the Target Center in Minneapolis – will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network through the semifinals, with the championship game set to be broadcast on Sunday at 4 p.m. on ESPN.
