We are now less than a month away from Selection Sunday, with March 17 being the day every No. 1 seed or bubble team will know its fate. At this point in the season there is little movement among the top four seed lines, but when conference tournaments start in the next few weeks is where things can get interesting.
ESPN bracketologist Jor Lunardi released his latest bracket Tuesday morning, and the Big Ten was well represented with six teams in the 68-team bracket, which includes the First Four teams.
Lunardi also released his conference breakdowns, which highlight the teams he considered for one of the 68 slots and teams looking from the outside in at the bubble.
Most Big Ten teams only have five games left before the regular season ends on March 10, and then the conference tournament starts in Minneapolis on March 14.
Zach Edey and Purdue led over Illinois is down to 1.5 games after the Boilermakers were upset this past weekend by the Ohio State Buckeyes. The loss also took the No. 1 overall seed away from Purdue. The slim conference lead makes the two schools’ March 5 matchup in Champaign all the more exciting.
In Lunardi’s new bracket, six Big Ten teams are in the fold for the tournament: Purdue, Illinois, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Michigan State, and Nebraska. There has been a little movement since last Tuesday, most notably Michigan State jumping from a nine seed to a seven seed after wins against Penn State and Michigan.
Iowa, Ohio State, and Rutgers are three teams that Lunardi considered for the bracket, but they would need a big showing in Minneapolis to make the field.
Let’s take a look at where Lunardi puts the six Big Ten teams in this edition of his 2024 bracket.