Even though Maryland dropped two of its last three, it has enough to overpower the Knights, whose NCAA tournament hopes are shrinking by the loss. 12 seed vs. No.

The teams that do not earn a top four seed in the conference tournament will have to play a quartet of contests to earn the league's automatic bid. On the other side of the bracket, Wisconsin will face fierce competition from teams such as Iowa and Michigan, which both have the potential to make a deep run through the bracket and reach the championship game.

On top of that, Nebraska will also open the Big Ten tournament on Wednesday without a pair of double-digit scorers in Cam Mack and Dachon Burke, who are both suspended from the team.

That makes Ohio State a potential postseason dark horse. 5 vs. No. A day later, the Terrapins were the only team to have two first-team All-Big Ten selections, as guard Anthony Cowan and forward Jalen Smith both earned the nod. 12 vs. No. 5 seed vs. No. Last year’s Big Ten POY, Cassius Winston, led his team to a title. 5 Iowa vs. Game 1 winner (25 minutes after Game 3, Big Ten Network), Game 5: No. Northwestern was swept by its opening-round opponent, Minnesota, in the regular season. 7 seed and the Nebraska Cornhuskers won twice as a No. They’ll both have stiff competition in Indy.

A record eight Big Ten schools were selected for the 68-team …

The Nittany Lions won the first meeting in East Lansing. 7 seed vs. No. Luka Garza will try to do the same. Michigan State and Maryland may have lost the tiebreaker to Wisconsin for the No. The 14 Big Ten men's basketball teams will compete for a championship at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis this week.

9 winner (noon, BTN), No.

1 seed in the tournament, but they are the two best teams in this conference.

8 vs. No. The Scarlet Knights could use one more win to feel even better about their chances, but they should be in after Saturday's win at Purdue.

11 Indiana vs. No.

The Hawkeyes went 3-0 against their possible Thursday opponents (Minnesota or Northwestern), including earning their only two road wins in Big Ten play. Chris Holtmann's squad has won three in a row and owns a 5-3 mark versus Top 25 teams, so even if it does not cause chaos in the next week, it could be a factor in the early rounds. Several close losses and inconsistent shooting cost Minnesota this season.

11 vs. No. Richard Pitino may need his team to make a run in Indy to avoid getting fired. 11 seed vs. No.

Games can be streamed live at BTNplus.com. They rose to No. 11 and 14 seeds.

Wisconsin has the easiest path to a 14-6 conference mark, as it faces the Northwestern Wildcats and Indiana Hoosiers. 14 winner (9 p.m., BTN), No. 4 seed vs. No.

More from MLive - GrandRapids/Muskegon/Kalamazoo. In 2019, the Minnesota Golden Gophers reached the semifinals as a No. 3-seeded Terps meet again with a spot in the Big Ten tournament championship on the line?

Ayo Dosunmu, a first team All-Big Ten selection, is the type of guard who can carry a team in March, while Big Ten Freshman of the Year Kofi Cockburn is a load inside. Or perhaps Michigan State or Maryland, one of the other conference's co-regular season champions, will win it all. Led by senior guard Cassius Winston, Michigan State will reach the championship game again, taking down Maryland to get there. Since the top six are bunched so close together, we will not have a clear idea of what the final bracket looks like until after Sunday's contests. The opening rounds in Indianapolis will be important for the Indiana Hoosiers, Purdue Boilermakers and Rutgers to solidify their March Madness resumes. 8 Rutgers vs. No. 1 seed vs. No. 2-seeded Spartans and the No. 6 Penn State vs. Game 2 winner (25 minutes after Game 5, Big Ten Network), Game 7: No. Each of those squads would likely face a Top 25 squad Thursday, and if they spring an upset there, would take on one of top four seeds Friday. Their coach can publicly trash bracketologists all he wants, but the Hoosiers could still use a strong showing this week to solidify their spot in the dance – and a win over Nebraska doesn’t qualify.