2006 Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament

The 2006 Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament was played between March 9 and March 12, 2006 at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. This is the ninth annual Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament. The champion of the tournament is the University of Iowa, which receives the
Big Ten's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Jeff Horner of Iowa was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.

eeds

All Big Ten schools play in the tournament. Teams are seeded by conference record, with a tiebreaker system used to seed teams with identical conference records.

Tiebreakers

* Iowa over Illinois for #2 seed: Iowa and Illinois each won one of the two games played head-to-head, Iowa wins tiebreaker by virtue of a better record against regular season champion Ohio State. (Iowa vs Ohio State, 1-0; Illinois vs Ohio State, 0-1)
* Wisconsin over Indiana for #4 seed: Wisconsin wins tiebreaker by winning only head-to-head game played.
* Michigan State over Michigan for #6 seed: Michigan State and Michigan each won one of the two games played head-to-head, Michigan State wins tiebreaker by virtue of a better record against regular season champion Ohio State (Michigan State vs Ohio State, 1-1; Michigan vs Ohio State, 0-2)
* Penn State over Northwestern for the #8 seed: Penn State wins tiebreaker by winning both head-to-head games played.

Notes

* Michigan State plays in the opening round for the first time. In the eight prior tournaments, Michigan State received an opening round bye as one of the top five seeds.

Tournament Summary

torylines

Of course, each team playing in the Big Ten Tournament has the goal of winning the tournament. Many teams have hopes of playing in additional postseason tournaments. These are some of the primary storylines for the teams in the tournament.

* Regular season champion Ohio State is looking to cap a breakout season with a tournament championship. Also, with an estimated RPI ranking of fifth, Ohio State is looking to solidify a #2 seed in the NCAA Tournament by avoiding an early upset, and to possibly gain a #1 seed by winning the Big Ten Tournament.
* Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan State are believed to be assured of receiving a bid for the NCAA Tournament, and are looking to improve their seed in the NCAA Tournament by winning multiple games in the Big Ten Tournament.
* Indiana and Michigan have estimated RPI rankings of 35 and 37, respectively, and are looking to avoid being on the "bubble" and to solidify a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
* Penn State, Northwestern, and Minnesota are looking to finish above .500 (have a "winning season"), and to receive a bid to play in the National Invitation Tournament.
* Purdue will be finished after the Big Ten Tournament.

:"Source for estimated RPI rankings: [http://www.collegerpi.com/ collegerpi.com] "

Opening round

In the opening round, the higher seeded teams won two of the three games played. In the first game, eighth-seeded Penn State had an easy victory over ninth-seeded Nortwestern, handing Northwestern their worst loss of the season in the 60-42 win. The win guarantees a winning season for Penn State, and ends Northwestern's season at 14-15. Penn State moves onto the quarterfinals to play the top seed, Ohio State. The second game featured the only upset of the day, as tenth-seeded Minnesota beat seventh-seeded Michigan 59-55. The loss leaves Michigan on the NCAA Tournament bubble, and sends Minnesota into the quarterfinals to play second-seeded Iowa. The final game of the opening round saw sixth-seeded Michigan State beat the bottom seed, Purdue, 70-58. Michigan State plays third-seeded Illinois in the quarterfinals. Illinois swept Michigan State in the regular season, including a victory at Michigan State the previous weekend.

chedule and results

:"All game times EST"

Opening Round (March 9, 2006)

* Game 1: #8 Penn State 60, #9 Northwestern 42:"Leading scorers, PSU: Geary Claxton 17, NU: Mohamed Hached 16
* Game 2: #10 Minnesota 59, #7 Michigan 55:"Leading scorers, Minn: Maurice Hargrow 15, Mich: Dion Harris 16
* Game 3: #6 Michigan State 70, #11 Purdue 58:"Leading scorers, MSU: Maurice Ager 20, PU: Gary Ware 20

Quarterfinals (March 10, 2006)

* Game 4: #1 Ohio State 63, #8 Penn State 56:"Leading scorers, OSU: Ron Lewis 17, PSU: Jamelle Cornley 18
* Game 5: #5 Indiana 61, #4 Wisconsin 56:"Leading scorers, Ind: Marco Killingsworth 20, Wisc: Alando Tucker 20
* Game 6: #2 Iowa 67, #10 Minnesota 57:"Leading scorers, Iowa: Jeff Horner 26, Minn: Vincent Grier 29
* Game 7: #6 Michigan State 61, #3 Illinois 56:"Leading scorers, MSU: Maurice Ager, Paul Davis 16, Ill: James Augustine 16

emifinals (March 11, 2006)

* Game 8: #2 Iowa 53, #6 Michigan State 48:"Leading scorers, Iowa: Jeff Horner 14, MSU: Maurice Ager 21
* Game 9: #1 Ohio State 52, #5 Indiana 51:"Leading scorers, OSU: J.J. Sullinger 19, Ind: Roderick Wilmot 16

Championship (March 12, 2006)

* Game 10: #2 Iowa 67, #1 Ohio State 60:"Leading scorers, Iowa: Jeff Horner 16, OSU: Jamar Butler 19

All-Tournament Team

* Jeff Horner, Iowa - Most Outstanding Player
* Maurice Ager, Michigan State
* Greg Brunner, Iowa
* Jamar Butler, Ohio State
* J.J. Sullinger, Ohio State

References

* [http://bigten.collegesports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/111605aah.html Tiebreaker system]
* [http://bigten.collegesports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/031206aad.html All-Tournament Team]

External links

* [http://bigten.collegesports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/big10-06-mbb-tourney-central.html Official site]