OFFICIAL: Big Ten Women’s Tournament Bracket

The bracket is officially set, and now, 15 teams will descend on Indianapolis for the Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament to battle for an automatic bid the NCAA Tournament. The Iowa Hawkeyes, champions in three of the last four years will enter the tournament as the 2 seed, while reigning champion UCLA earned the top seed after going undefeated in Big Ten play. The action gets underway at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Wednesday with three opening round games. HawkeyeReport takes a look at the bracket and breaks down how the matchups played out during the regular season.

Official Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament Bracket

Wednesday, March 4th

#13 Indiana Hoosiers (17-13, 6-12) vs #12 Nebraska Cornhuskers (18-11, 7-11)

– Last Meeting: Nebraska won the regular season meeting 78-73 in Lincoln on Jan 8

#15 Wisconsin Badgers (13-16, 5-13) vs #10 Illinois Fighting Illini (19-10, 9-9)

– Last Meeting: Illinois won the regular season meeting 92-60 in Champaign on Feb 11

#14 Purdue Boilermakers (13-16, 5-13) vs #11 Oregon Ducks (20-11, 8-10)

– Last Meeting: Oregon won the regular season meeting 71-65 in West Lafayette on Feb 25

Thursday, March 5th

#9 USC Trojans (17-12, 9-9) vs #8 Washington Huskies (20-9, 10-8)

– Last Meeting: USC won the regular season meeting 59-50 in Los Angeles on Dec 7

#5 Ohio State Buckeyes (24-6, 13-5) vs #12 Nebraska/#13 Indiana

– Ohio State defeated Nebraska 90-71 in Columbus on Feb 1

– Ohio State defeated Indiana 81-67 in Columbus on Jan 22

#7 Michigan State Spartans (22-7, 11-7) vs #15 Wisconsin/#10 Illinois

– Michigan State lost to Wisconsin 78-64 in Madison on Dec 7

– Michigan State defeated Illinois 81-75 in East Lansing on Jan 4

#6 Maryland Terrapins (23-7, 11-7) vs #14 Purdue/#11 Oregon

– Maryland defeated Purdue 99-66 in College Park on Feb 22

– Maryland lost to Oregon 68-61 in College Park on Jan 31

Friday, March 6th

#1 UCLA Bruins (28-1, 18-0) vs #9 USC/#8 Washington

– UCLA swept USC in their two-game season series (80-46 at UCLA) (73-50 at USC)

– UCLA defeated Washington 82-67 in Los Angeles on Feb 19

#4 Minnesota Golden Gophers (22-7, 13-5) vs #5 Ohio State/#12 Nebraska/#13 Indiana

– Minnesota won all three games against those opponents, with an average margin of victory of 17.7 points.

– Gophers defeated Ohio State 74-61 (Minneapolis), Nebraska 84-67 (Minneapolis) and Indiana 71-48 (Bloomington)

#2 Iowa Hawkeyes (24-5, 15-3) vs #7 Michigan State/#10 Illinois/#15 Wisconsin

– Iowa won all three games against those opponents, with an average margin of victory of 13.3 points.

– Iowa defeated Michigan State 75-68 (Iowa City), Illinois 82-78 (Iowa City) and Wisconsin 81-52 (Madison)

#3 Michigan Wolverines (24-5, 15-3) vs #6 Maryland/#11 Oregon/#14 Purdue

– Michigan won all three games against those opponents, with an average margin of victory of 23.7 points.

– Michigan defeated Maryland 87-69 (Ann Arbor), Oregon 92-87 in 2OT (Eugene) and Purdue 104-56 (Ann Arbor)