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March 3, 2002
EVANSTON, Ill. - The Big Ten has announced pairings for the 2002 Big Ten Tournament, which will begin Thursday afternoon at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. This is the first time the five-year event has taken place outside of Chicago.
Northwestern already knew its fate Saturday evening, thanks to its result and the other results from the day. The Wildcats will be the seventh seed (its highest seed ever in the tournament) and meet Michigan in the first round. That game will take place at 4:30 p.m. EST/3:30 p.m. CST and will be broadcast live on ESPN.
Should the Wildcats win that game, they would move on to meet Ohio State in Friday's second round. The Buckeyes finished in a four-way tie for the Big Ten title with Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, but received the second seed by virtue of its head-to-head record against its fellow co-champions. Wisconsin is the top seed, while Illinois is the third seed and Indiana is the fourth seed.
Michigan State locked up the fifth seed by virtue of Minnesota's loss to Illinois Sunday afternoon, while the Gophers are the sixth seed and will meet No. 11 Penn State in Thursday's final game. The first game will pit eighth-seeded Purdue and ninth-seeded Iowa.
Here is a complete schedule for the Big Ten Tournament. All times are Eastern Standard Time.
Thursday, March 7
Game 1 - #8 Purdue vs. #9 Iowa, 2 p.m. (ESPN2)
Game 2 - #7 Northwestern vs. #10 Michigan, 4:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Game 3 - #6 Minnesota vs. #11 Penn State, 7:10 p.m. (ESPN Plus Regional)
Friday, March 8
Game 4 - #4 Indiana vs. #5 Michigan State, 11:30 a.m. (ESPN2)
Game 5 - #1 Wisconsin vs. Purdue/Iowa winner, 2 p.m. (ESPN2)
Game 6 - #2 Ohio State vs. Northwestern/Michigan winner, 6:40 p.m. (ESPN Plus Regional)
Game 7 - #3 Illinois vs. Minnesota/Penn State winner, 9:10 p.m. (ESPN Plus Regional)
Saturday, March 9
Game 8 - Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 1:45 p.m. (CBS)
Game 9 - Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 winner, 4:05 p.m. (CBS)
Sunday, March 10
Game 10 - Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner, 3:30 p.m. (CBS)