How did Michigan get here?: After a lackluster season, Michigan sits at 9-9 in the conference and 6th place thanks to winning the tiebreaker against two teams with identical B1G records. They beat Penn State to win that tiebreaker and went 1-1 against Maryland, but Michigan beat Ohio State once, who Maryland lost to twice. At least I think that’s how the tiebreaker described here works: B1G Women's Basketball Tournament Tiebreaker

Michigan game 1: Michigan will play the winner of Minnesota vs Rutgers at about 9pm on Thursday 3/7, broadcast on Big Ten Network. Rutgers finished at the bottom of the B1G with a 2-16 record due in large part to a season-ending injury to their leading scorer Kaylene Smikle and also due to them being Rutgers. However, one of those two B1G wins was over Minnesota on 2/13. After starting B1G play 4-3, Minnesota lost 10 of 11 to finish at 5-13 overall, just ahead of Purdue because Minnesota beat them for their Big Ten opener. Minnesota also lost their top scorer Mara Braun in January. She is out indefinitely and had surgery on her foot, so probably done for the season. Michigan beat Rutgers twice and should be able to beat Minnesota sans Braun. 

Potential game 2: On Friday, Michigan would play the third seed Indiana at about 9pm on BTN. Indiana finished 15-3 in the Big Ten with losses to Ohio State, Illinois, and Iowa. Indiana was ranked 14th in the NCAA’s top 16 seeds on 2/29 and is looking at hosting the first two rounds of March Madness if they can maintain that 4 seed. Michigan lost to Indiana back on 1/4 and beating them will be a tough ask even if Indiana is without WNBA prospect Mackenzie Holmes, who exited their final regular season game on Sunday with a knee injury. She was able to walk under her own power, but there is not likely to be any indication about her status before Indiana takes the floor on Friday. 

Schedule for the rest of the field: Link to the bracket on bigten.org

Wednesday 3/6: 

• Purdue (12) plays Northwestern (13) at 6:30pm eastern on Peacock
• Minnesota (11) plays Rutgers (14) 25 minutes after the above game ends on Peacock

Thursday 3/7: 

• Maryland (8) plays Illinois (9) at 12:30pm eastern on Big Ten Network
• Nebraska (5) plays the winner of Purdue/Northwestern 25 minutes after the above game ends on BTN
• Penn State (7) plays Wisconsin (10) at 6:30pm eastern on BTN
• Michigan plays the winner of Minnesota/Rutgers 25 minutes after the above game on BTN

Friday 3/8:  

• Ohio State (1) plays the winner of Illinois/Maryland at 12:30pm eastern on BTN
• Michigan State (4) plays the winner of the Nebraska game 25 minutes after the above game on BTN
• Iowa (2) plays the winner of Penn State/Wisconsin at 6:30pm eastern on BTN
• Indiana (3) plays the winner of the Michigan game 25 minutes after the above game on BTN

Saturday 3/9: 

• Semi 1 will be the winner of the Ohio State and Michigan State games at 2pm eastern on BTN
• Semi 2 will be the winner of the Iowa and Indiana games 25 minutes after the above game on BTN

Sunday 3/10: 

• Championship will be broadcast on CBS at noon eastern

A few quick predictions: 

• Michigan will beat either Minnesota or Rutgers, then lose a close game to Indiana playing without Mackenzie Holmes
• Ohio State makes it to the championship, but loses again to Iowa
• Penn State beats Wisconsin, but loses to Iowa and is left out of March Madness