JUST ANNOUNCED: BIG TEN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT BRACKET
ROSEMONT, Ill. (Feb. 26, 2023) – The Big Ten Conference has announced the full bracket for the 30th Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament presented by TIAA that will take place March 1-5 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
All-session and single-session tickets for the 2023 Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament are on sale at the Target Center box office and online at AXS.com. In addition, several special ticket offers and activities are lined up for this year’s Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament. For more information on this year’s tournament ancillary events and promotions, visit the Big Ten Tournament Central page at bigten.org/WBBT.
All 13 games of this year’s Big Ten Tournament will be televised live to a national audience, with the first round through semifinal games from Wednesday through Saturday broadcast on the Big Ten Network, as well as on the FOX Sports app. The Big Ten Tournament championship game on March 5 will tip off at 4 p.m. (CT) and will be televised live on ESPN, as well as the ESPN app.
Indiana (26-2, 15-2 Big Ten) is the No. 1 seed for this year’s tournament after clinching their second Big Ten title and first since it shared the 1982-83 conference championship. The Hoosiers, who have been ranked No. 2 in both national polls for the past three weeks and earned the No. 2 national seed in both NCAA Committee top-16 seed reveals earlier this month, have earned one Big Ten Tournament title, that coming in 2002. Indiana was also the runner-up at last year’s tournament.
Indiana will open Big Ten Tournament play on Friday with a quarterfinal contest at 11:30 a.m. (CT) live on Big Ten Network against the winner of the second-round game between No. 8 seed Nebraska and No. 9 seed Michigan State.
Defending Big Ten Tournament champion Iowa (23-6, 15-3) earned the No. 2 seed for this year’s tournament in dramatic fashion on Sunday, defeating Indiana, 86-85 on Caitlin Clark’s three-pointer at the horn before a sellout crowd at Carver-Hawkeye Arena and a national television audience. The victory moved the Hawkeyes into a tie with Maryland for second place in the Big Ten standings, with Iowa earning the edge over the Terrapins based on a better winning percentage against the highest team in the standings (Indiana – Iowa was 1-1 against the Hoosiers this season, Maryland 0-1).
Iowa has won four Big Ten Tournament titles and is currently ranked No. 6 in both major national polls, while also garnering the No. 9 national seed in the Feb. 23 NCAA Committee seed reveal. The Hawkeyes will tip off their postseason schedule at 5:30 p.m. (CT) Friday with a tournament quarterfinal game live on Big Ten Network against the winner of the second-round matchup between No. 7 seed Purdue and 10th-seeded Wisconsin.
Maryland (24-5, 15-3) earned the No. 3 seed for the Big Ten Tournament after tying for second place in the Big Ten standings. The Terrapins have risen to No. 7 in the AP poll and No. 8 in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association/USA Today poll, and they were the No. 6 national seed in last week’s NCAA Committee seed reveal. Maryland has won five Big Ten Tournament titles since joining the conference in 2015, with their most recent championship coming in 2021. The Terrapins will begin this year’s tournament Friday night against either No. 6 seed Illinois, No. 11 seed Rutgers or No. 14 seed Northwestern in the last quarterfinal live on Big Ten Network, 25 minutes following the completion of Iowa’s quarterfinal.
Rounding out the top four seeds is Ohio State (23-6, 12-6), which claimed the last of the tournament’s double-byes into the quarterfinal round. The Buckeyes, who began the season 19-0 and moved up to No. 2 in both major national polls, are currently No. 16 in the AP poll and No. 13 in the coaches’ poll, while collecting the No. 12 national seed in the latest NCAA Committee seed reveal. Ohio State, which also has five Big Ten Tournament championships (most recently in 2011), will open this year’s tournament slate Friday afternoon against No. 5 seed Michigan, No. 12 seed Minnesota or No. 13 seed Penn State in the quarterfinals, playing live on Big Ten Network 25 minutes after Indiana’s game has concluded.
The 2023 Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament schedule is as follows:
Wednesday, March 1 (First Round)
Game 1 (#12 Minnesota vs. #13 Penn State) – 1 p.m. CT (BTN)
Game 2 (#11 Rutgers vs. #14 Northwestern) – 25 minutes following Game 1 (BTN)
Thursday, March 2 (Second Round)
Game 3 (#8 Nebraska vs. #9 Michigan State) – 11:30 a.m. CT (BTN)
Game 4 (#5 Michigan vs. Game 1 winner) – 25 minutes following Game 3 (BTN)
Game 5 (#7 Purdue vs. #10 Wisconsin) – 5:30 p.m. CT (BTN)
Game 6 (#6 Illinois vs. Game 2 winner) – 25 minutes following Game 5 (BTN)
Friday, March 3 (Quarterfinals)
Game 7 (#1 Indiana vs. Game 3 winner) – 11:30 a.m. CT (BTN)
Game 8 (#4 Ohio State vs. Game 4 winner) – 25 minutes following Game 7 (BTN)
Game 9 (#2 Iowa vs. Game 5 winner) – 5:30 p.m. CT (BTN)
Game 10 (#3 Maryland vs. Game 6 winner) – 25 minutes following Game 9 (BTN)
Saturday, March 4 (Semifinals)
Game 11 (Game 7 vs. Game 8 winner) – 1:30 p.m. CT (BTN)
Game 12 (Game 9 vs. Game 10 winner) – 25 minutes following Game 11 (BTN)
Sunday, March 5 (Championship)
Game 13 (Game 11 vs. Game 12 winner) – 4 p.m. CT (ESPN)
NOTES: All times are approximate and subject to change … BTN games are also available on the FOX Sports app … ESPN game is also available on the ESPN app … for more information, please visit the tournament web site at bigten.org/WBBT.
Big Ten Conference (bigten.org) is an association of world-class universities whose member institutions share a common mission of research, graduate, professional and undergraduate teaching, and public service. Founded in 1896, Big Ten Conference has sustained a comprehensive set of shared practices and policies that enforce the priority of academics in the lives of students competing in intercollegiate athletics and emphasize the values of integrity, fairness, and competitiveness. The broad-based programs of the 14 Big Ten Conference institutions will provide over $200 million in direct financial support to more than 9,800 students for more than 11,000 participation opportunities on 350 teams in 42 different sports. Big Ten Conference sponsors 28 official conference sports, 14 for men and 14 for women, including the addition of men’s ice hockey and men’s and women’s lacrosse since 2013.
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For more information, contact:
Chris Masters
Director, Communications
Big Ten Conference
(847) 696-1010