The Big Ten basketball race could come down to the final day of the regular season. And the way the schedule is set up now, the title likely won’t be decided until the last game of conference play.
The Big Ten announced Wednesday that its “wild card” games over the March 3-4 weekend are now set in stone: Illinois at Wisconsin will take place on March 4 at 1 p.m. on the Big Ten Network. Of more importance to the conference race, most likely, is the Michigan at Penn State game, which also will tip at 1 and be shown on ESPN.
The conference slate will then conclude at 4 p.m. when Michigan State hosts Ohio State on CBS, possibly with the Big Ten crown on the line.
Heading into Wednesday night’s action — Michigan State visits Minnesota at 8:30 ET — the Spartans hold a half-game lead over Ohio State and Michigan, with Wisconsin two games back. Following Michigan State-Minnesota and Thursday’s Wisconsin-Iowa matchup, all four of those teams will have three games left before the conference tournament.