This year’s Big Ten conference has been competitive, to say the very least. This year’s Big Ten tournament will likely be the same. No. 2 UCLA leads the way with a perfect 18-0 conference record, while only dropping one game to No. 4 Texas early in the year. No. 9 Iowa and No. 8 Michigan are second and third, respectively, both three games behind the Bruins.
After the top three, the middle of the Big Ten are side by side. The No. 4 seed in the tournament, Minnesota, is just four games ahead of the lowest seed in the first round, No. 10 seed Illinois.
The first round matchups are on Wednesday, March 4: No. 12 seed Nebraska vs. No. 13 seed Indiana (2:30 p.m., CT, Peacock), Illinois vs. No. 15 seed Wisconsin and No. 11 seed Oregon vs. No. 14 seed Purdue.
The lower seeds will, naturally, have a harder time than the rest of the pack play an extra game or two. However, that hasn’t stopped Cinderella teams in the conference tournament. In 2025, two of the four quarterfinal matchups featured a first-round team, including No. 10 seed Nebraska, which lost to No. 2 seed UCLA. In 2024, the final four included No. 5 seed Nebraska, which lost to Iowa in the championship game by just five points, No. 6 seed Michigan and No. 8 seed Maryland.
The parity in the conference has been prevalent throughout the season, as 10 teams were ranked in the AP Top 25 at some point in time this year. March always brings madness, but it also brings magic, something Nebraska may need to make the national tournament this year.
NCAA Tournament Preview: Can the Huskers make it in?
If Nebraska isn’t able to accumulate a win streak in Indianapolis, it will need an at-large bid to make the national tournament. Despite the Huskers’ recent six-game losing streak and overall fall from where they started the season, there is still hope that their name will be called on Selection Sunday.
Before Britt Prince’s game-winning 3-pointer against Washington just over a week ago, many had the Huskers as a lock to be a first four out team. It might have even looked like they would have to pull off a miracle and win the Big Ten altogether to secure a spot.
Thanks to that win over the Huskies, as well as a senior day rout against Rutgers, Nebraska ended the regular season on a winning streak and a high note. It’s been an up-and-down year, but the team is currently projected to be one of the last four teams in. Some even have them as a seven seed in the tournament.
“I think it’s really important when you’re heading into the postseason to try to gain some confidence and momentum,” head coach Amy Williams said. “Our team is definitely feeling a lot better than we were during a stretch where we were very competitive with some of the best teams in the country, but just not getting over the hump. We’re really hoping to carry that momentum into postseason play.”
Williams has acknowledged that the back half of the season did not go as well as it could have, but she still believes her squad has a solid argument for a spot on the dancefloor this year.
“This team has proven to be competitive against teams that are going to be hosting games in the NCAA tournament,” Williams said. “We were still able to go to Michigan State and Michigan and be in one-possession, two-possession ball games and be tied on the road at Iowa with five minutes to go in the game. Those kinds of things, I think, speak for themselves.”
If the Huskers do manage to make the tournament, it will be their third year in a row doing so. Anything can happen in March, and Williams is doing her best to keep the team focused at such a pivotal point in the season.
“That’s what our mentality needs to be,” she said when asked how she wants her players to approach the postseason. “We still have something to play for and we are fighting hard to be in that NCAA tournament.”