UCLA's pathway to win the Big Ten tournament

UCLA received a number four seed in the Big Ten tournament, giving them a double bye and avoiding the tournament's first two rounds. Here is how they can win the whole thing.
ByRyan Kay|
UCLA Bruins guard Eric Dailey Jr. shoots the winning basket over Michigan State Spartans center Carson Cooper and forward Coen Carr.
UCLA Bruins guard Eric Dailey Jr. shoots the winning basket over Michigan State Spartans center Carson Cooper and forward Coen Carr. | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
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Here is a look at who UCLA may face in the B1G tournament on their way to a possible Big Ten title.

UCLA's women's team won the Big Ten tournament by defeating USC, which may motivate the men's team to do the same. We will look at how the men's team can take home the B1G tournament title and who they could possibly face on their way to a potential championship.

UCLA will play the winner of Wisconsin vs. Northwestern/Minnesota in the quarterfinals of the tournament. Here is a look at all three teams that the Bruins could face in their first game of the tournament.

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Northwestern Wildcats

3-11 Quad One record | 5-3 Quad Two record
Northwestern Wildcats Logo

Northwestern Wildcats
Overall Record: 16-15 Conference Record: 7-13
Rankings among five metric-based sites: NET: #55, KenPom: #47, Barttorvik: #55, BPI: #49, Evan Miya: #71
Quality wins this season: Montana State (72-69), UNLV (66-61) in the Arizona Tip-off Cactus Division, Illinois (70-66), Georgia Tech (71-60), DePaul (84-64), Maryland (76-74), Indiana (79-70), USC (77-75), @ Ohio State (70-49), @ Minnesota (75-63), and Iowa (68-57).
Defeats this season: @ Dayton (66-71), Butler (69-71) in the Arizona Tip-off Cactus Division, @ Iowa (79-80), @ Penn State (80-84), @ Purdue (61-79), Michigan State (68-78), @ Michigan (76-80), @ Illinois (74-83), Rutgers (72-79), Wisconsin (69-75), @ Washington (71-76), @ Oregon (75-81), Nebraska (64-68), UCLA (69-73), and @ Maryland (61-74).

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Minnesota Golden Gophers

7-8 Quad One record | 1-6 Quad Two record
Minnesota Golden Gophers Logo

Minnesota Golden Gophers
Overall Record: 15-16 Conference Record: 7-13
Rankings among five metric-based sites: NET: #93, KenPom: #89, Barttorvik: #84, BPI: #87, Evan Miya: #93
Quality wins this season: Yale (59-56), Michigan (84-81), @ Iowa (72-67), Oregon (77-69), @ Penn State (69-61), @ USC (69-66), @ UCLA (64-61), and @ Nebraska (67-65).
Defeats this season: Wichita State (66-68), Wake Forest (51-57) in the ESPN Events Invitational, North Texas (51-54), Michigan State (72-90), @ Indiana (67-82), Purdue (61-81), Ohio State (88-89), @ Wisconsin (59-80), @ Maryland (71-77), @ Michigan State (51-73), Washington (68-71), Illinois (74-95), Penn State (60-69), Northwestern (63-75), Wisconsin (67-74), and @ Rutgers (67-75).

The winner of this first-round game plays Wisconsin in the second round of the B1G tournament.

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Wisconsin Badgers

6-7 Quad One Record | 9-1 Quad Two Record
Wisconsin Badgers Logo

Wisconsin Badgers
Overall Record: 23-8 Conference Record: 13-7
Rankings from five metric-based sites: Net: #19, KenPom: #12, Barttorvik: #15, BPI: #23, Evan Miya: #16
Quality wins this season: UCF (86-70) and Pittsburgh (81-75) in the Greenbrier Tip-off—Mountain Division, Butler (83-74), Arizona (103-88), Iowa (116-85), @ Rutgers (75-63), Ohio State (70-68), @ USC (84-69), Nebraska (83-55), @ Northwestern (75-69), Indiana (76-64), @ Iowa (74-63), @ Purdue (94-84), Illinois (95-74), Washington (88-62), and @ Minnesota (74-67).
Defeats this season: Michigan (64-67), @ Marquette (74-88), @ Illinois (80-86), @ UCLA (83-85), Oregon (73-77), @ Maryland (68-76), Oregon (73-77), @ Michigan State (62-71), and Penn State (75-86).

Schedule

Schedule