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IOWA GETS #5 SEED IN BIG TEN TOURNAMENT, WILL PLAY ILLINOIS OR MINNESOTA ON THURSDAY

No double-bye for the Hawkeyes.

By RossWB
Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

The seeds for the Big Ten Tournament won't be fully locked into place until the conclusion of  the Wisconsin-Purdue game tonight, the final game of the Big Ten regular season, but we do know what Iowa's seed will be in the Big Ten Tournament thanks to Maryland's loss against Indiana earlier today.  That loss by the Terps means that Iowa, 21-9 overall and 12-6 in the Big Ten, will be the #5 seed in the Big Ten Tournament.  They'll play the winner of the #12 vs #13 game between Illinois (#12 seed) and Minnesota (#13 seed) at approximately 1:30 PM CT on Thursday, March 10.  They'll be the second game of the day on Thursday, after the #8 vs #9 game between Michigan (#8 seed) and Northwestern (#9 seed).

The #5 vs #12 game between Iowa and Illinois-Minnesota will be televised by BTN, with online coverage from BTN2Go.

If Iowa gets by the winner of the Illinois-Minnesota game on Thursday, they'll play #4 seed, Purdue, on Friday, March 11. The game between the #4 seed and the winner of the #5/12 or 13 game will tip off at approximately 1:30 PM CT on Friday, with TV coverage from ESPN. Win that game and Iowa would face the winner of the #1 Indiana vs Michigan-Northwestern game on Saturday at 12 PM CT, with TV coverage from CBS.

Winning two games in a row might seems like a bit of a fanciful notion when Iowa has managed to win just one game since Valentine's Day, but hey -- dare to dream, right?  And they really did look much improved against Michigan last night.  Maybe the fever has finally broken after that nightmarish two-week span at the end of February.

As for Thursday's opponents, Iowa went 1-0 against Minnesota this year, beating them 75-71 in a sloppy game in Iowa City last month. Iowa also went 1-0 against Illinois this year, beating them 77-65 in Champaign at the beginning of February.  Oddly enough, those two wins were Iowa's last Big Ten wins until Iowa's victory over Michigan last night.

We'll have more coverage of Iowa's game against the Illinois-Minnesota winner throughout the week.

EDIT: And here's the full bracket:

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