BIG TEN TOURNAMENT OPEN THREAD: DAY ONE

The Big Ten Tournament finally gets underway this afternoon, with a pair of games among the league's four worst teams: Nebrasketball, Illinois, Minnesota, and Rutgers.  Feel the excitement!  But these games are of interest to Iowa fans, because one of those aforementioned teams (either Illinois or Minnesota) is going to be Iowa's opponent at approximately 1:30 PM CT tomorrow.  We probably want to know who that opponent will be, right?  It's almost certainly going to be Illinois because Minnesota has so few players right now that Goldie Gopher or a particularly tall band member may be asked to sub in at some point during today's game.  But perhaps they'll tape into a bit of tournament magic -- you never know, right?

That game is the first one of the day, while Nebrasketball's clash with Rutgers is the nightcap.

GAME ONE: #12 Illinois vs #13 Minnesota (3:30 PM CT, ESPN2)

GAME TWO: #11 Nebraska vs #14 Rutgers (7 PM CT, BTN)

Here's the full bracket:

The usual rules apply.