Big Ten NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Tracker

The madness is set to begin for the 2023 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, and the Big Ten is represented well in this year’s bracket. A total of eight teams from the Big Ten managed to grab a spot in the tournament, starting with Big Ten regular season and tournament champion Purdue taking a top seed in the East region.

Joining Purdue in this year’s tournament will be Penn State, which fell to the Boilermakers in the Big Ten tournament championship game. The Nittany Lions are making just their third appearance in the tournament since joining the Big Ten, and this is their first tournament appearance since 2011.

Indiana and Iowa each join Penn State in the Midwest region. Michigan State joins Purdue in the East region. Maryland will be the lone Big Ten team fighting in the South region. And Illinois and Northwestern could potentially face each other in the West region.

A pair of future Big Ten members, USC and UCLA, also made the tournament, although they are not included in this Big Ten NCAA Tournament tracker.

Here is a look at each Big Ten team in this year’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Results will be updated and matchups will be added throughout the tournament as long as a Big Ten team is in the big dance.

All times are Eastern.

Michigan State Spartans

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Region: East

Seed: 7

First round: (7) Michigan State 72, (10) USC 62

In a matchup of future Big Ten foes, Michigan State found a way to gut out a hard-earned win against USC in their first-round matchup in Columbus, Ohio. Joey Hauser led the Spartans with 17 points and head coach Tom Izzo snapped a whiteboard in half for an early viral moment in the tournament.

Michigan State will now face Big East champion Marquette on Sunday.

Second Round: (7) Michigan State 69, (2) Marquette 60

Tyson Walker led the Spartans with 23 points in a victory over Big East champion Marquette to send Michigan State into the Sweet 16, and the native New Yorker will get to play the next round at Madison Square Garden of all places. Michigan State really clamped down on Marquette in the final minutes to advance to the first Sweet 16 for the program in four years.

Michigan State will face Kansas State on Thursday after the Wildcats of the Big 12 eliminated Kentucky.

Sweet 16: (3) Kansas State vs. (7) Micigan State (Thursday, Mar. 23, 6:30 p.m., TBS)

Purdue Boilermakers - ELIMINATED

Mar 17, 2023; Columbus, OH, USA; Fairleigh Dickinson Knights guard Demetre Roberts (2) celebrates a ply in the second half against the Purdue Boilermakers at Nationwide Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Region: East

Seed: 1

First round: (16) Fairleigh Dickinson 63, (1) Purdue 58

For just the second time in NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament history, a 16-seed knocked off a 1-seed in the first round. Purdue, champions of the Big Ten’s regular season and tournament, were handed one of the mightiest upsets in tournament history by the NEC’s Fairleigh Dickinson, who now joins UMBC as the only men’s basketball program in history to pull off the once unprecedented upset.

Zach Edey scored 21 points for the Boilermakers, but Purdue’s inability to get him the ball under the hoop against the nation’s smallest team in the tournament in meaningful minutes in the second half was baffling.

Fairleigh Dickinson advanced to the second round to face the FAU Owls, who topped Memphis in the first round.

Illinois Fighting Illini - ELIMINATED

Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

Region: West

Seed: 9

First round: (8) Arkansas 73, (9) Illinois 63

Despite a 20-point effort from Terrence Shannon Jr., the Illini were unable to figure out the defense of Arkansas early enough to make a serious run at getting to the second round. Arkansas held a halftime lead of 36-26 and drew even with Illinois in the second half to keep the Illini at arm’s length the rest of the way. Matthew Mayer was held to just two points in the loss and he missed all six of his shots.

Illinois is now 1-8 all-time against teams from the SEC in the men’s basketball tournament.

Iowa Hawkeyes - ELIMINATED

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Region: Midwest

Seed: 8

First round: (9) Auburn 83, (8) Iowa 75

Iowa certainly felt like it was in a road environment when facing Auburn in nearby Birmingham, Alabama and the Hawkeyes were unable to come up with a big run when it needed it the most in a tournament-opening loss to Auburn. Iowa didn’t use the atmosphere as an excuse though. Iowa had 21 points from Payton Sandford and 15 from Kris Murray, but Iowa ended its season on a three-game losing streak with a loss in the final game of the regular season, a loss in the Big Ten basketball tournament, and now in the NCAA tournament. The Hawkeyes missed all nine three-point attempts in the first half and couldn’t recover in the second half.

Northwestern Wildcats - ELIMINATED

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Region: West

Seed: 7

First round: (7) Northwestern 75, (10) Boise State 67

Boo Buie led Northwestern with 22 points to send the Wildcats to the second round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament in just its second trip to the big dance in school history. Northwestern never trailed Boise State in the game as the Broncos continued their unfortunate tournament trends.

Up next for the Wildcats is a matchup with future Big Ten opponent, the UCLA Bruins, on Saturday.

Second round: (2) UCLA 68, (7) Northwestern 63

Boo Buie did his best to guide Northwestern to the Sweet 16, but the UCLA Bruins were too strong to take down in the end. The Bruins controlled Northwestern’s ability to get good looks while shooting 50.0% themselves. UCLA led by as many as 14 points before holding on at the end for a victory to advance to next weekend.

Northwestern’s best season in school history comes to a close with plenty of reasons to be proud of the effort.

Penn State Nittany Lions - ELIMINATED

Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports

Region: Midwest

Seed: 10

First round: (10) Penn State 76, (7) Texas A&M 59

In a matchup of conference tournament championship runners-up from the Big Ten and SEC, Penn State came out and shredded Texas A&M from three-point range. Andrew Funk scorched the Aggies with 27 points, highlighted by eight three-pointers made on 10 attempts (and hitting three foul shots on one of his misses). It is the biggest postseason victory in school history for Penn State, who advanced to the second round for the first time since 2001.

Penn State will face Big 12 champion Texas in the second round with a spot in the Sweet 16 on the line.

Second round: (2) Texas 71, (10) Penn State 66

The red-hot shooting from the first round didn’t carry over against a strong defensive effort from Texas. Penn State’s long-range shots would not fall early and often enough but Penn State did battle its way back to take a lead with under five minutes to play. But the Longhorns went on a run to regain control and close out a win to bring Penn State’s season to an end.

Now the focus is on what changes could be on the horizon for Penn State in the offseason, with a possible contract extension for Micah Shrewsberry in the works.

Maryland Terrapins - ELIMINATED

Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports

Region: South

Seed: 8

First round: (8) Maryland 67, (9) West Virginia 65

The first game on the NCAA Tournament schedule on Thursday certainly set the tone for the rest of the weekend. Maryland overcame an early deficit in the first half to take a lead into halftime against West Virginia, and the Terrapins had to hang on for a two-point win in the first round to advance to the next round.

Four Maryland starters scored in double figures with Julian Reese leading all players with 17 points and nine rebounds in the win. Alabama takes on the tournament’s top overall seed in the second round when they face Alabama on Saturday.

Second round: (1) Alabama 73, (8) Maryland 51

Maryland tried to hang with the tournament’s top seed for as long as it could, but all of the steam came out after halftime as Alabaaom overwhelmed the Terps to cruise to a second-round victory and reach the Sweet 16. Maryland was outscored 45-28 in the second half after a scrappy first half kept Maryland in striking distance. Alabama just had too much to contain.

Indiana Hoosiers - ELIMINATED

David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

Region: Midwest

Seed: 4

First round: (4) Indiana 71,  (13) Kent State 60

Indiana was given what was believed to be a potentially tough draw against Kent State, but Trayce Jackson-Davis and the Hoosiers made sure they would not fall victim to the upset bug in the first round. Jackson-Davis scored 24 points and 11 rebounds to help lead Indiana into the second round.

Indiana will face Miami on Sunday for a spot in the Sweet 16.

Second Round: (5) Miami 85, (4) Indiana 69

After trailing Mami by five points at halftime, Indiana was grasping for air in the second half as the Hurricanes put a beating on the Hoosiers in the second half. Miami outpaced the Hoosiers 45-34 in the second half with Isaiah Wong leading the effort with 27 points in the game. Indiana’s Trayce Jackson-Davis led Indiana with 23 points but Miami out-rebounded Indiana 48-31, including 20 offensive rebounds for second chances on offense.

Indiana’s loss left the Big Ten with just one team remaining in the tournament going into the second week with Michigan State remaining alive in the Sweet 16.

Story originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire