8A - Thursday, March 10, 2011 .4 DUELING BIG TEN TOURNAMENT BRACKETS Senior Sports Editors and men's basketball beat writers Zak Pyzik and Chantel Jennings predict the outcome of this week's Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis. The first-round of play begins today. Michigan's second-round game against Ilinois takes place Friday at 2:30 p.m. ET. PYZIK'S BRACKET No.8 No.9 No.4 No.N5 No.2 No. 7S S No.10 No.3w No. 3 No.6 w No.11 Check out michigandaily.com for video previews of the Michigan-Illinois game and the Big Ten Tournament. AND CHECK BACK ONLINE FOR COVERAGE FROM INDIANAPOLIS. JENNINGS'S BRACKET I' 4 14 It's anyone's game: Who are the favorites? I University ofMii By CHANTEL JENNINGS and No. 2 PURDUE WINS IF ... Big ZAK PYZIK Ten Player of the Year, senior Daily Sports Editors JuJuan Johnson, plays a few average games. Mind you, aver- Half of the Michigan Daily age for him is 20 points and eight men's basketball beat provides boards per game. And if John- you with a preview of the Big son's partner in crime, senior Ten Tournament. The games E'Twaun Moore plays like he begin with a matchup between normally does - 18 points per Northwestern and Minnesota game - the pair will be hard to on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. Below, stop. Purdue wins if these two the Daily analyzes what the top- show up to play. five seeds must do at Conseco Purdue runs away with it if Field House in Indianapolis to Johnson and Moore catch fire. win it all and garner the cov- The two comprise of the most eted automatic berth to the Big dynamic duo in the conference Dance. this year, and beyond that, the No. 1 OSU WINS IF ... every- Boilermakers know how to play thinggoes to plan. The Buckeyes team basketball, averaging 16 are ranked No. 1 in the country assists per game. and are expected to not only No. 3 WISCONSIN WINS IF ... win the Big Ten Tournament Badger coach Bo Ryan has any- but make a push for the national thing to say about it. Or if Josh championship. Freshman Jared Gasser comes up big (hey, it's Sullinger has replaced super- happened before). The Badgers star Evan Turner, who left the just got spanked by Ohio State in Buckeyes last year. Columbus (their worst loss of the Sullinger has practically season), so Ryan most likely has beaten teams by himself. The had them envisioning a rematch 280-pounder averages 17 points with the Buckeyes in the cham- and 10 rebounds a game. When pionship game. they need a 3-pointer, Sullinger The Badgers won the tour- will take it as he did in the final nament in 2008 and senior Jon minutes against Wisconsin Leuer and junior Jordan Taylor, (it was also a fadeaway) and both All-Big Ten firstteam selec- when Ohio State needs some tions, are looking to get back horse power in the post, he can there. And winning it over the clearly do that as well. Sullinger top-seeded Buckeyes would only recently captured the Big Ten's make it sweeter. Freshman of the Year award No.4 MICHIGAN WINS IF ... it and has the ability to take Ohio plays as hot as it has in its last 11 State deep into the tournament. games. But that means the Wol- verines need to continue to get production from its big three: Darius Morris, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Jordan Morgan. The trio has combined for more than a third of Michigan's scor- F Asvt ing this season. Morgan has to stay out of foul trouble - some- thing he struggled with for the first half of the season - so the Wolverines will at least have one big man on the floor. Hardaway Jr. must produce like he has - averaging 14 points a game. And Morris must con- tinue to make intelligent deci- sions and be the effective floor general he has been for much of the season. No. S ILLINOIS WINS IF ... Evan Smotrycz takes a 3-point- er at the buzzer. But really, the Fighting Illini could walk away with the game against Michigan if its two big men, 7-foot-1 Mike Tisdale and 6-foot-9 Mike Davis, control the paint. The two will be a formidable opponent for any Big Ten big man. The pair would be thrilled to face off against Ohio State fresh- 4 man Jared Sullinger again - he scored 27 points the first time the two teams played, but just 12 points the second. This team is on the NCAA bubble and its four seniors are ready to fight. THE MOST LIKELY DARK HORSE IS ... Penn State. The Nit- tany Lions are ledbysenior guard Talor Battle, who has never been to an NCAA Tournament. Join- ing Battle are three other senior starters: Jeff Brooks, David Jack- son and Andrew Jones. These four seniors make up a very con- sistent, veteran squad that has kept it close or beaten every team in this conference. The last chance for these old 4 timers to garner a bid to the tournament is to win the Big Ten Tournament and receive an auto berth. If not, the Nittany Lions will probably end their season in the NIT. MostInnovative Undergraduate Experience What makes learning at U of M so special? If you are an undergraduate student grab your video camera and tell us in 4 minutes or less what you think is most innovative about undergraduate education at U of M, and we'll award the three best storytellers with a $200 cash prize. Show us, don't tell us, about some method of teaching or creative approach to learning you have experienced at the university. The more creative you are in telling us the story the more likely you are to win.We'll post the best entries on a blog we're creating about undergraduate education. Entry deadline is: March 21st Please post your videos to YouTube and send the link to: Professor Lewis Morgenstern (Lmorgens@umich.edu) and include your name and contact information. Remember you must be a currently enrolled undergraduate student at U of M to enter. Please obtain permission from subjects before filming. TRA I N I NG "Make Your First Impression Your Best!" 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