Big Ten basketball tournament 2013 schedule and bracket: Thursday schedule

The 2013 Big Ten basketball tournament begins on Thursday as Minnesota takes on Illinois, Penn State takes on Michigan and more.

By Jason Garrison@JasonRG83 Mar 14, 2013, 9:00am CDT

The Big Ten conference men's basketball tournament is set to tip off on Thursday, March 14 in Chicago's United Center. All 12 of the conference's teams will participate in the tournament and the winner will get an automatic bid in the NCAA tournament later in March.

More: Full Big Ten Tournament Coverage

The first game of the day is between the No. 9 Minnesota Golden Gophers and the No. 8 Illinois Fighting Illini. The two teams split in their two meetings this season. The winner of that game will take on the Indiana Hoosiers on Friday. Tip off is at 11 a.m. EST and the game will be broadcast on BTN.

The second game of the day is between the No. 12 Penn State Nittany Lions and the No. 5 Michigan Wolverines. Michigan and Penn State also split in their two meetings this season and the winner of their tournament game will face the Wisconsin Badgers on Friday. The game begins at 1:30 p.m. EST and will be broadcast on BTN.

The third game of the day is set to be between No. 10 Nebraska Cornhuskers and the No. 7 Purdue Boilermakers. Nebraska lost their one and only game against Purdue this season. The winner of this game will go up against the Ohio State Buckeyes on Friday. The game is set to begin at 5:30 p.m. and will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2.

The final game of the Big Ten tournament to be played on Friday will be between the No. 11 Northwestern Wildcats and the No. 6 Iowa Hawkeyes. Iowa won both of their games against the Wildcats this season. The winner of the final game on Thursday will play the final game on Friday against the Michigan State Spartans. The Wildcats can be seen taking on the Hawkeyes at 8 p.m. EST Thursday night on ESPN2.

You can catch all the Big Ten tournament action you can handle right here.