Big Ten Tournament Seeding Officially Set

After Michigan's unfortunate loss to Indiana in Bloomington, the regular season is over. Once a couple of other Big Ten games wrapped after U-M's loss, the seeding for the Big Ten Tournament was officially set. Here's the official release from the basketball program explaining how it all sets up.

The University of Michigan men's basketball team has earned the No. 8 seed for the 2023 Big Ten Tournament, which will be held Wednesday through Sunday (March 8-12) at the United Center in Chicago.

Following U-M's 10th straight first round bye, the Wolverines will face No. 9 seed Rutgers in the first game of the Thursday (March 9) session at 11 a.m. CT on the Big Ten Network. With a victory, the Maize and Blue would advance to take on No. 1 seed and regular-season champion Purdue on Friday (March 10) at 11 a.m. CT on the B1G Network.

Michigan played Rutgers only once (Feb. 23) in the regular season, getting the 58-45 road victory at Jersey Mike's Arena. U-M's strong defensive performance held the Scarlet Knights to a season-low 45 points and forced 13 turnovers. led the Wolverines with 16 points and a career-best five steals, while posted 14 points. recorded a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

In the lone meeting with Purdue, Dickinson won the battle of all-conference big men, scoring 21 points to Zach Edey's 19; however, U-M fell short against then-top-ranked Boilermakers, 75-70, at Crisler Center (Jan. 26).

U-M closed the regular season with a 17-14 record with an 11-9 conference record. With 11 conference wins, the Wolverines extended their streak of 10-plus wins to eight straight seasons -- and 11 over the last 12.

The Maize and Blue were led by a trio of Wolverines throughout the season. For the third-straight season Dickinson leads U-M in scoring (18.2 points per game) and rebounding (9.0 rebounds per game), while adding a team-best 13 double-doubles and a team-best 54 blocks -- his first career 50-plus block season. In addition to Dickinson, leads the Wolverines with 76 three-pointers while averaging 14.4 points per game. Bufkin has had a breakout season, averaging 13.9 points per game while leading U-M with 40 steals.

Michigan, who has a 29-21 overall record, is 9-9 in Big Ten Tournament games hosted in Chicago. The last time the Wolverines play at the United Center was in 2019. U-M reached its third-straight championship game that year, but fell to No. 1 seed Michigan State, 65-55, in the title game.

The Wolverines have three tournament titles, including winning four games in four days, twice, to win back-to-back titles (2017 & 2018). In 2017, No. 8-seeded U-M became the lowest seed to win the tournament.

2023 Big Ten Tournament
Chicago, Illinois | United Center
March 8-12, 2023

Wednesday, March 8

G1: #12 Wisconsin vs. #13 Ohio State (5:30 p.m. CT; BTN)
G2: #11 Nebraska vs. #14 Minnesota (~25 min. after G1; BTN)

Thursday, March 9

G3: #8 Michigan vs. #9 Rutgers (11 a.m. CT; BTN)
G4: G1 Winner vs. #5 Iowa (~25 min. after G3; BTN)
G5: #7 Illinois vs. #10 Penn State (5:30 p.m. CT; BTN)
G6: G2 Winner vs. #6 Maryland (~25 min. after G5; BTN)

Friday, March 10

G7: G3 Winner vs. #1 Purdue (11 a.m. CT; BTN)
G8: G4 Winner vs. #4 Michigan State (~25 min. after G7; BTN)
G9: G5 Winner vs. #2 Northwestern (5:30 p.m. CT; BTN)
G10: G6 Winner vs. #3 Indiana (~25 min. after G9; BTN)

Saturday, March 11

G11: G7 Winner vs. G8 Winner (12:00 p.m. CT; CBS)
G12: G9 Winner vs. G10 Winner (~25 min. after G11; CBS)

Sunday, March 12

G13: G11 Winner vs. G12 Winner (2:30 p.m. CT; CBS)