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Ohio State Earns No. 5 Seed in Big Ten Tournament

The Big Ten has released the bracket for this week's conference tournament in Indianapolis. The Buckeyes will play either Northwestern or Minnesota in the first game.

March Madness is officially upon us.

Ohio State concluded the regular season on Saturday afternoon with a disappointing loss at home to No. 4 Illinois, marking a fourth straight defeat. But now the Big Ten Tournament bracket is set in stone and the Buckeyes are ready to put the late February gauntlet behind them as they make a run at a league championship.

Ohio State is the No. 5 seed in the bracket this year, which means they'll play a game on Thursday with a chance to qualify for the quarterfinals. The Buckeyes will play either No. 13 Minnesota or No. 12 Northwestern in the second game of the day on Thursday, March 11 (tipoff is approximately 2 p.m. eastern time) at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

No. 1 Michigan (who lost on Sunday to Michigan State), No. 2 Illinois, No. 3 Iowa and No. 4 Purdue earned the top four seeds in the tournament this year. If Ohio State wins its Thursday game, it will play Purdue in the quarterfinals. The Boilermakers are the only team to beat the Buckeyes twice this season. In order to make it to that stage, Ohio State would have to avenge an early Big Ten loss to either the Golden Gophers or Wildcats.

A potential Big Ten semifinal round game looms against Michigan. If Ohio State wins a conference title, they'll have to do so by winning four games in four days in the toughest league in America. Sunday's championship final is set for 3:30 and will be televised live on CBS.

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