Following its 60-55 win over Illinois, the Michigan basketball team had plenty of reasons to be happy. For starters, the Wolverines unofficially punched their ticket to the NCAA tournament. Needing a win to solidify their bid, the Wolverines did just that and probably shouldn't even be considered on the bubble at this point.
Although that was the main thing about beating Illinois, another reason to celebrate is what awaits in the semifinals of the 2011 Big Ten tournament: No. 1 Ohio State. A year ago, Michigan lost in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament to Ohio State on an Evan Turner buzzer beater. This year, Michigan lost a close game at home to OSU and managed to hang with the Buckeyes on the road before the game got out of reach. Now Michigan will have a third chance to get a victory this season and finally get revenge for what happened a year ago in Indianapolis.
With Michigan advancing to the semifinals to play Ohio State, the top half of the 2011 Big Ten tournament bracket is set. The bottom half will be determined tonight with games involving Purdue and Michigan State and Wisconsin and Penn State. You can check out the updated bracket here:
No. 1 Ohio State (beat Northwestern, 67-61 in OT, in quarterfinals) vs. No. 4 Michigan (beat Illinois, 60-55, in quarterfinals)
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No. 2 Purdue vs. No. 7 Michigan State (beat Iowa, 66-61, in first round)
No. 3 Wisconsin vs. No. 6 Penn State (beat Indiana, 61-55, in first round)
For more on the 2011 Big Ten tournament, check out SB Nation Detroit's StoryStream.