The 2012 Big Ten tournament bracket isn't completely set just yet. Four seeds are still to be determined because the game between Indiana and Purdue has not yet gone final. Even so, most of the seeds are already set for the tournament, as are some matchups.
Michigan State will be the No. 1 seed in Indianapolis. The Spartans clinched it earlier in the week. They will face the winner of the first game on Thursday, which will feature No. 8 Iowa and No. 9 Illinois. The winner will advance to face Michigan State at noon ET on Friday.
Michigan State played Iowa and Illinois only once each during the regular season. The Spartans blew out Iowa at home back on Jan. 10. The final score was 95-61 in what was a very lopsided game. Michigan State's only matchup against the Fighting Illini did not go nearly as well. In one of the ugliest games all season, MSU fell on the road to Illinois by a score of 42-41 in a game that saw Draymond Green leave with an injury.
Regardless of which team MSU ends up playing, you can bet the Spartans will be hungry to win their first conference tournament title since 2000. Because of their lack of success in Indy in the last decade, the running joke has been that Tom Izzo doesn't care all that much about the Big Ten tournament. This year, however, I don't think that's the case one bit.
Izzo closes ceremony with "Get ready for the Big Ten tournament. We're gonna go win our championship back."
— John Niyo (@JohnNiyo) March 5, 2012
You can check out the currently empty Big Ten tournament bracket here.
For more on the Michigan State Spartans, go to The Only Colors. You can also head over to SB Nation's main NCAA Basketball hub at SBNation.com/NCAA-Basketball.