Conseco Fieldhouse is the site for the Big 10 Tournament this season, and before making your Big 10 Tournament picks, be sure to take a look at how our NCAA basketball handicappers break down the college basketball odds for this great event, which will make or break the seasons of a number of teams.

It’s going to be really hard to bet against the Ohio State Buckeyes (1 to 1.60 Odds to Win Big 10 Tournament at SportBet Sportsbook). After all, this is a team that has already run the table against every single team in this conference in games either played at home or on neutral courts, and the only two setbacks of the season came against Wisky and Purdue, the other two formidable foes in this conference, and both defeats came in legit road games in hostile territories. On top of that, the Buckeyes are going to get a relatively favorable draw, playing one of the lesser seeds in this tournament to start with on Friday before drawing either Illinois or Michigan. That’s about as good as it gets. We’re not so sure that we want to choke on this much chalk, but it seems like a reasonable play to us as it is.

Of course, the other two favorites to take down this conference crown on the NCAA basketball betting lines are the Purdue Boilermakers (2.95 to 1 Big 10 Tournament Odds at SportBet Sportsbook) and the Wisconsin Badgers (4.75 to 1 2011 Big 10 Tournament odds at SportBet Sportsbook). Both teams are legitimately potential very high seeds in the NCAA Tournament, and Purdue could even get all the way up to a No. 1 seed in the dance by the time it’s all said and done if it wins this conference crown. Both teams are predicated on individual stars and fantastic defense, and as long as Jordan Taylor, Jon Leuer, JaJuan Johnson, and E’Twaun Moore come to play, both of these teams are going to be on a beeline for one another in the Big Ten Semifinals. Both have great odds right now to back, though knowing that only one can be in the final makes us prefer to take the Badgers over the Boilers.

The scary team that could come out of the parking lot to win this tournament is the Michigan Wolverines (35 to 1 Big 10 Tournament Lines at SportBet Sportsbook). This is one of the hottest teams in the conference right now, in men like Tim Hardaway Jr. and Darius Morris are really on fire. Big Blue probably needs less to happen right now than a lot of other teams do in the Big Ten to get into the field of 68, but when push comes to shove, it probably has the best chance to really beat the big boys. Remember last season, it was only on the graces of an Evan Turner de facto Hail Mary that the heavily favored Buckeyes were able to knock off these Wolverines in the quarterfinals of this tournament.

2011 Big 10 Tournament Odds @ SportBet Sportsbook (as of 3/8/11):
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Ohio State Buckeyes 1 to 1.60
Purdue Boilermakers 2.95 to 1
Wisconsin Badgers 4.75 to 1
Illinois Fighting Illini 16 to 1
Michigan Wolverines 35 to 1
Michigan State Spartans 55 to 1
Penn State Nittany Lions 100 to 1
Minnesota Golden Gophers 125 to 1
Northwestern Wildcats 225 to 1
Indiana Hoosiers 350 to 1
Iowa Hawkeyes 1,250 to 1