2012 Big Ten Tournament: Bracket, Schedule, TV Coverage And More

The 2012 Big Ten Tournament bracket was finalized on Sunday afternoon with the Minnesota Golden Gophers officially being slotted in to the No. 10 seed following their win against the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Saturday.

The Gophers are scheduled to play basketball against the Northwestern Wildcats on ESPN 2 in a game on Thursday afternoon for the right to play the Michigan Wolverines in the second round Friday evening. In order to make the NCAA Tournament, however, they'll probably need to win the Big Ten championship considering their disastrous end to the regular season.

The Gophers split their regular season series with the Wildcats, picking up a 23-point victory on Jan. 22 before dropping a 64-53 loss in the middle of their recent six-game losing streak. They also played Northwestern in the first round of the 2011 Big Ten tournament, losing 75-65 and missing out on March Madness.

The full Big Ten basketball tournament schedule is included below. All times are Eastern.

Thursday, March 8

11:30 a.m.: No. 8 Iowa Hawkeyes (16-15, 8-10) vs. No. 9 Illinois Fighting Illini (17-13, 6-12). Big Ten Network.

2 p.m.: No. 5 Indiana Hoosiers (24-7, 11-7) vs. No. 12 Penn State Nittany Lions (12-19, 4-14). Big Ten Network.

5:30 p.m.: No. 7 Northwestern (18-12, 8-10) vs. No. 10 Minnesota (18-13, 6-12). ESPN2.

8 p.m.: No. 6 Purdue Boilermakers (20-11, 10-8) vs. No. 11 Nebraska Cornhuskers (12-17, 4-14). ESPN2.

Friday, March 9

Noon: No. 1 Michigan State Spartans (24-7, 13-5) vs. Iowa/Illnois winner, ESPN.

2:30 p.m.: No. 4 Wisconsin Badgers (23-8, 12-6) vs. Indiana/Penn State winner, ESPN.

6:30 p.m.: No. 2 Michigan Wolverines (23-8, 13-5) vs. Northwestern/Minnesota winner, Big Ten Network.

9 p.m.: No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes (25-6, 13-5) vs. Purdue/Nebraska winner, Big Ten Network.

Saturday, March 10

1:40 p.m.: Michigan State/Iowa/Illinois vs. Wisconsin/Indiana/Penn State, CBS.

4:10 p.m.: Michigan/Northwestern/Minnesota vs. Ohio State/Purdue/Nebraska, CBS.

Sunday, March 11

3:30 p.m.: Semifinal winners, CBS.

For more on the Minnesota Golden Gophers, check out The Daily Gopher. You can also learn more about college basketball around the nation at SB Nation's College Basketball hub.