The Huskies will open play on Wednesday against No. 12 Southern California.
After wrapping up the regular season at 15-16 and 7-13 inside Big Ten Conference play, the University of Washington men's basketball team will kick off its Big Ten Tournament run on Tuesday morning against No. 13 Southern California.
The Huskies earned the No. 12 seed. As a reminder, all 18 teams make the league tournament, which is held in Chicago.
The bracket itself
Day 1 matchups (Tuesday): No. 16 Oregon vs. No. 17 Maryland and No. 15 Northwestern against No. 18 Penn State.
Day 2 matchups (Wednesday): No. 9 Iowa against Oregon/Maryland winner, No. 13 USC vs. No. 12 Washington, No. 10 Indiana vs. Northwestern/Penn State winner and No. 14 Rutgers vs. No. 11 Minnesota
**The first game of the day is set for 9 a.m. PT, with the Washington game set to start 25 minutes after that game concludes.**
Day 3 matchups (Thursday): Brings in No. 8 Ohio State, No. 7 Purdue, No. 6 UCLA and No. 5 Wisconsin
Day 4 matchups: (Friday): Brings in No. 4 Illinois, No. 3 Michigan State, No. 2 Nebraska and No. 1 Michigan
About the Huskies chances
Given that they'd have to win five games in five days, the odds of UW winning the Big Ten championship to capture the league's automatic bid are extremely small.
Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports shared them from Fanduel below:
Big 10 Tournament Winner Odds.
Michigan -105
Illinois +480
Purdue +600
Michigan State +650
Nebraska +1000
Wisconsin +3000
UCLA +4000
Iowa +6000
Ohio State +8000
Indiana +10000
Washington +22500
Northwestern +30000
USC +30000
Oregon +30000
Minnesota +30000
The only solace for Washington is that they do have the best odds of any team seeded 11-15. It's been a difficult year for Danny Sprinkle's team, as they've been riddled with injuries throughout. Saturday's loss to Oregon was just the latest gut punch, as the Huskies blew a 79-76 lead in the final seconds thanks to a game-tying three-pointer plus a foul that put them behind one. Sprinkle was ejected in the final moments after a UW turnover.
One other point of optimism? Just two years ago we saw North Carolina State win five games in five days to win the ACC title. That team also got to the Final Four.
Also on campus
--The UW women's basketball team fell in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament against eventual champion UCLA. The Huskies had a 10-point lead in the second half but weren't able to secure it. They'll now wait for their NCAA Tournament fate until the brackets are revealed on March 15.
--Speaking of UW women's basketball, legendary Huskies standout Kelsey Plum is back on the court this week for Team USA at the FIBA World Cup qualifiers. She's a two-time Olympic gold medalist.
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