Big Ten Tennis Bracket Released

The Big Ten Conference announced the seedings and bracket for the 2021 Big Ten Men’s Tennis Tournament on Wednesday. The tournament will be hosted by the University of Nebraska at the Dillon Tennis Center. The Huskers secure the sixth seed in the West division and the 11^th seed overall and will take on the Penn Statee Nittany Lions in the first round on Thursday, April 29 at 10:00 a.m. CT. 
 
The 2021 tournament is split into an East and West division with five teams in the East and six teams in the West. Purdue was set to fill the last spot in the East, but decided not to send their men’s and women’s tennis teams to the Big Ten Tournaments out of an abundance of caution. 
 
In the East, Ohio State clinched the No. 1 seed after completing the regular season with an 15-1 conference record. Michigan clinches the No. 2 seed with a 14-2 conference record, while Penn State grabs the No. 3 seed with a 7-9 record in conference play. Indiana and Michigan State close out the division at the No. 4 and No. 5 spots.
 
In the West, Illinois sits in the No. 1 position with a 14-1 conference record, and Northwestern is at No. 2 with a 11-5 record in the conference season. Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin are at No. 3, 4 and 5, and Nebraska takes the final spot at No. 6.

The top two seeds in each division of the Big Ten Tournament and the No. 3 seed in the West, Minnesota, receive first round byes and will begin play in Friday’s quarterfinals.

Three matches highlight Thursday’s first round. West No. 4 Iowa will take on East No. 5 Michigan State, while East No. 3 Penn State will face West No. 6 Nebraska. East No. 4 Indiana will take on West No. 5 Wisconsin.

In Friday’s quarterfinals, Ohio State will take on the Iowa/Michigan State winner, while Northwestern will face the winner of the Penn State/Nebraska match. Illinois will take on the Indiana/Wisconsin victor, and Michigan and Minnesota will face off.

Thursday and Friday’s first round and quarterfinal matches and Saturday’s semifinals will begin at 10:00 a.m. CT, while Sunday’s championship match will begin at 11:00 a.m. CT.

Live stats will be available on huskers.com for every match, and Sunday’s championship match will be streamed on Big Ten Network+.