The Big Ten Conference Tournament Championship game will take place on Sunday afternoon. It will feature the 5^th-seed Wisconsin Badgers and the 2^nd-seed Illinois Fighting Illini. The tournament will take place in Minneapolis, Minnesota, at the Target Center. Tip-off for the Championship game is scheduled for 3:30 PM ET and will air on CBS.

The Wisconsin Badgers pulled off the upset on Saturday in their Big Ten Semifinals matchup against the Purdue Boilermakers. They won the game in overtime by a score of 76-75, their first win against the Boilermakers this season after losing the first two meetings. The Badgers will look to win their first Big Ten Tournament Championship since the 2014-15 college basketball season when they face the Fighting Illini in the championship game on Sunday afternoon. 

The Badgers lost the only other meeting this season, with the loss coming at home by a score of 83-91. The defensive efficiency of the Badgers has been vital for their success in the Big Ten tournament, as they have held their opponent to an average of 64 points per game and have won their three games in the tournament by an average margin of 13.67 points per game with wins over the Maryland Terrapins in the 2^nd round of the tournament by a score of 87-56, the Northwestern Wildcats in the Quarterfinals by a score of 70-61, and the Purdue Boilermakers by a score of 76-75 in overtime in the Semifinals. 

The Wisconsin Badgers will look to avenge their loss earlier this season against the Illinois Fighting Illini and win their first conference tournament since the 2014-15 season when they square off against the Fighting Illini in the championship game.

The Illinois Fighting Illini have been the 2^nd best team in the Big Ten this season, finishing the regular season with an overall record of 25-8 and a conference record of 14-6. However, the Fighting Illini had to come back from a double-digit deficit at halftime on Saturday in their Semifinal matchup against the Nebraska Cornhuskers as they trailed Nebraska 40-51 in the first half and trailed 40-55 less than a minute into the 2^nd half before going on a 10-0 run to cut the deficit to 53-57, the Fighting Illini did not take complete control of the game until 8:23 left to go in the game when they went on a 7-0 run to take the 75-70 lead and never lost the lead following the lead changing possession. 

Illinois defeated the Wisconsin Badgers in the earlier season matchup on the road by a score of 91-83 and covered the spread as a 3.5-point road underdog by winning the game outright. Illinois's success this season can be attributed to its offensive efficiency, as it ranks 12^th nationally in scoring with an average of 83.94 points per game. 

The Illinois Fighting Illini will look to win their first Big Ten Tournament since the 2020-21 college basketball season when they face the Wisconsin Badgers in the Championship game on Sunday afternoon.

BookMaker lists the Illinois Fighting Illini as 3-point favorites against the Wisconsin Badgers in the Big Ten Conference Tournament championship game on Sunday afternoon. The Fighting Illini won the only other meeting this season on the road by a score of 91-83, extending their winning streak to seven games in the series. The Fighting Illini have also covered the spread in eight straight games in the series. 

Both teams are locks for the NCAA tournament and have played well in the Big Ten Tournament. However, Illinois has won seven straight games against Wisconsin and has covered eight straight games in the series, including a 3.5-point cover as a road underdog in a 91-83 win in the only other meeting this season. As a result, I am laying the points with the Illinois Fighting Illini when they face the Wisconsin Badgers in the Big Ten Conference Tournament Championship.