Today, at 3:30 p.m., we begin postseason play.

It is time for the Big Ten Tournament, with 15 teams playing 14 games over the next five days in Indianapolis. Based on the talent level the conference displayed throughout the year, we should have some bangers in store.

So, let’s talk about them! And even better — or perhaps, much worse depending on my ball knowledge — let’s also talk about the hypothetical future games my brain came up with (those teams will be marked with an *asterisk*).

Last Hoopla: My Big Ten Award picks

Here is the empty bracket:

This tournament starts with an absolutely massive one.

Nebraska is right smack dab in the middle of the NCAA Tournament bubble and likely needs at least one win this week to stay there. The Cornhuskers helped themselves a bit with a road win over Washington and a dismantling of Rutgers (along with really strong metrics), but an early exit here could keep them on the wrong side of the line.

They may need a win, but Indiana is not going to be an easy one. The Hoosiers have been playing their best basketball at the right time, coming back from a nine-game losing streak to win six of their final eight contests, including a rout of Penn State in a game the Lions needed to win to get here.

Shay Ciezki (23.2 PPG) has had a monstrous campaign, and her duel with Britt Prince (17.3 PPG, 4.4 APG) is going to be so much fun. Indiana has gotten more help from its supporting cast lately, with freshmen Maya Makalusky and Nevaeh Caffey really stepping up.

This should be a high-scoring game with some well-rounded shooting teams. Nebraska has more on the line, but who’s to say Indiana is completely out of the picture? The metrics do, for one, but the tournament can be full of surprises, and I think there is a path for the Hoosiers to surprise people. It starts with this game, and I think Indiana does surprise many with a win that puts the Cornhuskers’ NCAA Tournament life in serious jeopardy.

My Pick: Indiana

Wisconsin has not won a game since mid-January, and I’ve been really impressed with the Illini, even with some narrow defeats lately. The Badgers’ biggest weaknesses this season have been on the defensive side, including a struggle with forcing turnovers. Illinois has a Top 10 three-point percentage and turnover rate nationally and should be able to handle business here like it did against Wisconsin less than a month ago.

My Pick: Illinois

These two are meeting about a week after a close Oregon victory, which means there’s certainly an opportunity here for an upset.

The Boilermakers kept it close the first time thanks to a dramatic advantage on the glass, out rebounding the. Ducks 40-27. On the other end, the 21-to-11 turnover disparity ended up costing Purdue, but those will likely be the areas of focus for both teams with the quick turnaround.

I think this will be another close contest — 13 of Oregon’s conference games were decided by single digits after all — but I think Ehis Ehute is the catalyst I trust to get the Ducks over the hump. She’s such a disruptor and has been on a tear lately, with her 17-point game against Purdue marking her lowest scoring output in the past four contests.

I expect an even bigger game from Ehute and another close victory for Oregon.

My Pick: Oregon

Another day, another total heater to start.

This one has the opposite feel of Indiana-Nebraska, aka, I can’t promise points of any kind. You see the score from the last time these two played, and that felt high after the first quarter finished 8-4.

Four players across both teams combined for 71 of the 109 total points in the game — USC’s Jazzy Davidson (22) and Kennedy Smith (13) and Washington’s Sayvia Sellers (20) and Avery Howell (16). Two big names absent that could tip the scales here: Elle Ladine was held scoreless and shot 0-of-10, and Kara Dunn shot 2-of-10 for five points.

I am looking at these two vets to find their spark in this one, but I trust Dunn’s output a touch more and think she can be the driving force to another nasty win in this matchup. I think the Trojans can contain Washington’s patient attack in at least a similar fashion to the last time these two played, which makes me lean USC here. A big game from Ladine, or Howell in a revenge game against her former team, could easily push it the other way though.

My Pick: USC

I feel good about the Buckeyes here in any matchup they get based on the last time I saw Ohio State play. That Michigan State demolition was so impressive, and the Buckeyes attack felt as strong as it has looked all season there.

That said, I think a big upset here would make some people look Indiana’s way on that tournament bubble, at least a little, and I think Ohio State’s weakness defending the three (335th in the NCAA) is the exact weakness the Hoosiers — the fourth-best shooting three-point team in the country — could exploit.

Ohio State just wins in too many other areas to make me seriously consider this outcome. Indiana is too bad on the offensive glass to exploit the Buckeyes’ mediocrity there, Ohio State is much more setup to win the turnover battle and, if the Buckeyes speed up Indiana at all, the Hoosiers play right into their hands.

Hot shooting and real momentum from the game before could make this interesting, but Ohio State impressed me with how it came out this past weekend, and I can’t go against the Buckeyes based off that.

My Pick: Ohio State

On the flip side of that Ohio State win, where was Michigan State’s juice? The Spartans’ last win was a big one — a 14-point road victory over Minnesota — then they scored nine points in the first quarter and were down 23 by halftime.

In theory, it’s better to have some level of wake-up call then before you actually get to the tournament, but that’s Michigan State’s only game in a 11-day span before playing here. That concerns me. I think the Illini will be coming off a big win the day before, Illinois plays strong mistake-free basketball and Michigan State is not excellent at defending the threes the Illini are very capable of making.

All that, to me, signals Illinois ending Michigan State’s tournament early. If that were to happen, it would also likely signal the last chance the Spartans had for hosting games in the NCAA Tournament.

My Pick: Illinois

A potential matchup to keep an eye on!

Oregon has already went into College Park and taken down the Terps this season, doing so behind 26 and 11 from Ehute. The Ducks also shut down everyone not named Oluchi Okananwa, who finished with 27. Yarden Garzon, Addi Mack and Saylor Poffenbarger combined to shoot 7-of-29, with Mack being five of those makes.

Poffenbarger vs. Ehute is a fun battle on the glass to watch, but I expect to see more from Garzon this time around, and that extra nudge offensively would be hard for Oregon to match. Maryland also had a tough final game of the regular season, losing big to Michigan, but that felt less disastrous to me and the Terps won six straight prior.

Oregon has done it before, but I don’t think it’ll do it again.

My Pick: Maryland

Apologies to the Trojans, who probably will put up a better fight on attempt No. 3 against their rival if given the opportunity.

But even a better fight can’t make up the discrepancy I’ve seen between the two teams in the two games we have gotten. Lauren Betts scored five points last time and they won by 23. I have to go UCLA here without much thought.

My Pick: UCLA

Banger banger banger banger BANGER.

The last time these two faced, Minnesota dismantled Ohio State’s defensive pressure and committed only nine turnovers and fouled just eight times on the other end. Neither team shined inside but both shot north of 42 percent from deep. A big third quarter gave the Gophers an advantage they didn’t relent, and that was that.

If Minnesota can stay as composed as it did the first time around, the formula for the win is there. I do think Ohio State’s attack has more to offer this time around though, and it’s going to make for a wire-to-wire battle between some clashing styles.

For as impressive as Minnesota’s well-balanced attack is, part of me thinks Jaloni Cambridge can take this game over. She shot the ball 27 times last time, so Minnesota was willing to let her try it, but I have a hard time picking against her in this situation. This one truly could go either way for me and should be one of the games of the tournament, but I really like what I saw out of Ohio State the last I saw them, so I’m going Buckeyes.

My Pick: Ohio State

The Illini gave Iowa its second-toughest home fight of the season just last week. Could Illinois win a third game in three days and go on a mighty Big Ten Tournament run?

I think Illinois certainly could and I have a lot of belief in that group. I just have more belief in the Hawkeyes based on what I’ve seen since that three-game skid a month ago.

Iowa completely abandoned the three against Illinois (2 of 7), while the Illini hit 11 of 19 from deep. Even that disparity wasn’t enough to earn the upset, and I simply can’t expect another margin like that on the perimeter: It’s the fewest makes and attempts the Hawkeyes have had all season.

Last year, the Big Ten Tournament was a kickstart to Ava Heiden’s rise, and I think Heiden and co. will be a dangerous team yet again and end Illinois’ run at three games.

My Pick: Iowa

While I don’t think it is as cut and dry as “well they just played and it wasn’t particularly close,” I also can’t simply ignore that.

Olivia Olson had an unbelievable game, but so did Michigan as a whole, shooting 56.7% from the field and 62.5% from deep. I think this game would, at the least, be much closer than this one was, but Maryland would need to find quick answers on how to contain this Wolverines attack that simply did not relent from start to finish.

Poffenbarger could be that X-factor, as she was completely absent in her 24 minutes the first time around (0 points, 4 rebounds, 0-of-1 FG). But Michigan’s depth showed itself the last time around along with Olson’s stardom, both of which felt equally important. I think the Wolverines can take the rematch, even if it’s not with the same margin of victory.

My Pick: Michigan

The Buckeyes gave UCLA a good fight when these two met more than two months ago, but the thing that ultimately decided that one is the same question that Ohio State would face in a rematch: Can it contain Lauren Betts?

Betts had 18 points and 16 rebounds, nine offensive, to lead the way for the Bruins in the win. UCLA out rebounded Ohio State 47-32. Elsa Lemmilä (13 points, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks) had a strong outing in that one and would need to be huge again to really contain UCLA’s interior dominance.

Ohio State relied heavily on the three ball in that game, and it failed them, shooting 7 of 30 from deep. A better perimeter game and a slightly less lopsided rebounding advantage could make this one of UCLA’s most difficult battles to date. But the Bruins had five players in double figures the last time around, and that well-rounded front-end of talent is so hard to try and slow down, especially when Betts is likely to have an advantage inside.

I don’t think UCLA is cakewalking through this conference tournament and this is going to be a real challenge, but I do also think the Bruins manage it behind another well-rounded effort.

My Pick: UCLA

Michigan has been held under 70 points five times this year, under 65 points just twice and under 50 points once, the last time it played Iowa. This may be a pretends-to-be-shocked piece of info, but the Wolverines are 0-5 in those sub-70 games (24-0 when they score 70+).

Iowa had them in hell. Michigan shot 30.5%, turned it over 24 times, and shot three free throws. But the Wolverines also did do some things successfully on defense: Iowa shot 26.7% from deep, Michigan outrebounded the Hawkeyes 36-34 and Iowa also turned it over 18 times. It was a sloppy game, but Ava Heiden rose through it with 24 points, many of which felt like a late-game avalanche that Michigan could not slow down.

Heiden’s an issue for the Wolverines, and the way Iowa kept attacking them down low would happen again in a round two. But maybe I’m crazy, I just think Michigan would have better answers this time around in at least containing that dominance.

None of Michigan’s big three had a strong showing in the last contest, a result I find unlikely to happen again. Heiden and Hannah Stuelke (11 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists in the Michigan win) are plenty capable of leading Iowa to a victory here, but Michigan has conquered interior weapons much better than it displayed in late February, and I think this game is destined to be a war.

Iowa’s going to be an extremely difficult out, but I think Michigan has the weapons to do so. It may even be their first win below 70 points, but I think Olson, Swords and Holloway come through in a much more significant way this time around to get it done.

My Pick: Michigan

UCLA’s most difficult in-conference foe is back for a rematch to try and take down the team that has been nearly untouchable all season long. Will it come down to another one-possession game in the hands of Syla Swords?

Despite the Wolverines getting much closer to beating the Bruins than the Hawkeyes, I have more concerns about Michigan’s chances against UCLA. The main reason for that is I think Michigan did a lot of the right things the first time around: UCLA won the rebound battle by just three, Olson and Holloway combined for 35 points and the Wolverines committed nine total turnovers.

And still, UCLA won, in the Crisler Center as well. Betts had 16-16-5, Kiki Rice led with 20 points and the Bruins just barely held on. Where can Michigan make up the margins?

The big ones: Perimeter shooting and the first name I mentioned here. Swords was 3 of 13 in the contest, and a big game from her could flip everything on its head. Michigan was 5 of 21 from deep as well and would need to be better to make up for what UCLA can bring offensively.

It was an extremely impressive effort by Michigan last time around, and it proved that the Wolverines are 100 percent capable of taking down the juggernaut of the conference. Doing so here would could even get them 1-seed consideration for the NCAA Tournament.

However, I think it is as likely that UCLA comes out with much more fire than it did the first time around, and forces more disruptions and comes out the victors and undefeated tournament champs. I think another very close game is likely, but there are too many ways for the Bruins to win for me to pick against them this season. I do think Michigan is the team to do it if it was anyone, I just don't think it will be anyone.

My Pick: UCLA

My bracket, to save for later because it is surely going to go 14 for 14:

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