Northwestern University Athletics
Official 2013 Big Ten Tournament Bracket Released
5/6/2013 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 6, 2013
2013 Big Ten Tournament Bracket 
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern will christen the return of Big Ten Tournament by facing No. 12 seed Indiana in the very first game of the event at 11:30 a.m. CT, Thursday, May 9, in Lincoln, Neb., according to the official bracket released today by the conference office.
The Wildcats are the No. 5 seed in 2013 and enter the event as the defending champions, having won the last playing of the B1G Tournament in 2008 at Sharon J. Drysdale Field. After that season, scheduling changes in the conference led to the elimination of the tourney before it was re-instated this year with the addition of Nebraska -- and eventually Maryland and Rutgers -- to the fold.
This year marks the 16th playing of the Big Ten Tournament. NU won both the first in 1982 and the last in 2008, and will host the event again in 2014. The 2013 edition is a 12-team, single elimination tournament in which the top four seeds receive byes to the quarterfinals.
The winner of the Wildcats and Hoosiers tilt in the opening round advances to play No. 4 seed Wisconsin at 11:30 a.m. CT Friday, May 10. Games on the first two days will be streamed online by Nebraska staff, while the semifinal and final games on Saturday and Sunday will be broadcast live on BTN.
Northwestern's complete preview and game notes package for the upcoming Big Ten Tournament will be released Tuesday.
••••••
Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook, subscribe to the NU Sports Express e-newsletter and sign up to receive promotional text alerts for the latest news, schedule updates and video and to interact with NU. For more information on following specific Northwestern teams online, visit our Social Media page!
