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The Big Ten met for its annual conference tournament at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis this week and the UCLA Bruins left little question about who the best team in the conference -- and possibly the country -- is.

The top-seeded Bruins defeated No. 2 Iowa 96-45 in Sunday's championship game on CBS. This was not only the largest margin of victory in a Big Ten title game, the 51-point win was the largest margin of victory over a top-10 team in the history of Division I women's basketball.

The win put an exclamation mark on a dominant season for Cori Close's team. UCLA was the outright champion of the conference regular season title after completing the first perfect Big Ten season in more than a decade. Not only have the Bruins locked up a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, they are now in the conversation with UConn for the No. 1 overall seed.

UCLA rolled past No. 8 Washington on Friday and held off a spirited performance from No. 5 Ohio State in the semifinals to advance to the championship game on Sunday. It was still a good week for the Buckeyes, though. They beat No. 4 Minnesota -- one of the surprise teams of the season in the Big Ten -- in the quarterfinals, which should solidify their spot as a top-four seed in the NCAA tournament. Minnesota, a team that hasn't been to the NCAA tournament since 2018 and hasn't hosted NCAA tournament games since 2005, still has a possibility to host in the first weekend, depending on how things shake out in other conference tournaments.

The Bruins will face No. 2 Iowa in the championship game. Iowa defeated No. 3 Michigan handily in the semifinals, holding the Wolverines to just four points in the first quarter and six points in the fourth quarter. Iowa continues to find success with Jan Jensen in the post-Lisa Bluder and post-Caitlin Clark era. Earlier this season, the Hawkeyes got three consecutive wins against top-15 opponents for the first time in program history. Despite being trounced in the title game, CBS Sports bracketologist Connor Groel still projects the Hawkeyes will be a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament.

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Women's basketball Big Ten Tournament bracket

Women's basketball Big Ten Tournament schedule

All times Eastern

Wednesday, March 4 -- First Round

  • Game 1: No. 13 Indiana 72, No. 12 Nebraska 69
  • Game 2: No. 10 Illinois 82, No. 15 Wisconsin 70
  • Game 3: No. 11 Oregon 82, No. 14 Purdue 64

Thursday, March 5 -- Second Round

  • Game 4: No. 8 Washington 76, No. 9 USC 64
  • Game 5: No. 5 Ohio State 83, No. 13 Indiana 59
  • Game 6: No. 10 Illinois 71, No. 7 Michigan State 69
  • Game 7: No. 11 Oregon 73, No. 6 Maryland 68

Friday, March 6 -- Quarterfinals

  • Game 8: No. 1 UCLA 78, No. 8 Washington 60
  • Game 9: No. 5 Ohio State 60, No. 4 Minnesota 55
  • Game 10: No. 2 Iowa 64, No. 10 Illinois 58 
  • Game 11: No. 3 Michigan 80, No. 11 Oregon 58

Saturday, March 7 - Semifinals

  • Game 12: No. 1 UCLA 72, No. 5 Ohio State 62
  • Game 13: No. 2 Iowa 59, No. 3 Michigan 42

Sunday, March 8 -- Championship 

  • Title game: No. 1 UCLA 96, No. 2 Iowa 45