So last night I was telling Thermocaster “Don’t worry: There are no tournament games on the Big Ten Network”. And then I look at the schedule and …

Oh no.

From the morons who blocked out half your conference season: Big Ten Network screws things up again! Here are the games you have no chance to see unless you’re one of the five people with the crappy channel:

– Thursday, noon, 1st round: Michigan vs. Iowa

– Friday, 6:30 pm, quarterfinals: Purdue vs. Illinois/Penn State winner

– Friday, 9 pm, quarterfinals: Indiana vs. Minnesota/Northwestern

Yes, there’s not much to the Michigan/Iowa game, and if they play up to par, Purdue and Indiana should have no trouble advancing. But taking three of the top tournament games away from a national audience? Your conference is mediocre enough this year, and out of the top four teams, most of the country would rather watch Purdue and Indiana than MSU and Wisconsin.

Of course, these decisions were made long ago by people much smarter than us. Which, of course, is the reason BTN is carried by every major cable company already, right?

Um ….