STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Let the postseason scramble begin in the Big Ten.

Regular-season champion Michigan State, along with Illinois and Purdue, are certain to move on to the NCAA Tournament no matter what happens in the conference tourney this week in Indianapolis. To those three schools, it’s all about jockeying for the best seeding.

Five other Big Ten teams can offer persuasive arguments to get into the NCAAs. And a sixth, Northwestern, also could have a shot if the Wildcats can pull off a few upsets.

It should all make for another tense tournament weekend in Indianapolis.

“I don’t know where we are. Unless you’re just sitting up there in the Top 25, I don’t think anyone is in,” Minnesota coach Tubby Smith said Monday in a conference call. “I just want to make sure we take care of business.”

Sounds a lot like what many of his fellow coaches are saying.

Only 10th-place Iowa and cellar-dweller Indiana are all but out of the NCAAs – unless they somehow win the Big Ten Tournament.

The Spartans, Illini and Boilermakers all received first-round Big Ten byes. They’ll know after Thursday’s opening round who they will play in Friday’s quarterfinals.

But there’s not much separation in the standings after the Spartans, who finished 15-3 in the conference, four games ahead of Illinois and Purdue.

Ohio State and Wisconsin, both 10-8, look to be in good shape, though there are no guarantees and they play each other in the quarterfinals Friday. But Ohio State has shown the ability to win road games and Wisconsin played the sixth-toughest schedule in the nation.

Resurgent Penn State, also 10-8 in conference, has four wins over Top 25 teams, but suffers from the second-worst RPI of the Big Ten bubble teams (63) and an unimpressive strength-of-schedule ranking of 95. Still, with a winning conference record and road wins at Michigan State and Illinois, one more Nittany Lions victory would strengthen a solid claim.

Michigan and Minnesota both finished 9-9 in the conference, a game behind Penn State, but given that the selection committee looks at a team’s entire season, the Gophers (41 RPI) and Wolverines (42) can make strong cases for at-large bids. Michigan’s road win at Minnesota on Saturday could prove huge for the Wolverines.

After the champion Spartans, parity ruled the league. Two games separated the second-seeded Illini and eighth-seeded Minnesota, and Northwestern was three games behind Illinois in ninth place.

Big Ten recognizes Illini’s conference efforts

Coming off a 23-8 regular season and a second-place finish in the Big Ten, the Illinois men’s basketball team received several honors Monday evening when the annual conference awards were announced.

Demetri McCamey

McCamey was voted to the All-Big Ten Third Team by the media and coaches. The sophomore guard led Illinois in scoring at 11.9 points, and his 4.8 assists ranked second on the team.

Chester Frazier

The heart and soul of the Illini was voted to the All-Big Ten Defensive Team. Frazier averaged 1.4 steals per contest and frequently guarded and slowed down opponents’ top scorers.

Mike Davis

The sophomore forward was named to the All-Big Ten Second Team on the coaches ballot and to the All-Big Ten Third Team in the media voting. Davis was second for the Illini in scoring at 11.1 points and led the Big Ten in rebounding with 7.9 boards per game.

All-Big Ten Conference First Team

The Big Ten announced its All-Conference selections Monday night, including the All-Big Ten First Team. Here are the five players voted in by the coaches:

Talor Battle

Penn State

guard

The sophomore led the Big Ten in scoring at 17.3 points and added 5.6 rebounds and 4.9 assists a game as the Nittany Lions tied a school record for their most wins in conference.

Manny Harris

Michigan

guard

Harris, a sophomore, did it all for the Wolverines, averaging 17.1 points, 7 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.3 steals.

Kalin Lucas

Michigan State

guard

The speedy sophomore averaged 14.8 points and 4.6 assists in leading the Spartans to the conference title. Lucas was also named the Big Ten Player of the Year.

Evan Turner

Ohio State

forward

The Buckeye offense ran through Turner, a sophomore who averaged 16.8 points and 6.9 rebounds per game while shooting 51.6 percent from the field.

JaJuan Johnson

Purdue

forward

The man in the middle for the Boilermakers had a splendid sophomore campaign with 13.2 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per contest.