CHICAGO -- No. 24 Wisconsin is the top seed in the Big Ten tournament for the second year in a row.

In winning their first conference title outright since 1947, the Badgers (22-6, 12-4 Big Ten) earned a first-round bye in the tournament, which begins Thursday at the United Center. They'll face the winner of the Ohio State-Iowa game Friday in the second round.

The other top five seeds -- Illinois, Michigan, Purdue and Michigan State -- also got first-round byes.

The tournament begins with eighth-seeded Ohio State playing ninth-seeded Iowa, a rematch of last year's championships game. No. 7 Minnesota will then play Northwestern, the 10th seed, and first-round action will wrap up with sixth-seeded Indiana facing No. 11 Penn State.

In Friday's other second-round games, fourth-seeded Purdue will play fifth-seeded Michigan State. Illinois, the No. 2 seed, faces the winner of the Minnesota-Northwestern game, while No. 3 Michigan plays the winner of Indiana-Penn State.

The semifinals are Saturday and the championship is Sunday.