The Big Ten Tournament tips off on Wednesday when Illinois takes on Iowa at 5:30 p.m. ET at Madison Square Garden. Before you make any kind of pick on this postseason battle, you need to hear what Adam Thompson has to say. 

Thompson, an award-winning journalist and editor with almost two decades of experience covering college sports, is an impressive 56-33 on college basketball picks this season. And with conference tournaments tipping off, Thompson is heating up after nailing five of his last seven against the spread picks.

Now he takes aim at this first round battle in the Big Ten Tournament and his pick is in. Will Iowa finally break through in conference tournament play or will Illinois advance in this pick'em game? Thompson has studied the matchup and found the x-factor that determines this winner.... Join SportsLine now to find out which side of Illinois-Iowa you should back, and which x-factor determines the outcome, all from a a proven expert who has crushed his college basketball picks this year.