Updated Big Ten Tournament Seeding Predictions

Tonight, Michigan nearly cost itself a chance to claim a share of the Big Ten title, but pulled out a five-point victory at Purdue, dealing a serious blow to Purdue's NIT hopes.  Meanwhile, Minnesota decided to put the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee to the test by losing at Nebraska a mere 8 days after beating then-#1 IU.  Tomorrow night's elimination game between Michigan State and Wisconsin should be a good one.  The Northwestern/Penn State game, on the other hand, should not be.

Here are the current standings, with the conference record, each team's remaining games, and my predictions:

1.  Indiana (13-4):  at Michigan (L)

2 (tie).  Ohio State (12-5):  Illinois (W)
2 (tie).  Michigan (12-5):  IU (W)

3 (tie).  Michigan State (11-5):  Wisconsin (W), NW (W)

3 (tie).  Wisconsin (11-5):  at MSU (L), at PSU (W)

6 (tie).  Minnesota (8-9):  at Purdue (W)

6 (tie).  Illinois (8-9):  at OSU (L)

6 (tie).  Iowa (8-9):  Nebraska (W)

9.  Purdue (7-10):  Minnesota (L)

10.  Nebraska (5-12):  at Iowa (L)
11.  Northwestern (4-12):  PSU (W), at MSU (L)

12.  Penn State (1-15):  at NW (L), Wisconsin (L)

Given my predictions and Big Ten tiebreaking rules, here is how the Big Ten Tournament seeds should fall into place and how the Big Ten Tournament will play out (all times are Central):

1.  Indiana (13-5) (would get the #1 seed based on 4-2 record vs. Michigan, OSU, and MSU)

2.  Ohio State (13-5) (would have tiebreaker over Michigan even though both teams have 3-3 record vs. other 3 tied teams based on better record vs. Wisconsin)

3.  Michigan (13-5)

4.  Michigan State (13-5) (would get the #4 seed based on 2-4 record vs. IU, Michigan, and OSU)

5.  Wisconsin (12-6)

6.  Minnesota (9-9) (would have tiebreaker over Iowa based on better record vs. IU)

7.  Iowa (9-9)
8.  Illinois (8-10)

9.  Purdue (7-11)

10.  Nebraska (5-13) (would have tiebreaker based on 1-0 record vs. Northwestern)

11.  Northwestern (5-13)
12.  Penn State (1-17)

Thursday, March 14, 2013

(8) Illinois vs. (9) Purdue (11 a.m., BTN).  Projected winner:  Illinois

(5) Ohio State vs. (12) Penn State (1:30 p.m., BTN).  Projected winner:  Ohio State

(7) Iowa vs. (10) Nebraska (5:30 p.m., ESPN2).  Projected winner:  Iowa

(6) Minnesota vs. (11) Northwestern (8 p.m., ESPN2).  Projected winner:  Minnesota

Friday, March 15, 2013

(1) IU vs. (8) Illinois (11 a.m., ESPN).  Projected winner:  IU

(4) Michigan State vs. (5) Wisconsin (1:30 p.m., ESPN).  Projected winner:  Michigan State

(2) Ohio State vs. (7) Iowa (5:30 p.m., BTN).  Projected winner:  Ohio State

(3) Michigan vs. (6) Minnesota (8 p.m., BTN).  Projected winner:  Michigan

Saturday, March 16, 2013

(1) IU vs. (4) Michigan State (12:40 p.m., CBS).  Projected winner:  IU

(2) Ohio State vs. (3) Michigan (3 p.m., CBS).  Projected winner:  Michigan

Sunday, March 17, 2013

(1) IU vs. (3) Michigan (2:30 p.m., CBS).  Projected winner:  IU