Updated Big Ten Tournament Seeding Predictions

This weekend had its share of big games in the Big Ten.  On Saturday, Wisconsin upended Iowa in Iowa City to put the Badgers in the driver's seat for a top 3 seed at the Big Ten Tournament.  Ohio State dominated Minnesota, hurting the Gophers' tournament resume.  

IU finally got back on the horse, beating Northwestern in Evanston to avoid its fourth loss in a row.  This week will be huge for the Hoosiers, as they have the chance to bring back from the dead their NCAA tournament hopes, playing at #14 Wisconsin tomorrow night and then #20 Iowa and #22 Ohio State at home on Thursday and Sunday, respectively.  As long as the Hoosiers don't lose a game the rest of this year, I'll be happy.

On Sunday, Michigan completed the season sweep of Michigan State, all but assuring the Wolverines of the #1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament.  Finally, Nebraska crushed Purdue in Lincoln for its fifth straight win.  Dare I say it, the Cornhuskers are inching closer to their first NCAA tournament appearance since 1998.

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

1.  Michigan (11-3):  at Purdue (W), Minnesota (W), at Illinois (W), IU (W)

2.  Michigan State (11-4):  Illinois (W), Iowa (W), at OSU (L)

3.  Wisconsin (9-5):  IU (W), at PSU (W), Purdue (W), Nebraska (W)

4.  Iowa (8-5):  at Minnesota (L), at IU (L), Purdue (W), at MSU (L), Illinois (W)

5.  Ohio State (9-6):  at PSU (W), at IU (L), MSU (W)

6.  Nebraska (8-6):  at Illinois (L), Northwestern (W), at IU (L), Wisconsin (L)

7.  Minnesota (6-9):  Iowa (W), at Michigan (L), PSU (W)

8.  Indiana (5-8):  at Northwestern (W), at Wisconsin (L), Iowa (W), OSU (W), Nebraska (W), at Michigan (L)

9.  Purdue (5-9):  Michigan (L), at Iowa (L), at Wisconsin (L), Northwestern (W)

10.  Northwestern (5-10):  at Nebraska (L), PSU (W), at Purdue (L)

11.  Penn State (4-10):  OSU (L), Wisconsin (L), at Northwestern (L), at Minnesota (L)

12.  Illinois (4-10):  Nebraska (W), at MSU (L), Michigan (L), at Iowa (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.  Michigan (15-3)

2.  Wisconsin (13-5) (Wisconsin has tiebreaker over MSU based on 1-0 head-to-head record)

3.  Michigan State (13-5)

4.  Ohio State (11-7)

5.  Iowa (10-8)

6.  Nebraska (9-9)

7.  Minnesota (8-10) (Minnesota has tiebreaker over IU based on 1-0 head-to-head record)

8.  Indiana (8-10)

9.  Northwestern (6-12) (Northwestern will have tiebreaker over Purdue based on 1-1 record vs. Wisconsin, while Purdue will have 0-2 record vs. Wisconsin)

10.  Purdue (6-12)

11.  Illinois (5-13)

12.  Penn State (4-14)

I usually also include far-too-premature predictions for every game of the Big Ten Tournament, but I'm not even going to try to do that this year until the seeds are announced (or maybe a week or two out), since it would be an even more futile exercise than usual.  However, here are the dates/times/TV schedule for the Big Ten Tournament (and a link to the bracket), which will be in Indianapolis.  All times are Central.

Thursday March 13 – First Round

(8) vs. (9) (11 a.m., BTN)

(5) vs. (12) (1:30 p.m., BTN)

(7) vs. (10) (5:30 p.m., ESPN2)

(6) vs. (11) (8 p.m., ESPN2)

Friday March 14 - Quarterfinals

(1) vs. (8)/(9) (11 a.m., ESPN/EPSN2)

(4) vs. (5)/(12) (1:30 p.m., ESPN/ESPN2)

(2) vs. (7)/(10) (5:30 p.m., BTN)

(3) vs. (6)/(11) (8 p.m., BTN)

Saturday March 15 - Semifinals

(1)/(8)/(9) vs. (4)/(5)/(12) (12:40 p.m., CBS)

(2)/(7)/(10) vs. (3)/(6)/(11) (3 p.m., CBS)

Sunday March 16 - Finals

(1)/(4)/(5)/(8)/(9)/(12) vs. (2)/(3)/(6)/(7)/(10)/(11) (2:30 p.m., CBS)