Updated Big Ten Tournament Seeding Predictions and NCAA Tournament Resumes

I keep putting my foot in my mouth.  Despite my cavalier prediction that "Iowa should take care of Minnesota at home," the Hawkeyes shit the bed and lost 64-59 to the Gophers in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.  The loss dropped Iowa from a projected 4-seed in the Big Ten Tournament to a projected 7-seed.

In the other games, Purdue did what they needed to do and held off Rutgers in the RAC, 61-51.  Illinois almost dropped themselves back out of the NCAA Tournament conversation, but scored the last seven points of regulation to force overtime, and then blew Michigan out in OT.

On the slate this weekend:

Saturday

-Ohio State at Michigan State (12:00 p.m. EST, ESPN)

-Maryland at Penn State (8:30 p.m. EST, BTN)

Sunday

-Illinois at Wisconsin (1:00 p.m. EST, CBS)

-Iowa at Northwestern (3:00 p.m. EST, BTN)

-Nebraska at Purdue (5:15 p.m. EST, BTN)

-Minnesota at Indiana (7:30 p.m. EST, BTN)

Current Standings

Here are the current standings, with the conference record, each team's remaining games, and my predictions.  I will try to update these after every day or every couple days of games.

1.  Wisconsin (10-1):  Illinois (W), at PSU (W), Minnesota (W), at Maryland (L), MSU (W), at Minnesota (W), at OSU (L)

2 (tie).  Maryland (8-4):  IU (W), at PSU (W), Nebraska (W), Wisconsin (W), Michigan (W), at Rutgers (W), at Nebraska (W)

2 (tie).  Ohio State (8-4):  at MSU (L), at Michigan (L), Nebraska (W), Purdue (W), at PSU (W), Wisconsin (W)

2 (tie).  Purdue (8-4):  Nebraska (W), at IU (L), Rutgers (W), at OSU (L), at MSU (L), Illinois (W)

5.  Michigan State (7-4):  OSU (W), at Michigan (L), at Illinois (W), Minnesota (W), at Wisconsin (L), Purdue (W), at IU (L)

6 (tie).  Indiana (7-5):  Minnesota (W), Purdue (W), at Rutgers (W), at Northwestern (W), Iowa (W), MSU (W)

6 (tie).  Illinois (7-5):  at Wisconsin (L), MSU (L), at Iowa (L), Northwestern (W), Nebraska (W), at Purdue (L)

8.  Iowa (6-5):  at Northwestern (W), Rutgers (W), at Nebraska (L), Illinois (W), at PSU (W), at IU (L), Northwestern (W)

9.  Michigan (6-7):  MSU (W), OSU (W), at Maryland (L), at Northwestern (W), Rutgers (W)

10 (tie).  Nebraska (5-7):  at Purdue (L), at Maryland (L), Iowa (W), at OSU (L), at Illinois (L), Maryland (L)

10 (tie).  Minnesota (5-7):  at IU (L), Northwestern (W), at Wisconsin (L), at MSU (L), Wisconsin (L), PSU (W)

12.  Penn State (3-9):  Maryland (L), Wisconsin (L), at Northwestern (L), Iowa (L), OSU (L), at Minnesota (L)

13.  Rutgers (2-11):  at Iowa (L), IU (L), at Purdue (L), Maryland (L), at Michigan (L)

14.  Northwestern (1-10):  Iowa (L), at Minnesota (L), PSU (W), IU (L), at Illinois (L), Michigan (L), at Iowa (L)

Projected Big Ten Tournament Seeding

Given my predictions and Big Ten tiebreaking rules, here is how the Big Ten Tournament seeds should fall into place:

1.  Wisconsin (15-3)

2.  Maryland (14-4)

3.  Indiana (13-5)

4.  Ohio State (12-6)

5.  Michigan State (11-7) (would have tiebreaker over Purdue and Iowa based on 2-0 record vs. Purdue and Iowa; Purdue would have 1-1 record vs. Iowa and MSU; Iowa has 0-2 record vs. MSU and Purdue)

6.  Purdue (11-7)

7.  Iowa (11-7)

8.  Michigan (10-8)

9.  Illinois (9-9)

10.  Minnesota (7-11)

11.  Nebraska (6-12)

12.  Penn State (3-15)

13.  Northwestern (2-16) (has tiebreaker over Rutgers based on 1-0 record vs. Rutgers)

14.  Rutgers (2-16)

Big Ten Tournament Schecule

Here are the dates/times/TV schedule for the Big Ten Tournament (and a link to the bracket), which will be in Chicago.  All times are Central.

Wednesday March 11 – First Round

(12) vs. (13) (3:30 p.m. ESPN2)

(11) vs. (14) (6 p.m. BTN)

Thursday March 12 – Second Round

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

(5) vs. (12)/(13) (1:30 p.m., BTN)

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

(6) vs. (11)/(14) (8 p.m., ESPN2)

Friday March 13 – Quarterfinals

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

(4) vs. (5)/(12)/(13) (1:30 p.m., ESPN)

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

(3) vs. (6)/(11)/(14) (8 p.m., BTN)

Saturday March 14 – Semifinals

(1)/(8)/(9) vs. (4)/(5)/(12)/(13) (12 p.m., CBS)

(2)/(7)/(10) vs. (3)/(6)/(11)/(14) (2:30 p.m., CBS)

Sunday March 15 – Finals

(1)/(4)/(5)/(8)/(9)/(12)/(13) vs. (2)/(3)/(6)/(7)/(10)/(11)/(14) (2:30 p.m., CBS)

NCAA Tournament Resumes for All 14 Big Ten Teams

Here is each Big Ten team's updated NCAA Tournament resume.  From top to bottom, I will list each team's RPI (based on ESPN's daily RPI), "good" wins (wins against RPI Top 50 teams or, if none, the team's best win), "bad" losses (losses against teams with an RPI of 101+ or, if none, the team's worst loss).  An * means the game was played on a neutral court, and for the "good" wins and "bad" losses, the team's current RPI is identified.  Also, I have categorized the teams by "In," "Bubble," or "Out," which is my best guess, based on what I know right now, as to whether each team is a lock for the NCAA Tournament, is on the bubble, or is out.

In

1.  Wisconsin

RPI:  6

Overall record:  22-2

Good wins:  7 (Oklahoma* (13), Georgetown* (22), Indiana (32), Boise State (39), Iowa (41), at Iowa (41), Green Bay (50))

Bad losses: 1 (at Rutgers (131))

2.  Maryland

RPI:  14

Overall record:  20-5

Good wins:  5 (Iowa State* (16), at Oklahoma State (23), Indiana (32), Michigan State (45), at Michigan State (45))

Bad losses:  None (at Illinois (44))

3.  Indiana

RPI:  32

Overall record:  17-8

Good wins:  5 (Maryland (14), Butler* (17), SMU (24), Ohio State (33), at Illinois (44))

Bad losses:  None (at Purdue (69))

4.  Ohio State

RPI:  33

Overall record:  19-6

Good wins:  3 (Maryland (14), Indiana (32), Illinois (44))

Bad losses:  None (at Purdue (69))

Bubble

5.  Iowa

RPI:  41

Overall record:  15-9

Good wins:  4 (at North Carolina (9), Maryland (14), at Ohio State (33), Ohio State (33))

Bad losses:  None (Minnesota (72))

6.  Illinois

RPI:  44

Overall record:  17-8

Good wins:  3 (Maryland (14), Baylor* (15), at Michigan State (45))

Bad losses:  1 (at Nebraska (106))

7.  Michigan State

RPI:  45

Overall record:  16-8

Good wins:  2 (Indiana (32), at Iowa (41))

Bad losses:  2 (at Nebraska (106), Texas Southern (169))

8.  Purdue

RPI:  69

Overall record:  16-9

Good wins:  3 (Indiana (32), Ohio State (33), Iowa (41))

Bad losses:  4 (Kansas State* (102), at Vanderbilt (110) Gardner-Webb (165), North Florida (198))

Out

9.  Minnesota

RPI:  72

Overall record:  15-9

Good wins:  3 (Georgia* (20), at Iowa (41), Illinois (44))

Bad losses:  1 (at Nebraska (106))

10.  Michigan

RPI:  85

Overall record:  12-12

Good wins:  1 (Illinois (44))

Bad losses:  2 (NJIT (170), Eastern Michigan (178))

11.  Penn State

RPI:  89

Overall record:  15-10

Good wins:  None (George Washington (65))

Bad losses:  2 (at Rutgers (131), Charlotte* (194))

12.  Nebraska

RPI:  106

Overall record:  13-11

Good wins:  3 (Cincinnati (31), Illinois (44), Michigan State (45))

Bad losses:  3 (Creighton (130), Incarnate Word (157), at Hawaii (183))

13.  Rutgers

RPI:  131

Overall record:  10-16

Good wins:  1 (Wisconsin (6))

Bad losses:  4 (at Nebraska (106), Northwestern (156), St. Francis (PA) (160), St. Peter's (224))

14.  Northwestern

RPI:  156

Overall record:  10-14

Good wins:  None (Western Michigan (115))

Bad losses:  2 (Georgia Tech (101), at Nebraska (106))