Updated Big Ten Tournament Seeding Predictions and NCAA Tournament Resumes

Last night, Michigan State went into the Crisler Center and beat Michigan, 80-67.  With that loss, the Wolverines are now under .500 overall and in serious jeopardy of missing the NIT.  Meanwhile, the Spartans have pushed their conference record to 9-4 and put themselves in good position for a Top 5 finish in the Big Ten.

On the slate tonight:

-Wisconsin at Penn State (7:00 p.m. EST, BTN)

-Northwestern at Minnesota (9:00 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 (11-1):  at PSU (W), Minnesota (W), at Maryland (L), MSU (W), at Minnesota (W), at OSU (L)

2 (tie).  Maryland (9-4):  Nebraska (W), Wisconsin (W), Michigan (W), at Rutgers (W), at Nebraska (W)

2 (tie).  Purdue (9-4):  at IU (L), Rutgers (W), at OSU (L), at MSU (L), Illinois (W)

2 (tie).  Michigan State (9-4):  at Illinois (W), Minnesota (W), at Wisconsin (L), Purdue (W), at IU (L)

5 (tie).  Indiana (8-5):  Purdue (W), at Rutgers (W), at Northwestern (W), Iowa (W), MSU (W)

5 (tie).  Ohio State (8-5):  at Michigan (L), Nebraska (W), Purdue (W), at PSU (W), Wisconsin (W)

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

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

9.  Michigan (6-8):  OSU (W), at Maryland (L), at Northwestern (W), Rutgers (W)

10 (tie).  Nebraska (5-8):  at Maryland (L), Iowa (W), at OSU (L), at Illinois (L), Maryland (L)

10 (tie).  Minnesota (5-8):  Northwestern (W), at Wisconsin (L), at MSU (L), Wisconsin (L), PSU (W)

12.  Penn State (3-10):  Wisconsin (L), at Northwestern (L), Iowa (L), OSU (L), at Minnesota (L)

13.  Northwestern (2-10):  at Minnesota (L), PSU (W), IU (L), at Illinois (L), Michigan (L), at Iowa (L)

14.  Rutgers (2-11):  at Iowa (L), IU (L), at Purdue (L), Maryland (L), at Michigan (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.  Michigan State (12-6) (has tiebreaker over OSU based on 1-0 record vs. OSU)

5.  Ohio State (12-6)

6.  Purdue (11-7)

7.  Iowa (10-8)

8.  Illinois (9-9) (would have tiebreaker over Michigan based on better record vs. Maryland)

9.  Michigan (9-9)

10.  Minnesota (7-11)

11.  Nebraska (6-12)

12.  Northwestern (3-15) (would have tiebreaker over Penn State based on 1-0 record vs. Penn State)

13.  Penn State (3-15)

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:  23-2

Good wins:  5 (Oklahoma* (16), Georgetown* (20), Indiana (29), Illinois (42), Boise State (44))

Bad losses: 1 (at Rutgers (131))

2.  Maryland

RPI:  10

Overall record:  21-5

Good wins:  5 (Iowa State* (14), at Oklahoma State (27), Indiana (29), Michigan State (33), at Michigan State (33))

Bad losses:  None (at Iowa (55))

3.  Indiana

RPI:  29

Overall record:  18-8

Good wins:  6 (Maryland (10), SMU (21), Butler* (23), Ohio State (34), at Illinois (42), Pittsburgh (45))

Bad losses:  None (Eastern Washington (76))

4.  Michigan State

RPI:  33

Overall record:  18-8

Good wins:  2 (Indiana (29), Ohio State (34))

Bad losses:  2 (at Nebraska (110), Texas Southern (160))

5.  Ohio State

RPI:  34

Overall record:  19-7

Good wins:  3 (Maryland (10), Indiana (29), Illinois (42))

Bad losses:  None (at Purdue (64))

Bubble

6.  Illinois

RPI:  42

Overall record:  17-9

Good wins:  3 (Maryland (10), Baylor* (13), at Michigan State (33))

Bad losses:  1 (at Nebraska (110))

7.  Iowa

RPI:  55

Overall record:  15-10

Good wins:  4 (Maryland (10), at North Carolina (11), at Ohio State (34), Ohio State (34))

Bad losses:  1 (at Northwestern (143))

8.  Purdue

RPI:  64

Overall record:  17-9

Good wins:  3 (Indiana (29), Ohio State (34), NC State (47))

Bad losses:  3 (at Vanderbilt (105) Gardner-Webb (168), North Florida (190))

Out

9.  Minnesota

RPI:  83

Overall record:  15-10

Good wins:  2 (Georgia* (40), Illinois (42))

Bad losses:  1 (at Nebraska (110))

10.  Michigan

RPI:  91

Overall record:  12-13

Good wins:  1 (Illinois (42))

Bad losses:  2 (Eastern Michigan (153), NJIT (174))

11.  Penn State

RPI:  93

Overall record:  15-11

Good wins:  None (George Washington (75))

Bad losses:  2 (at Rutgers (131), Charlotte* (184))

12.  Nebraska

RPI:  110

Overall record:  13-12

Good wins:  3 (Michigan State (33), Cincinnati (36), Illinois (42))

Bad losses:  3 (Creighton (132), Incarnate Word (161), at Hawaii (175))

13.  Rutgers

RPI:  131

Overall record:  10-16

Good wins:  1 (Wisconsin (6))

Bad losses:  4 (at Nebraska (110), Northwestern (143), St. Francis (PA) (181), St. Peter's (228))

14.  Northwestern

RPI:  143

Overall record:  11-14

Good wins:  None (Iowa (55))

Bad losses:  2 (Georgia Tech (107), at Nebraska (110))