In the other game, Illinois beat Michigan State 73-70 to put itself back in the bubble conversation. The Illini have moved into Joe Lunardi's "Next Four Out" in this morning's edition of Bracketology. The loss for the Spartans drops them from the projected 4-seed to the projected 7-seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
Tonight, Minnesota and Wisconsin both have trap games at home before their matchup on Sunday in Madison. The Gophers play Nebraska, while the Badgers face off against Iowa.
Next games
Here are Tuesday's games (all times Eastern):
-Nebraska at Minnesota (7:00 p.m.; ESPN)
-Iowa at Wisconsin (9:00 p.m.; ESPN)
Current Standings
Here are the current standings, with the conference record, each team's remaining Big Ten games, and my predictions. I will try to update these after every day or every couple days of games.
1. Purdue (13-4): at Northwestern (L)
2. Wisconsin (11-5): Iowa (W); Minnesota (W)
3. Maryland (11-6): Michigan State (W)
4. Minnesota (10-6): Nebraska (W); at Wisconsin (L)
5 (tie). Michigan State (10-7): at Maryland (L)
5 (tie). Northwestern (10-7): Purdue (W)
6 (tie). Michigan (9-8): at Nebraska (W)
8. Iowa (8-8): at Wisconsin (L); Penn State (W)
9. Illinois (8-9): at Rutgers (W)
10. Ohio State (7-10): Indiana (L)
11. Nebraska (6-10): at Minnesota (L); Michigan (L)
12 (tie). Indiana (6-11): at Ohio State (W)
12 (tie). Penn State (6-11): at Iowa (L)
14. Rutgers (2-15): Illinois (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 (bold means a team has clinched that seed):
1. Purdue (13-5) (has tiebreaker over Wisconsin based on 1-0 head-to-head record)
2. Wisconsin (13-5)
3. Maryland (12-6)
4. Minnesota (11-7) (has tiebreaker over Northwestern based on 1-0 head-to-head record)
5. Northwestern (11-7)
6. Michigan (10-8) (Michigan and MSU split their games 1-1, but Michigan has the tiebreaker over MSU based on a better record vs. Purdue)
7. Michigan State (10-8)
8. Illinois (9-9) (has tiebreaker over Iowa based on 2-0 head-to-head record)
9. Iowa (9-9)
10. Indiana (7-11) (would have tiebreaker over OSU based on 1-0 head-to-head record)
11. Ohio State (7-11)
12. Nebraska (6-12) (has tiebreaker over Penn State based on 1-0 head-to-head record)
13. Penn State (6-12)
14. Rutgers (2-16)
Big Ten Tournament Schedule
In the past, I have also included far-too-premature predictions for every game of the Big Ten Tournament, but, like the last couple years, I'm not even going to try to do that this year until the seeds are more finalized. However, here are the dates/times/TV schedule for the Big Ten Tournament (and a link to the bracket), which will be in Washington, DC. All times are Eastern.
Wednesday March 8 – First Round
(12) vs. (13) (4:30 p.m. ESPN2)
(11) vs. (14) Rutgers (7 p.m. BTN)
Thursday March 9 – Second Round
(8) vs. (9) (Noon, BTN)
(5) vs. (12)/(13) (2:30 p.m., BTN)
(7) vs. (10) (6:30 p.m., ESPN2)
(6) vs. (11)/(14) (9 p.m., ESPN2)
Friday March 10 – Quarterfinals
(1) Purdue vs. (8)/(9) (Noon, ESPN)
(4) vs. (5)/(12)/(13) (2:30 p.m., ESPN)
(2) vs. (7)/(10) (6:30 p.m., BTN)
(3) vs. (6)/(11)/(14) (9 p.m., BTN)
Saturday March 11 – Semifinals
(1)/(8)/(9) vs. (4)/(5)/(12)/(13) (1 p.m., CBS)
(2)/(7)/(10) vs. (3)/(6)/(11)/(14) (3:30 p.m., CBS)
Sunday March 12 – Finals
(1)/(4)/(5)/(8)/(9)/(12)/(13) vs. (2)/(3)/(6)/(7)/(10)/(11)/(14) (3 p.m., CBS)
NCAA Tournament Resumes for All 14 Big Ten Teams
Here is each Big Ten team's NCAA Tournament resume, including each team's RPI (based on ESPN's daily RPI), BPI (based on ESPN's BPI rankings), overall record against D-1 opponents, "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. 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. I have also added a record vs. the RPI Top 50 and Top 100. For the "In" and "Out" teams, I'm putting them in order based on RPI ranking. For the "Bubble" teams, I am putting them in order based on what I think their likelihood of making the NCAA Tournament is (which may or may not fall in line with the RPI ranking).
In
1. Minnesota
RPI: 17
BPI: 38
Overall record: 22-7
Record vs. RPI Top 50: 7-5
Record vs. RPI Top 100: 13-7
Good wins: 7 (at Purdue (20), at Maryland (26), Arkansas (27), UT Arlington (33), at Northwestern (45), Michigan (47), Vanderbilt* (48),)
Bad losses: None (at Penn State (94))
2. Purdue
RPI: 20
BPI: 12
Overall record: 24-6
Record vs. RPI Top 50: 6-4
Record vs. RPI Top 100: 14-6
Good wins: 6 (Notre Dame* (22), at Maryland (26), Wisconsin (30), Northwestern (45), at Michigan State (46), Michigan State (46))
Bad losses: None (at Iowa (90))
3. Maryland
RPI: 26
BPI: 45
Overall record: 23-7
Record vs. RPI Top 50: 4-3
Record vs. RPI Top 100: 14-7
Good wins: 4 (at Minnesota (17), Oklahoma State (29), at Northwestern (45), at Michigan (47))
Bad losses: None (at Penn State (94))
4. Wisconsin
RPI: 30
BPI: 20
Overall record: 22-7
Record vs. RPI Top 50: 3-6
Record vs. RPI Top 100: 13-7
Good wins: 3 (at Minnesota (17), Maryland (26), Michigan (47))
Bad losses: None (at Ohio State (62))
Bubble
5. Northwestern
RPI: 45
BPI: 43
Overall record: 21-9
Record vs. RPI Top 50: 4-6
Record vs. RPI Top 100: 10-9
Good wins: 4 (Dayton* (21), at Wisconsin (30), Wake Forest (40), Michigan (47))
Bad losses: None (at Indiana (89))
6. Michigan State
RPI: 46
BPI: 48
Overall record: 18-12
Record vs. RPI Top 50: 6-7
Record vs. RPI Top 100: 11-11
Good wins: 6 (Minnesota (17), at Minnesota (17), Wisconsin (30), Wichita State* (43), Northwestern (45), Michigan (47))
Bad losses: 1 (Northeastern (123))
7. Michigan
RPI: 47
BPI: 24
Overall record: 19-11
Record vs. RPI Top 50: 4-8
Record vs. RPI Top 100: 11-11
Good wins: 4 (SMU* (19), Purdue (20), Wisconsin (30), Michigan State (46))
Bad losses: None (at Iowa (90))
8. Illinois
RPI: 54
BPI: 62
Overall record: 18-12
Record vs. RPI Top 50: 5-8
Record vs. RPI Top 100: 10-12
Good wins: 5 (VCU* (23), Northwestern (45), at Northwestern (45), Michigan State (46), Michigan (47))
Bad losses: None (at Penn State (94), Penn State (94))
Out
9. Ohio State
RPI: 62
BPI: 59
Overall record: 17-13
Record vs. RPI Top 50: 4-9
Record vs. RPI Top 100: 8-12
Good wins: 4 (Minnesota (17), Wisconsin (30), Michigan State (46), at Michigan (47))
Bad losses: 1 (Florida Atlantic (287))
10. Nebraska
RPI: 85
BPI: 105
Overall record: 12-16
Record vs. RPI Top 50: 3-10
Record vs. RPI Top 100: 7-14
Good wins: 3 (Purdue (20), Dayton* (21), at Maryland (26))
Bad losses: 2 (at Rutgers (177), Gardner-Webb (196))
11. Indiana
RPI: 89
BPI: 32
Overall record: 16-14
Record vs. RPI Top 50: 4-11
Record vs. RPI Top 100: 7-13
Good wins: 3 (Kansas* (2), North Carolina (4), Northwestern (45), Michigan State (46))
Bad losses: 1 (at Fort Wayne (167))
12. Iowa
RPI: 90
BPI: 79
Overall record: 16-13
Record vs. RPI Top 50: 4-8
Record vs. RPI Top 100: 7-11
Good wins: 4 (Purdue (20), at Maryland (26), Iowa State (31), Michigan (47))
Bad losses: 2 (Memphis* (108), Omaha (143))
13. Penn State
RPI: 94
BPI: 86
Overall record: 14-16
Record vs. RPI Top 50: 3-8
Record vs. RPI Top 100: 6-13
Good wins: 3 (Minnesota (17), Maryland (26), Michigan State* (46))
Bad losses: 3 (George Mason (109), Albany (147), Rutgers (177))
14. Rutgers
RPI: 177
BPI: 147
Overall record: 13-17
Record vs. RPI Top 50: 0-12
Record vs. RPI Top 100: 2-17
Good wins: None (Nebraska (85))
Bad losses: None (Penn State (94)
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