As the Big 10 basketball season comes to a close this Sunday, much still needs to be sorted in regards to who plays when in the conference tournament. Because of the addition of the four west-coast schools into the league, next week’s extravaganza will look very different from previous years.
One key difference is not every team will be invited to the conference dance this season. Of the league’s 18 teams, the bottom three finishers will not compete in Indianapolis for the conference crown and have their season end this week.
The biggest deviation from previous years is that the top four places at the end of the regular season will reap the benefit of a huge reward. Although the championship run begins on Wednesday, March 12, the elite four teams receive a “double-bye” until Friday, thereby getting significantly more rest than other squads.
Michigan State, who leads the Big 10 with a 15-3 record, and Michigan, a close second at 14-4, are almost assured of one of the four slots. The last two coveted openings will be determined by how four schools fare this week.
Maryland, Purdue, and Wisconsin are all tied for third in the league with a 12-6 mark. UCLA is barely hanging on with a 12-7 record, and much would have to fall their way for them to sneak into the top four.
Here is how the three teams currently at 12-6 break down and who has the inside track to the tournament quarterfinals as the Big 10 enters its final days
If the season ended today, the Maryland Terrapins would enjoy the #3 seed in the Big 10 tournament. However, much still needs to be determined on the court.
After their crushing last-second loss to Michigan State last Wednesday, Maryland rebounded to beat Penn State on March 1 to keep their top-4 hopes alive.
The Terrapins’ road to a double bye gets challenging on Wednesday as they travel to Ann Arbor to face Michigan. The Wolverines are still in the hunt for a regular-season title, and they will experience Senior Night for their departing players, adding to the high drama.
Maryland closes out their regular season slate with a home game against Northwestern on Saturday, March 8.
They control their destiny; should Maryland win their final two games, they will get that desired rest next week.
On paper, the Wisconsin Badgers have the easiest road to the double-bye. They do, however, have to travel to Minnesota on Wednesday to face their archrivals, but Wisconsin drubbed the Gophers 80-59 in their first meeting.
The Badgers finish their schedule at home in the Kohl Center on Saturday against Penn State. The Nittany Lions may be already eliminated from the tournament by then because of their 17th-place standing, and they may not have much to play for against Wisconsin.
Similar to Maryland, if Wisconsin wins out, their conference tournament begins Friday.
What makes this week so interesting in the Big 10 is how far down the tie-breaking criterion one has to go to determine the specific placeholders. When judged together in head-to-head matchups, Maryland, Wisconsin, and Purdue are all 1-1. Purdue beat Maryland but lost to Wisconsin, Maryland beat Wisconsin but lost to Purdue, and Wisconsin beat Purdue but lost to Maryland.
The Boilers face Rutgers tonight at home, and they complete their topsy-turvy Big 10 season at Illinois on Friday night.
According to Hammer And Rails SB Nation, here is why Purdue sits fifth despite having identical records as the other two:
“This (1-1 against each other) means we move on to the next tiebreaker which compares the record (by winning percentage) of the group against the top seeded team and continues down until a single team gains an advantage (this is where the rule gets tricky but I will explain later). So we start with the top seed in Michigan State. Each of Maryland, Wisconsin, and Purdue are 0-1 against the Spartans, meaning we move one spot down to Michigan. Maryland has yet to play Michigan yet so they are 0-0. Wisconsin is 0-1 against the Wolverines, and Purdue is 1-1. Now, there are two things to take away from this: by Big Ten rules, 0-0 is deemed to be the same winning percentage as 1-0 and the way the rule is written, only one team can separate from the group when comparing records in this stage of the tie breaker. This means that, at the moment, Maryland has the best record of the group and is awarded the 3-seed but because they can be the only team to separate, it does not matter that Purdue has the better record than Wisconsin against Michigan. Instead, the tiebreaker reverts back to head-to-head record where Wisconsin takes the 4-seed and leaves the 5-seed for the Boilermakers.”
Needless to say, much needs to be clarified before Sunday.
The fate of the Big 10 championship tournament next week will depend greatly on how the final games go for the league’s contenders. If this rollercoaster of the season is any indication, the next few days should see plenty of ups and downs and twists and turns before all the smoke clears on Sunday.
If you love sports, download Stadium Rant from the Apple App Store and join one of the fastest-growing social sports communities. Be sure to follow us on socials too — you can find all our profiles on our Linktree.
