Big Ten bracketology updates—including NIT projections!—ahead of the Big Ten Tournament.
Let’s get right to it; here’s your roundup:
B1G Thoughts
- No change at the top for Michigan. Must be nice.
- Michigan State and Illinois present us with some interesting two-seed calculus. If you’re a two-seed, would you want to go out west for a double-double of (assuming seeds hold) #3 Gonzaga and then #1 Arizona, or east for #3 Iowa State and #1 Duke? Which of the projected three-seeds would you prefer to see?
- With that in mind, given that he has Nebraska as a 3-seed in the same region as Michigan State, it’s fair to say Palm’s finally broken and hitting the bottle.
- Purdue lurking as a three-seed? Outside of Boilermaker fans—the most terminally-online of whom should not be allowed near windows or sharp objects for the rest of the month—do we think they’re a 3-seed or a 4-seed? For the bit, we need that Matt Painter loss to a 14-seed. But…
- Looking at wisconsin as a 5- or 6-seed projected to play hot-at-the-right-time Santa Clara or AQ South Florida Let’s just wish the badgers a storybook run to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals so they’re niiiiice and gassed for that game. I cannot wait.
- A badger friend of mine—yes, I have multiple, not just my wife—is a Leeds fan, meaning I get to spend the next month wishing him even worse fortunes than usual, since his Whites and my Irons are set to meet in the FA Cup quarterfinals.
- If that bullet point meant nothing to you, I advise you to just keep scrolling. It doesn’t get better, but at least you won’t be reading these words anymore.
- I teach in 17 minutes, by the way. It’s just me at this dumb site now. I’m a week behind on all my grading. Might’ve concussed myself the other day, definitely scraped the hell out of both my legs. Thanks for asking.
- UCLA will lose in one of its first two games. Moving on.
- If you’re either Iowa or Ohio State, do…do you almost hope you slide off the 9-seed line and onto a 10-seed? You can take a 7-seed, obviously, but for your trouble you’re then stuck with a shot at one of the non-B1G twos—UConn or Houston—rather than Arizona or Florida. Is it just bad luck that there are probably five, maybe six, really good teams in college basketball?
- Indiana’s bubble fortunes were not helped last night when the Santa Clara Broncos beat fun-killers Randy Bennett and the Saint Mary’s Gaels. Good for Herb Sendek and the Broncos, and a special fuck-you to Randy Bennett for what he calls “basketball”.
- I just want to point out that amusingly, DRatings.com is projecting (1) USC and Washington to The Crown as the Big Ten’s two mandatory representatives, but also (2) Northwestern as a 4-seed in the NIT. I will absolutely consider making a pilgrimage to Welsh-Ryan Arena for one last Nicky Meatballs game in Evanston.
- It feels disrespectful to Minnesota, is what I’m saying. The Gophers are only trotting out six players and basically stuck running zone, but it feels like their 15-16 (8-12) record at least deserves a shout. And Niko Medved deserves all the roses for how he’s made the best of that situation. Man, I hate that the Gophers actually did the right thing for once.
Thoughts? Comments? Concerns?
Big Ten Tournament Day 1 previews and open thread dropping in two hours. Make sure you get your picks in the Official OTE Big Ten Tournament Bracket Challenge—those close at 3am Nepal Time.