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To cover the methods, each team was given a record based on its conference record plus all possible tournament games. ESPN might only list the first round, but we attempted to list the possible permutations of third round matchups in order to call the non-conference scores. We’ll go best predicted B1G record to worst, listing records alongside the notable high and low conference predictions for each team.
B1G Super-Scientific Final Standings:
Team | B1G | ALL | High | Low |
Michigan State | 15.0-3.0 | 26.6-4.4 | 17-1 | 14-4 |
Ohio State | 13.4-4.6 | 25.9-5.1 | 15-3 | 12-6 |
Michigan | 12.4-5.6 | 22.8-7.2 | 13-5 | 12-6 |
Wisconsin | 12.2-5.8 | 23.3-7.7 | 15-3 | 11-7 |
Indiana | 11.5-6.5 | 22.6-8.4 | 14-4 | 11-7 |
Iowa | 9.8-8.2 | 20.4-10.6 | 11-7 | 7-11 |
Purdue | 8.5-9.5 | 18.3-12.8 | 12-6 | 6-12 |
Illinois | 6.9-11.1 | 16.2-14.8 | 9-9 | 5-13 |
Minnesota | 6.3-11.7 | 17.2-13.8 | 9-9 | 3-15 |
Northwestern | 4.5-13.5 | 14.5-16.5 | 9-9 | 3-15 |
Penn State | 4.1-13.9 | 13.5-17.5 | 8-10 | 1-17 |
Nebraska | 3.4-14.6 | 11.6-18.4 | 5-13 | 3-15 |
Conference records: 11 writers votingOverall records: 8 writers voting
Some Takeaways:
- The list of teams predicted to have an NCAA tourney-caliber record by at least one B1G writer: Michigan State, Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Iowa, Purdue, Illinois, Minnesota, Northwestern (!!!)
- No one seems to know what to make of the bottom half of the B1G: the Boilermakers, Gophers, Wildcats, and Nittany Lions all had a range of at least 6 B1G wins.
- Everyone, though, seems to think Nebraska will still be rebuilding under Tim Miles.
- All the writers had Michigan State going no worse than 11-2 through a non-conference schedule that includes Kentucky, UNC, Texas (OK, this one's a stretch, but it's on the road), and Georgetown.
- Switch Indiana with Wisconsin and Penn State with Northwestern, and this exactly mirrors the OTE/BTP Power Poll from this morning. Northwestern and Penn State had the second-closest similarity in predicted record, after Michigan-Wisconsin.
Disagree? That's what the comments are for! Let us know your projected order of finish and records.