Remember when I said I thought Michigan should be the #1 overall seed?

Just keep in mind that this web log is free.

Big Ten Bracketology

• After all that, Michigan slides back onto the third 1-line. It’s surely the six overall losses holding Illinois back, but...a Big Ten Tournament title would sure be hard to ignore here. Do we think any less could see the Illini slide above Michigan?
• Speaking of, there’s about one more loss worth of grace in the Ohio State arsenal.
• Given the last week, I’d probably slide the Iowa Hawkeyes into the Baylor regional and knock the Bucks down a peg. Identical records, the Hawkeyes leading in NET and Kenpom and Sagarin, oh my...there doesn’t seem to be a reason that Iowa wouldn’t eventually slide up into the higher of the 2-seeds.
• Unless there’s a loss, my answer is just to reshuffle these four teams above as the 3-4-5-6 overall seeds. Keeps them out of each other’s way, is probably an accurate representation of how good they are.
• Purdue ran the “Have Zach Edey Be Tall” play to great effect last night, and I don’t think I’ll stop talking about the Brad Davison three off the side of the backboard, with the chaser of Davison—a former high school quarterback, you know!—throwing the saddest fucking Hail Mary I’ve ever seen and getting picked off around midcourt.

• There’s a drive into deep left field by Castellanos and that’ll be a home run. And so that’ll make wisconsin a 7-seed. Or it oughta.
• Rutgers KP/Sagarin/NET on Monday morning: 27/23/32. Rutgers on Wednesday: 32/36/38. Like my waist measurement at the start of freshman year and the end of freshman year. Don’t drink five nights a week lose to Nebraska, kids.
• You listening, Maryland? Same goes for Northwestern.
• I’m not sure what Jerry Palm is seeing putting Michigan State straight in the Dance after that abortion last night against Indiana, but at least it’s nice and settled that Archie won’t be going to the NCAA Tournament this year.

NIT Bracketology!

Now that we’ve got a 16-team bad-idea-jeans NIT Tournament (is that like ATM machine?) happening in Texas—which just pulled its entire mask mandate, this is fine, everything is terrible—let’s see which Big Ten teams are headed to [/shudder] Texas.

All rankings pulled from DRatings and our friend Joe Stunardi at The Barking Crow, with seeds given on a straight 1-to-16 scale:

• As much as I love the idea of Penn State Nittany Lions being in the NIT somehow at 5 games under water, I don’t know if the NIT will stoop that low, even if there’s no “above .500” mandate.
• Seeing Sparty stuck as a fuckin’ 15-seed, though...shoot that right into my veins.
• If you’re Indiana and Archie Miller...do you even play out that string and take an NIT bid? You’re above it, right?
• Given that Little Richard is out in Minneapolis, I see no way the Minnesota Golden Gophers actually take an NIT bid...

but then, who will? Is this gonna be like the SEC slate during bowl season again? Just a bunch of sub-.500 red-state teams slappin’ up against each other in the Gasparilla Cheribundi Tart Cherry NIT?

There’s what I’ve got for you! Looking to talk all the day’s Big Ten basketball games and for previews of Thursday’s matchups? Check out our open thread here:

Bracketology! Fun! Behave!