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Big Ten Tournament Bracket, Seeds, Time, TV + NCAA Tournament Bracketology

Who can (realistically) play their way into the Dance in Chicago?

By MNWildcat
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Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK

Big Ten Tournament

All Iowa had to do was beat Nebraska, and they’d locked up a double-bye:

The Hawkeyes then forgot how to shoot the ball in the second half and lost, at home, to Nebraska. Suddenly, teams like Northwestern and Indiana had a lifeline.

With just two (relevant) games to go, this was how the conference stood:

With just over 13 minutes left, Michigan led Indiana by 12, giving the Wolverines a sniff at the 2-seed and—

Oh.

And so now, this is what you get in the Big Ten Tournament:

Big Ten Conference

Your guess is as good as mine, and we’ll have the bracket pick’em challenge up soon.

Bracketology

B1G Talking Points

  • Should Purdue have fallen to the 2-line in Lunardi’s projections? I don’t know that I’m taking UCLA over the Boilers, but as a “whichever team slips up first” kind of competition, it’s compelling.

Poll

Who’s your final 1-seed?

This poll is closed

  • 56%
    Purdue
    (88 votes)
  • 43%
    UCLA
    (69 votes)
157 votes total Vote Now
  • Indiana solidly earned the 4-seed they’ll get with that come-from-ahead win over Michigan. Some slippery MAAC- or CAA-style team waits, and I for one would LOVE if it was Rick Pitino’s Iona.
  • When Minnesota’s on your schedule, the only winning move is not to play. Michigan State didn’t have to for an obviously valid reason, but their NET and, perhaps, their seed might climb to a 6 as a result.
  • Northwestern fans would do well to hope for a run in the Big Ten Tourney — the difference between a 3-seed like Kansas State or Tennessee and a 2-seed like Baylor or Arizona is big. Get off that 7-seed line.

Poll

What seed does Northwestern get?

This poll is closed

  • 11%
    5
    (17 votes)
  • 38%
    6
    (60 votes)
  • 37%
    7
    (58 votes)
  • 12%
    8
    (19 votes)
154 votes total Vote Now
  • Please note that advice does not apply to Iowa, who deserve your scorn and ridicule and also a hamblasting by Arizona.
  • Illinois feels like a real wildcard of a 7-seed in the BTT and 8-seed in the Dance. I could see them running with Arkansas or getting blown the fuck out by the Hogs.
  • I still don’t know or understand Maryland, and I don’t want to.
  • Rutgers did not look like a team that belonged in the Dance to me. Interesting that Lunardi has them as one of the last teams getting a bye while Palm doesn’t even have them as one of the First Four Out, but perhaps the First Four is a landing option.
  • Similar conversation for Michigan, but it’d be hilarious if that chokejob against Indiana cost the Howards a shot at the tourney. I’d have them in the First Four as well, but that’d be three Big Ten teams, because...
  • If Penn State isn’t in the Dance...well, it wouldn’t be the least understandable thing in the world, but it sure feels like the Nitty Kitties have done enough.
  • The same cannot be said for wisconsin — anyone who still has them in the tournament should be sack-tapped on public television for my enjoyment.
  • Nebraska: start hoping that every mid-major regular-season champion wins their conference tournament. Every. Last. One. Husker fans’ ability to fill PBA and the late-season surge should convince the NIT committee to take a flyer on seeded Nebraska getting a home game against someone like Bradley, but you never know.

Poll

Rutgers:

This poll is closed

  • 27%
    In.
    (54 votes)
  • 32%
    First Four.
    (64 votes)
  • 41%
    NIT.
    (82 votes)
200 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Michigan.

This poll is closed

  • 6%
    In.
    (14 votes)
  • 16%
    First Four.
    (34 votes)
  • 64%
    NIT.
    (131 votes)
  • 12%
    Home.
    (25 votes)
204 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Penn State:

This poll is closed

  • 39%
    In.
    (84 votes)
  • 35%
    First Four.
    (75 votes)
  • 22%
    NIT.
    (48 votes)
  • 2%
    Home.
    (6 votes)
213 votes total Vote Now

Poll

wisconsin:

This poll is closed

  • 7%
    In.
    (16 votes)
  • 12%
    First Four.
    (25 votes)
  • 47%
    NIT.
    (97 votes)
  • 32%
    Home.
    (66 votes)
204 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Nebraska:

This poll is closed

  • 10%
    NIT with two BTT wins.
    (22 votes)
  • 40%
    NIT with a win over Minnesota.
    (84 votes)
  • 23%
    NIT already.
    (48 votes)
  • 25%
    Home.
    (52 votes)
206 votes total Vote Now

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