2023 Big Ten Tournament Bracket
We play noon ET on Thursday against Rutgers.
[Ed:Seth: I replaced your graphic with the real one]
For those who don't remember, Michigan and Rutgers were scheduled to play in the 8/9 game in 2020 when the game was cancelled minutes before tipoff because of COVID.
What I wouldn't give for a repeat...
Finally found a fan of COVID.
This is the interwebs.. you should have already found plenty!
Somehow I created and uploaded the wrong bracket. Here is the correct one -
I like the other one much better.
Given the draw, not an improvement. NIT here we come.
I like that this one is embiggened
Welp, quemar los barcos n’ shit
Burn me
Self immolation works, sometimes.
your wish
Close. More like:
Playing a skidding Rutgers isn’t the worst thing in the world for this team - and then another must win game against a Purdue team that also is limping in a bit. Team is still not dead yet.
I would also think that Wisc OSU game is a must win for Wisc - and certainly not a gimme.
Man I hope wisco finally dies. Everything about them makes your eyes bleed. Just an all around ugly team that plays ugly basketball.
Dirty as hell and holier than thou
Our brand of basketball is not exactly the Mona Lisa.
It's a million times better than Wisconsin basketball. While our brand is frustrating for us, it has all the elements of highly entertaining basketball: suspenseful, some brilliant offense (Kobe and Hunter might be the best offensive players Michigan has had since...Mo Wagner or even Trey Burke), and not a lot of defense.
Unlike the beauty, grace and intelligence of Michigan basketball?
Yep, I absolutely love this draw. Rutgers is playing terribly, but they still have a high NET so it's a q1 game.
And Purdue isn't playing that well either so great chance for a statement win.
I think if they win those two, they're in. But at that point, might as well just win the whole thing.
I thought the same thing.
At first I was like: "Oh great, if we make it past Rutgers we play Purdue."
Then I thought: "Oh GREAT, if we make it past Rutgers we play Purdue."
We don't need easy meaningless games right now. We need opportunity. Purdue is opportunity.
A win against Purdue is the only thing that can save our season at this point, short of a very improbable leg-weary deep BTT run.
I'm also just not buying it with Purdue. They're 5-4 since the start of February.
Edey is outstanding but the emergence of Reed gives us two bodies to throw at him. And they're disciplined and well-coached but they are not a talented team, not even close to the talent Michigan has.
Torvik has them as the 15th best team in the country since start of February. We're the 16th. And I buy both of those teams at those ranks. That's closer to a pick em at this point IMO than whatever the full season metrics and actual line will be.
Granted, we'll probably make it close and blow it at the end which helps those betting against the spread but won't help us get into the tournament. Need to close it out!
Reed will be the big difference maker against Purdue if we get past Rutgers. He barely played when it mattered against Purdue. That is a mistake that won't get repeated.
Yeah, with where we are right now, this is about the best draw we could hope for. Nothing but Q1 chances, and the first against a collapsing Rutgers.
This team like the coach have rolled over when it matters most. I’d bet Rutgers runs them out of the gym.
On the contrary - they've been terrible in late game situations but this team has had several opportunities to give up and they haven't. They've lost 14 games, 12 of those by fewer than 6 points; they usually don't get run out of the gym. I hope they don't roll over now.
I was listening to some college basketball analyst from Bally Sports on ESPNU radio this morning. He seems to think the magic number for an at large bid for Michigan is THREE BTT tourney wins. He doesn't think Michigan beating Rutgers and Purdue is going to be enough. I call BS on that. If Michigan beats Rutgers (meh) and B1G champ Purdue then I think we are locked in to the tourney. Yes, 19-15 is pretty awful and that 20th win would take the pressure off, but I think a 19-15 resume' gets us in.
And it's doable. We've played well enough to win two really tough road games in a row. Just couldn't finish the job. I like our chances on a neutral court.
Gotta beat Rutgers. They are awful on O. Really down right now. Comes down to Purdue. They are vulnerable. Would be the true make or break to dancing on Friday. As a fan, I just ask for a shot at Purdue and see what happens.
19-15 unlikely good enough to make NCAA TOURNEY
I noted below but if UM goes 2-1 in the conference tourney they're the last (or second to last) team in per Torvik. The site didn't include the Rutgers game so when I switched that loss to NW in they dropped below UM. But you are sweating the entire time come selection Sunday.
The major concern I would have is bid stealers in that situation. We would basically be the team that gets knocked out by one of the conference tourney surprises.
Purdue would be a big signature win. Maybe play in. But think we make it going 2-1 in BTT. The Net and KenPom ratings would be really strong.
Need 3 wins to have any NCAA Tourney chance. Rutgers..Purdue...and ?.
IMO beat Purdue and they’re in.
Per Torvik if UM beat Rutgers, Purdue, and loses to MSU (just based on seeding) they'd be the last team in. But that also assumes Rutgers is in ahead of them which probably isn't the case since Rutgers would have fewer conference wins and overall wins.
Yeah, gotta think M would be above Rutgers with a win Thursday.
"In" might mean Dayton, but 2-1 in the BTT likely puts us in.
I would take a Dayton play-in game at this point. No complaints there. UCLA parlayed a play-in all the way to the final 4, and beat a good Michigan team along the way.
That UCLA squad would have gotten smoked by us if Livers was healthy.
We had two chances at being the number two seed. It doesn't get much better than that. I am so tired. I'm just tired. Good night.
For real, I was thinking the same thing: the entire season played out the way the individual games do. How appropos...
One of these days we are going to win one of those suckers . . . one of those key possessions . . . one of those key plays . . . one of those key games. It's time to WIN one.
Costly loss.
I can’t imagine the #2 seed in the BTT has ever missed the NCAA Tournament.
And of course MSU had to have like four games break their way to get the buy.
I don't think the position we finish in the conference standings factors in to whether we get selected. Even with a win yesterday, I could see us getting left out if we dropped our first game in the BTT to someone like Penn State.
Back in 2018, Nebraska finished 13-5 in the Big Ten and earned the double bye in the BTT, yet were left out of the dance.
Yeah, people still don't realize that conference standings mean jack shit because of the unbalanced scheduling. And it will get even more unbalanced once the 16-team super conference arrives in a couple years.
I’m just over here laughing at the results of this. We entered the last day of Big Ten play with multiple possibilities for where we landed.
The #8 seed was the lowest we could be and literally every game needed to go a specific way for that to happen….
As if a microcosm of this season, that’s exactly what happened. You can’t make this up
This season just needs to end already. I am not sure I can take anymore of this nonsense.
It sucks, but it did us a favor. Rutgers is a favorable draw for us and Purdue is a season-changing opportunity.
Win those two and we could actually get in the NCAA tournament with only two BTT wins. Perhaps Dayton in, but in.
There are no other opportunities where just two BTT wins gets us in.
I'm kinda excited by this. Tee up that football Lucy.
Congrats to Juwan Howard who in 4 seasons at Michigan has finished in the bottom half of the conference 3 out of those 4 seasons. #8 seed all three times for those wondering.
Can’t wait for this miserable season to end and Juwan to fail again next year so we can get a coach who knows how to build a good college program in here.