Big Ten Tournament bracket
We can now turn our focus to winning the Big 10 Conference Championship. Maybe I'm still intoxicated from the Kool-Aid served up this afternoon, but I believe this team has as good a shot as any to win it.
http://www.bigten.org/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/big10/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2010-11-mbb-bracket
Thursday
2:30pm 8 NU v 9 Minnesota .........winner plays 1 Ohio State on Friday at noon
~5:15pm 7 Penn St v 10 Iowa..........winner plays 2 Purdue Friday at approximately 6:30
~7:30pm 6 MSU v 11 Indiana...........winner plays 3 Wisconsin Friday at approx 9:30
Friday
~2:45 4 Illinois v 5 Michigan. If we can win this game, we'll most likely play Ohio State on Saturday afternoon for the right to play in the championship game. I don't know about you, but I'm feeling very positive about the way the team is playing and believe some of the heart breaking losses from earlier in the season have helped galvanize this team. I'll be rooting hard.
Go Blue!
The only seeds that are locked in at this point are the #1, #10 and #11. Purdue/Wisconsin can be either #2 or #3, Michigan/Illinois can be either #4 or #5, MSU/PSU can be either #6 or #7, Minnesota/Northwestern can be either #8 or #9.
I realize the field isn't set and I listed the teams based on some assumptions.
OSU beats Wisconsin tomorrow setting the top 3 seeds: OSU, Purdue, Wisconsin
The bottom is set thanks to Iowa's win today: Iowa 10, Indiana 11
Illinois won today and has a 9-9 conference record but beat us twice. They are 4 and we are 5.
I don't know what happens if Penn State wins tomorrow. They'll have an identical record to State and will have split the season series against the Spartans.
In any event, it still doesn't deter from the gist of my post.
We only played Illinois once. If Penn State wins tomorrow, then there will be a 4-way tie for 4th and we win the tie-breaker (4-1 records vs. the other 3 teams).
Illinois beat us once, and that game doesn't ever come into play as a tiebreaker. If PSU beats Minnesota, it would be a four way tie for fourth. Michigan would get the four seed with a collective 4-1 record against the tied teams while Illinois would only be 3-2 (MSU and PSU would both be 2-4). HOWEVA, if the tie for fourth is between Illinois, Michigan and MSU. Michigan and Illinois would be tied at 2-1, and Illinois would win the tiebreaker for their win against Wisconsin.
I'm not sure why you think Illinois and Michigan as the #4 and #5 respectively is not locked in yet.
That GAME is locked in, but as I said, the only SEEDS that are locked in are #1, #10 and #11.
Isn't MSU locked in at 6? If PSU wins then they're tied as both would be 2-4 against the 9-9 teams. You then start working your way down from the top. Both have no wins against OSU and Purdue and are 1-1 against Wisconsin. Then you get to Minnesota where MSU is 2-0 and PSU is 1-1. So, MSU wins the tie break. And of course if PSU loses, then MSU is obviously 6. Either way, MSU is 6, no?
You would actually look at MSU's and PSU's record against Minnesota and Northwestern collectively, since both those teams would be tied, and MSU is 4-0 while PSU is also 4-0. It would continue down to Iowa, and State would lose because they are 1-1 and PSU is 1-0.
http://www.bigten.org/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/100606aae.html
Official tie break rules say that 0-1 is better than 0-2 so MSU wins the tiebreak over PSU because they only played OSU once.
Not true. The tiebreakers in that link are from 2008, and the rule about 0-1 being better than 0-2 has been since changed. If PSU wins tomorrow, they are the six, otherwise they are the seven.
When was the last time we didn't have a play-in game in the BTT? anybody know?
Michigan got a bye as the 5 seed in 2004.
I'm thinking about going Friday for the Illinois game. What's the Conseco Fieldhouse like? How's the food? What's the atmosphere like? I think this is an excellent reason for my fifth grade son to play hooky - a road trip to the Big Ten tournament.
is fantastic to watch basketball...went last year, really enjoyed Indianapolis...didn't get any food inside the fieldhouse, but a lot of good restaurants and bars very close...the city is pretty compact and you can walk most places...there's actually a good deal of parking available, and traffic wasn't too bad
atmosphere inside the stadium was pretty good too...Students were in the upper deck, so unless you're sitting by OSU fans or some Sparty fans, it should be pretty family-friendly...views are pretty great all over, and I know a lot of Michigan fans are making the trip (50+ Maize Ragers I've been told)
I would absolutely reccomend taking your son out of school for this. The BTT is just an awesome event for basketball fans, and Michigan is hungry for some more wins...
My mom has been before. I'm sure if you're just going for the one game it'll be great, but she said all the games wear you down. It's not exactly easy to watch a game like Iowa-Indiana. Indianapolis is an awesome city, though. Be sure to check out the NCAA hall of champions, it's a ton of fun.
It really is a nice venue. But be warned, Illinois by far travels the best to the tournament. There will be way more Illinois fans there than Michigan fans, so you may feel like you are at an away game.
But overall, the arena is nice and Indy is a real nice city.
In Belien presser they were saying M is the 4 seed.
Well, at least UM knows who they'll be playing in the second round, and I honestly think that given how close it was last game, UM has a great chance to sew up a 20-win season and an NCAA bid. That's right - the team everyone thought was going to be a bottom-feeder in the conference is poised to reach 20 wins.
Right now UM is a #5 Seed, and Illinois is #4. Michigan is locked into the 4/5 game. If Penn State wins tomorrow, UM is a 4, Illinois a 5... if PSU loses, Illinois a 4 UM a 5.
This is depressing, other than wisconsin, purdue, and ohio state, Illinois is the next team i would not want to play... I know thats what we get for being seeded where we are, but still. I'm worried for our first game thats for sure...
You underestimate this team. We can and will play with Illinois. Shit, we almost beat them on their court. Belien will have this team ready, you can count on that, I don't see any reason we can't beat the Illini.
M can put 5 guys on the court capable of scoring 20, not many teams can do that. With Sparty today it was Lucas or nothing, we are not in that boat. Plus this is a hard nosed, battle tested team, they ain't backin' down from anybody.
I feel you on being worried about illinois, but honestly it is the best possible scenario.
First of all, Illinois has not played their best bball as of late.
Secondly, finishing higher in the conference is never a bad thing.
Sure, if we'd finished down in 6th we would get to play Indy or Iowa, but that also means we would have lost another game or that there are 5 BT teams with better records.
Plus a win over Indy or Iowa does nothing to help us and would be a devastating loss. Thats what MSU is facing right now. They are in a one and done situation where if they lose, they are out of the Big Dance.
Even if you beat Iowa/Indy, you get Wiscy or Purdue and honestly I'd rather play OSU than Purdue, maybe not Wiscy.
So here is the deal, we beat Illinois, we are in. Once again, we need this much more than the Illini, bc I think they won't drop out.
We lose to Illinois and we sweat it out until selection Sunday.
I know one thing though, if we lose to Illinois and MSU loses their 2nd game to Purdue/Wiscy, and they get in over us, I will be PISSED. They may have better RPI, SOS, etc, but I still think we are a better team and have shown it on the court. I am worried about the Izzo sympathy factor however.
If Illinois-Chicago can find a way to beat the Illini, then I think you need to relax and let Beilein and Co. do their thing.
There is no need to knock the UIC Flames.
My mistake. You're right, mo' love to the Flames.
Honestly, having a bye almost hurts us, as we don't get that 'gimme win' that would come as a 6 vs 11 seed giving us the 20 wins. well 21, but no on counts concordia (d2)
A win over the #11 seed is worthless, while a loss to it is devastating. And playing that game leaves your team tired against a fresh top-3 team on Friday. I'd much rather go straight to the Friday game.