Big Ten Tournament Bracketology - The Week of February 18th

[Dan]

B1G standings-
_____________________Conf______+/-____Overall________Remaining Games
1.__Indiana__________12-2______5______24-3___________@Minn__Iowa____OSU_____@Mich
2.__Michigan State___11-3______4______22-5___________@OSU___@Mich___Wisc____NW
3.__Wisconsin________10-4______3______19-8___________Neb____PU______@MSU____@PSU
4.__Michigan__________9-4______3______22-4___________IL_____@PSU____MSU_____@PU_____IU
5.__Ohio State________9-5______2______19-7___________MSU____@NW_____@IU_____IL
6.__Illinois__________7-7______-1_____20-8___________@Mich__Neb_____@Iowa___@OSU
7.__Iowa______________6-7______0______17-9___________@Neb___PU______@IU_____IL______Neb
8.__Minnesota_________6-8______-1_____18-9___________IU_____PSU_____@Neb____@PU
9.__Purdue____________5-8______-1_____12-14__________NW_____@Iowa___@Wisc___Mich____Minn
10._Northwestern______4-10_____-3_____13-14__________@PU____OSU_____PSU_____@MSU
11._Nebraska__________3-10_____-4_____12-14__________Iowa___@Wisc___@IL_____Minn____@Iowa
12._Penn State________0-14_____-7______8-18__________Mich___@Minn___@NW_____Wisc

+/- = +1 for B1G road win, -1 for B1G home loss.


If the BTT were to be held today-

[trevdv]

I know this might sound silly, but I could see Penn State knocking somebody off; they're hungry for a win and will play with passion and tenacity in the BTT.

I like our half of the bracket; we could very easily win two or three games.

[ChiSoxIllini82]

I like it as it stands for now for Illinois. Rd 1 is a win and I think Wisc is the easiest to beat among the top 4

[FredrickFremont]

Originally Posted by trevdv

I know this might sound silly, but I could see Penn State knocking somebody off; they're hungry for a win and will play with passion and tenacity in the BTT.

I like our half of the bracket; we could very easily win two or three games.

Spiked koolaid alert!!!!

[AHSIllini32]

I had been hoping to get the 5th seed but if we end up 6 with that bracket I would much rather have that. Looking at the remaining schedule I could easily see Wisky taking over #2 and us playing MSU should we win our first round game. Hell OSU could drop Michigan to the #5 seed too.

[kbotc]

Originally Posted by AHSIllini32

I had been hoping to get the 5th seed but if we end up 6 with that bracket I would much rather have that. Looking at the remaining schedule I could easily see Wisky taking over #2 and us playing MSU should we win our first round game. Hell OSU could drop Michigan to the #5 seed too.

I would give anything not to have to go through Wisconsin again. I don't think we can beat their style of play with our players. MSU/OSU/Indiana? Sure. I think we've got an outside shot if we force them to play our game, but Wisconsin has just destroyed us when we play them.

[IlliniTilDeath]

I think I would rather face Wisky instead of Mich St in the second round...I think we match up a little better, but both are rough....

Nebraska should be an auto win for us!

[Illinipopo]

Originally Posted by IlliniTilDeath

Nebraska should be an auto win for us!

There are no automatic wins for this team....

[ericac]

Iowa is in as long as they finish 9-9 and have 20 + wins, and win their first big ten tourney game, they are in. Same thing with minny, 9-9, win first big ten tourney game. looks like 8 teams from big ten.

[IlliniTilDeath]

Originally Posted by ericac

Iowa is in as long as they finish 9-9 and have 20 + wins, and win their first big ten tourney game, they are in. Same thing with minny, 9-9, win first big ten tourney game. looks like 8 teams from big ten.

This is a big ten tourney discussion...haha.

[WesterveltVictoryCigar]

Originally Posted by ericac

Iowa is in as long as they finish 9-9 and have 20 + wins, and win their first big ten tourney game, they are in. Same thing with minny, 9-9, win first big ten tourney game. looks like 8 teams from big ten.

They are in the B1G tournament, yes. But 9-9 is not getting them into the NCAA tournament. It's been discussed in other threads, they don't have the quality wins and their weak non-conference schedule is going to keep them out.

[BrooksTaylorFan]

I like the thought of playing Nebraska two more times before the tourney. Wisconsin is a tough matchup for us, but we do have home court advantage playing in Chicago and we have already played one game there.

[DrewD007]

I think we could actually catch OSU for the 5 seed. They can beat NW but lose to MSU and Indy and then we need to win 2 of our next 3 and then beat Ohio State in the final game.

[mdkIllini15]

Am I the only one that really doesn't want to play wisconsin again?

[FeelYourPaign]

Originally Posted by mdkIllini15

Am I the only one that really doesn't want to play wisconsin again?

I'm with you

[bootsy]

Originally Posted by mdkIllini15

Am I the only one that really doesn't want to play wisconsin again?

I'm not with you. They played us when we were playing our worst basketball. We were in a slump and having major problems figuring out things. We aren't anymore. Would love to play them again.

[KBLEE]

Originally Posted by DrewD007

I think we could actually catch OSU for the 5 seed. They can beat NW but lose to MSU and Indy and then we need to win 2 of our next 3 and then beat Ohio State in the final game.

I don't want the 5 seed. I'd much rather play Nebraska than Penn State again.

[danielb927]

Originally Posted by KBLEE

I don't want the 5 seed. I'd much rather play Nebraska than Penn State again.

+1, assuming we take care of them next weekend, and hard as it is to beat a team 3 times in a season, I think it'd be worse to try and beat PSU a second time given that they're improving a lot lately and did a good job disrupting our game.

[RockyMtnIllini81]

Originally Posted by danielb927

+1, assuming we take care of them next weekend, and hard as it is to beat a team 3 times in a season, I think it'd be worse to try and beat PSU a second time given that they're improving a lot lately and did a good job disrupting our game.

I don't want to play PSU again. Question - is our tourney resume better if we beat OSU, finish 5th and lose to PSU in the first round of the BTT? or lose to OSU, finish 6th and win a round (or two in the BTT)?

[bigtiny]

Originally Posted by bootsy

I'm not with you. They played us when we were playing our worst basketball. We were in a slump and having major problems figuring out things. We aren't anymore. Would love to play them again.

I would like another shot at Wisconsin too. Mainly, because I want to quickly quell a fear I have that Bo Ryan is going to end up just having Groce's number. (Sort of like Ed DeChellis was to Bruce Weber).

After two disasters with them, I'm wondering if the Wisconsin system doesn't just lick their chops for Groce's style??

[bigtiny]

Originally Posted by bigtiny

I would like another shot at Wisconsin too. Mainly, because I want to quickly quell a fear I have that Bo Ryan is going to end up just having Groce's number. (Sort of like Ed DeChellis was to Bruce Weber).

After two disasters with them, I'm wondering if the Wisconsin system doesn't just lick their chops for Groce's style??

Oh, and for the record, I would quickly and happily take an exciting basketball team with huge upside potential and the ability to beat almost anybody - even if it came with the potential of an ongoing vulnerability against a Princeton/modified Princeton-style offense.

[Greensboro]

Originally Posted by KBLEE

I don't want the 5 seed. I'd much rather play Nebraska than Penn State again.

I want to win out...if that means we earn the 5, at that point we are playing well enough I will take my chances with the bracket...plus don't think it matters in the end...we should have one game where we should win against a bottom 4 team, followed by a game against one of top 4 seeds & in the B1G this year all the top 4 should scare you...win that one & you only need 2 more wins against top 10 teams to win tourney...winning the B1G is going to be like making a final 4 in NCAA.

[jcgoldie]

Originally Posted by mdkIllini15

Am I the only one that really doesn't want to play wisconsin again?

Im just the opposite I want Wisky bad. I feel like we played so poorly in both those matchups and our guys would be hungry to show we can beat them. Plus I think they are the weakest team out of the top 4 by quite a bit.

[jcgoldie]

Originally Posted by KBLEE

I don't want the 5 seed. I'd much rather play Nebraska than Penn State again.

Maybe but honestly if we're scared of Penn State at this point what difference does any tournament seeding make it will be a short run anyway?

[Botb9]

For me, playing Wisky one more time would mean that we took one game in the BTT, and that's enough for me. We're playing better now than we were, so we have a realistic shot to beat anyone in the country.