More precisely, I don’t think the tournament games matter more than any other game during the season, and for anyone except for a few select teams the tournament games aren’t significant enough to influence a seasons worth of games.
For example, using the committee’s first seeding and current B10 standings and assuming Illini play highest possible seed each round while making the final game.
Illinois adds wins against Iowa (63, Quad 2) and Wisconsin (21, Quad 1).
Their Quad 1 record improves to 5-5 and Quad 2 5-2.
Duke is currently the lowest 3 seed with Quad 1 record of 6-2, and Quad 2 of 2-2.
Does Illini team sheet change meaningfully in that scenario? Is 4-5 Q1 vs 5-5 Q1 really make a difference after 30 games to bump Illini up from a 4 seed to a 3 seed?
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