Your Friday look at Big Ten Tournament scenarios

The Big Ten Tournament gets underway Wednesday in Washington, D.C., and only two seeds have been locked in so far (No. 1 Purdue and No. 14 Rutgers).

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Each team has one game remaining heading into the final weekend of the regular season. What we do know is that Purdue has clinched the No. 1 seed and Rutgers has clinched the No. 14 seed. The second team to receive a double bye will be determined Saturday afternoon. The winner of the Michigan State-Maryland game clinches the No. 3 seed. If the Spartans lose, they are guaranteed to play on Thursday. If the Terps lose, they can still clinch a double bye with some help.

Iowa?s win over Wisconsin has made things interesting to say the least but all is not lost for the Badgers. The winner of the Minnesota-Wisconsin game clinches the No. 2 seed. However, the loser can still clinch a double bye with some help.

There are 128 possible scenarios and I?ll outline several of them below. I?ve broken it into three tiers. The first tier is teams who would get double byes if the tournament began today. The second tier is teams who would get single byes if the tournament began today. The third tier is teams who would play Wednesday if the tournament began today. The teams are listed by their current place in the Big Ten Standings (tiebreakers included).

 

1. Purdue (13-4)
Clinched #1 seed and double bye

2. Wisconsin (11-6)
Clinches #2 seed and double bye with win vs Minnesota
Clinches #4 seed and double bye with loss + Northwestern loss
Clinches #5 seed with loss + Maryland win + Northwestern win
Clinches #6 seed with loss + Michigan State win + Northwestern win

3. Minnesota (11-6)
Clinches #2 seed and double bye with win at Wisconsin
Clinches #4 seed and double bye with loss + Michigan State loss
Clinches #5 seed with loss + Michigan State win

4. Maryland (11-6)
Clinches #3 seed and double bye with win vs Michigan State
Clinches #4 seed and double bye with loss + Minnesota loss
Clinches #5 seed with loss + Minnesota win

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5. Michigan State (10-7)
Clinches #3 seed and double bye with win at Maryland
Clinches #5 seed with loss + Northwestern loss
Clinches #6 seed with loss + Northwestern win + Iowa win OR with loss + Northwestern win + Iowa loss + Michigan loss
Clinches #7 seed with loss + Northwestern win + Iowa loss + Michigan win

6. Northwestern (10-7)
Clinches #4 seed and double bye with win vs Purdue + Wisconsin loss
Clinches #5 seed with win + Wisconsin win + Maryland win
Clinches #6 seed with loss OR with win + Wisconsin win + Michigan State win

7. Iowa (9-8)
Locked into single bye, will play on Thursday no matter what
Clinches #7 seed with win vs Penn State OR with loss + Michigan loss + Illinois loss
Clinches #8 seed with loss + Michigan win + Illinois loss
Clinches #9 seed with loss + Illinois win

8. Michigan (9-8)
Locked into single bye, will play on Thursday no matter what
Clinches #6 seed with win at Nebraska + Michigan State loss + Northwestern win + Iowa loss
Clinches #7 seed with win + Iowa loss
Clinches #8 seed with Iowa win OR with loss + Illinois win OR with loss + Iowa loss

9. Illinois (8-9)
Locked into single bye, will play on Thursday no matter what
Clinches #7 seed with win at Rutgers + Michigan loss + Iowa loss
Clinches #8 seed with win + Iowa loss + Michigan win
Clinches #9 seed with loss OR with Iowa win

10. Ohio State (7-10)
Clinches #10 seed and single bye with win vs Indiana
Clinches #11 seed with loss + Nebraska loss
Clinches #12 seed with loss + Nebraska win

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11. Nebraska (6-11)
Clinches #10 seed and single bye with win vs Michigan + Ohio State loss
Clinches #11 seed with win + Ohio State win OR with loss + Ohio State win + Penn State loss
Clinches #12 seed with loss + Penn State win + Ohio State win OR with loss + Indiana win + Penn State loss
Clinches #13 seed with loss + Indiana win + Penn State win

12. Indiana (6-11)
Clinches #10 seed and single bye with win at Ohio State + Nebraska loss
Clinches #11 seed with win + Nebraska win
Clinches #12 seed with loss + Penn State loss
Clinches #13 seed with loss + Penn State win

13. Penn State (6-11)
Will play on Wednesday no matter what
Clinches #11 seed with win at Iowa + Nebraska loss + Indiana loss
Clinches #12 seed with win + Michigan win + Indiana win OR with win + Ohio State win + Nebraska win
Clinches #13 seed with loss OR with Nebraska win + Indiana win

14. Rutgers (2-15)
Clinched #14 seed
Will play on Wednesday vs #11 seed no matter what

 

Thanks for reading!