Tom Dienhart, BTN.com Senior Writer, March 10, 2014
The regular season is over. On to the league tourneys. Basically, six teams look to be locks for the Big Dance: Michigan, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Nebraska, Ohio State, Iowa. Minnesota is squarely on the bubble.
In the CBSSports.com and ESPN.com brackets, Michigan and Wisconsin are consensus No. 2 seeds. Not gonna argue with that. I don't think either can do much to change that in Indy.
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Michigan State is a No. 4 in the CBS bracket and a No. 5 in the ESPN. Not bad for a team that went 5-7 down the stretch. A No. 5 seems about right for this listing team that in all honesty isn't even playing up to a No. 5 seed.
Ohio State is a No. 5 by CBS and a No. 6 by ESPN. Spot-on. I think a No. 6 is best. This team lacks a glittery resume and was too streaky.
CBS has Iowa as a No. 9; ESPN has it at No. 8. I agree. But I wonder if both seeds are too high.
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Everyone's darling Nebraska is a No. 10 by CBS and a No. 11 by ESPN. Seems about right. Maybe a bit too high for a team that did little outside the league. But no school is hotter down the stretch.
Minnesota? It's not in either bracket. I think the Golden Gophers need to win at least two games in the Big Ten tourney to get a Big Dance invite.
Here is a look at both the CBS and ESPN seed projections for Big Ten teams:
Jerry Palm, CBSSports.com
No. 2 Michigan, West
No. 2 Wisconsin, South
No. 4 Michigan State, East
No. 5 Ohio State, South
No. 9 Iowa, East
No. 10 Nebraska, Midwest
Minnesota is listed among the last four teams out.
Joe Lunardi, ESPN
No. 2 Michigan, South
No. 2 Wisconsin, West
No. 5 Michigan State, Midwest
No. 6 Ohio State, Midwest
No. 8 Iowa, West
No. 11 Nebraska, East
About Tom Dienhart | BTN.com senior writer Tom Dienhart is a veteran sports journalist who covers Big Ten football and men's basketball for BTN.com and BTN TV. Find him on Twitter and Facebook, read all of his work at btn.com/tomdienhart, and subscribe to his posts via RSS. Also, send questions to his weekly mailbag using the form below and read all of his previous answers in his reader mailbag section. |
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