BTN.com staff, March 3, 2015
The final week of the Big Ten regular season tips off Tuesday night with a trio of games, including two on BTN/BTN2Go (No. 9 Maryland at Rutgers & Michigan and Northwestern).
[ MORE: Check out this in-depth breakdown by theonlycolors.com ]
Much of the talk entering the final week revolves around the expanded Big Ten tourney field, and, in particular, the coveted double-byes.
The top four teams receive double-byes into Friday's quarterfinals at the United Center. Big Ten champ Wisconsin is guaranteed one of them, but the other three are up for grabs.
Who will claim them? Maryland can clinch a double-bye with a win tonight at Rutgers, for what it's worth.
BTN researcher Harold Shelton lays out the possible scenarios below.
1. Wisconsin (14-2): at Minnesota; at Ohio State
- Already clinched double-bye
- Can clinch #1 seed with one win OR a Maryland loss
- Can?t fall lower than #2 seed
2. Maryland (12-4): at Rutgers; at Nebraska
- Clinches double-bye with just one win in its final two games
- Can clinch #1 seed with two wins AND two Wisconsin losses
- Could fall to #5 seed with 2 losses + tiebreakers
3. Purdue (11-5): at Michigan State; vs. Illinois
- Clinches double-bye with two wins (Could be seeded #2 or #3, if they win both games)
- Clinches no worse than #5 seed with one more win
- Can be as high as #2 seed with two wins + tiebreakers but could fall as low as #6 seed with two losses + tiebreakers
4. Michigan State (10-6): vs. Purdue; at Indiana
- Clinches double-bye with two wins (Could be seeded #3 or #4 if they win both games)
- Clinches no worse than #6 seed with one more win
- Can be as high as #3 seed with two wins + tiebreakers but could fall as low as #8 seed with two losses + tiebreakers
5. Iowa (10-6): at Indiana; vs. Northwestern
- Could clinch double-bye with two wins (Could be seeded anywhere from 2-5 if they win both games)
- Can?t fall below #7 seed at this point
- Can be as high as #2 seed with two wins + tiebreakers but could fall as low as #7 seed with two losses + tiebreakers
6. Ohio State (10-6): at Penn State; vs. Wisconsin
- Could clinch double-bye with two wins (Could be seeded anywhere from 2-6 if they win both games)
- Clinches no worse than #7 seed with one more win
- Can be as high as #2 seed with two wins + tiebreakers but could fall as low as #8 seed with two losses + tiebreakers
7. Indiana (9-7): vs. Iowa; vs. Michigan State
- Could clinch double-bye with two wins (Could be seeded anywhere from 4-6 if they win both games)
- Clinches no worse than #7 seed with one more win
- Can be as high as #4 seed with two wins + tiebreakers but could fall as low as #8 seed with two losses + tiebreakers
This is what the bracket looks like entering Tuesday night.
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And here's a look at what's on the line for the rest of the teams.
8. Illinois (8-8): vs. Nebraska; at Purdue
- Locked into single-bye. Will play on Thursday no matter what. Will not finish in Top 4 or bottom 4
- Clinches no worse than #8 seed with one more win
- Can be as high as #7 seed with two wins + tiebreakers but could fall as low as #10 seed with two losses + tiebreakers
9. Michigan (7-9): at Northwestern; vs. Rutgers
- Will clinch single-bye with one more win (Could be seeded #8 or #9)
- Clinches no worse than #9 seed with one more win
- Can be as high as #8 seed with two wins + tiebreakers but could fall as low as #11 seed with two losses + tiebreakers
10. Minnesota (6-10): vs. Wisconsin; vs. Penn State
- Will clinch single-bye with two more wins (Could be seeded anywhere from 8-10 if they win both games)
- Will be seeded between #10 and #12 if they lose out or win only once, depending on tiebreakers
11. Nebraska (5-11): at Illinois; vs. Maryland
- Could clinch single-bye with two more wins (Could be seeded #10 or #11 if they win both games)
- Clinches no worse than #12 seed with one more win
- Can be as high as #10 seed with two wins + tiebreakers but could fall as low as #13 with two losses + tiebreakers
12. Northwestern (5-11): vs. Michigan; at Iowa
- Could clinch single-bye with two more wins (Could be seeded anywhere from 9-12 if they win both games)
- Clinches no worse than #12 seed with one more win
- Can be as high as #9 seed with two wins + tiebreakers but could fall as low as #13 seed with two losses + tiebreakers
13. Penn State (3-13): vs. Ohio State; at Minnesota
- Will play on the first day no matter what
- Can be as high as #11 seed with two wins + tiebreakers but could fall as low as #14 seed with two losses + tiebreakers
- Will finish #13 or #14 if they don?t win final two games
14. Rutgers (2-14): vs. Maryland; at Michigan
- Will play on first day no matter what
- Will finish last no matter what if they lose their final two games
- Could finish as #13 seed with a split + tiebreakers or with two wins + tiebreakers