Harold Shelton III, BTN Studio Researcher, March 5, 2017
Here are the updated seeding scenarios after Iowa?s win over Penn State. I will update this throughout the day on Sunday. The Hawkeyes win locked three more teams in their respective seeds. However, seven of the 14 seeds are still in play with three games remaining.
What we do know is that Purdue has clinched the No. 1 seed, Maryland has clinched the No. 3 seed, Iowa has clinched the No. 7 seed, Michigan has clinched the No. 8 seed, Illinois has clinched the No. 9 seed, Penn State has clinched the No. 13 seed and Rutgers has clinched the No. 14 seed. We also have our first official matchup set as No. 9 Illinois will face No. 8 Michigan on Thursday.
Minnesota was able to clinch a double bye before they even play Wisconsin based on Michigan State?s loss yesterday. If the Gophers win, they are the No. 2 seed, if they lose then they drop to the No. 4 seed. Wisconsin and Northwestern are fighting for the last double bye spot.
I?ve broken the teams into three tiers. The first tier is the five teams fighting for double byes. Purdue, Maryland and Minnesota have clinched one. The second tier are the teams trying to avoid playing on Day 1 (Michigan State, Michigan, Iowa and Illinois are in this group for sure). Indiana and Nebraska are fighting for that last spot. And the third tier is Ohio State, Penn State and Rutgers who have clinched playing on Day 1 of the tournament. The teams are listed by their position in their current tier. You?ll see Nebraska listed ahead of Ohio State on here because they can still can clinch a single bye. However, you?ll notice that the actual standings should have Ohio State 11th and Nebraska 12th for now.
1. Purdue (13-4)
Clinched #1 seed and double bye. Will play Friday at Noon ET
2. Maryland (12-6)
Clinched #3 seed and double bye. Will play Friday at 9:00 PM ET on BTN
3. 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 + Northwestern win
4. Minnesota (11-6)
Clinched double bye and will play on Friday no matter what
Clinches #2 seed with win at Wisconsin
Clinches #4 seed with loss
5. Northwestern (10-7)
Clinches #4 seed and double bye with win vs Purdue + Wisconsin loss
Clinches #5 seed with win + Wisconsin win
Clinches #6 seed with loss
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6. Michigan State (10-8)
Locked into single bye, will play on Thursday no matter what
Clinches #5 seed with Northwestern loss
Clinches #6 seed with Northwestern win
7. Iowa (10-8)
Clinched #7 seed. Will play #10 seed on Thursday at 6:30 PM
8. Michigan (9-8)
Clinched #8 seed. Will play #9 Illinois on Thursday at Noon ET on BTN.
9. Illinois (8-10)
Clinched #9 seed. Will play #8 Michigan on Thursday at Noon ET on BTN.
10. Indiana (7-11)
Clinches #10 seed and single bye with Nebraska loss
Clinches #11 seed with Nebraska win
12. Nebraska (6-11)
Clinches #10 seed and single bye with win vs Michigan
Clinches #12 seed with loss
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11. Ohio State (7-11)
Will play on Wednesday no matter what
Clinches #11 seed with Nebraska loss
Clinches #12 seed with Nebraska win
13. Penn State (6-12)
Clinched #13 seed. Will play #12 seed on Wednesday at 4:30 PM ET
14. Rutgers (3-15)
Clinched #14 seed. Will play #11 seed on Wednesday at 7:00 PM ET on BTN
Thanks for reading!