Big Ten basketball: Bracketology breakdown for the conference (v.2)
Locked Big Ten Teams for the Tournament
No. 4 Seed Ohio State 22-5 (13-1)
There’s not much you can say about these top-three teams because of what the committee revealed on Sunday. Evan after the Buckeyes and Spartans defeated the Boilermakers, Ohio State got a No. 4 seed.
They’re riding a four-game winning streak which has included Purdue, but the other three were team’s near the bottom. It was an instant classic against Purdue and then there was a blowout of Iowa. It was an 18-point victory over the Hawkeyes and that’s exactly what the doctor ordered. They have an RPI of 16 and Ohio State is doing just fine for themselves.
No. 3 Seed Michigan State Spartans 25-3 (13-2)
Dicky V noted it during the broadcast between Michigan State and Purdue: it shouldn’t matter too much about your overall resume when you only have two losses in conferences and three overall. This team may have a so-so resume for having the record they do, but it’s impressive nonetheless.
Michigan’s State resume was being debated two out of three in the beginning of January. From then on, Sparty rattled off nine in a row. Before Saturday, Indiana and Maryland were their best wins. The game against Purdue was huge on many scales. It gives Michigan State a share for second place with the Boilers and it shows that the team from East Lansing deserves a top-three seed.
No. 1 Seed Purdue Boilermakers 23-4 (12-2)
Well this is really interesting to say the least. Purdue has been sitting on everyone’s number one line for a while now. They went down to Ohio State and figured to be safe. The Boilermakers then fell to Michigan State and bracketologists expected a change. The committee said nope, the Boilers are still a No. 1 seed.
The updated numbers on Purdue has them sitting with a number 12 RPI and 4th in KenPom. They have five wins inside the top-50 and their worst loss came to number 60 Western Kentucky way back when.
It’s not my job to nitpick seeds. What I’m going to tell you is that Ohio State is 16th and Michigan State is 14th. Team’s fighting for number one seeds are losing to worse conference opponents right now. I have no doubt Purdue rebounds.
Actually I’m going to stop myself right there because they play Wisconsin next. At the Kohl Center on the night they’re honoring Frank Kaminsky. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.