3. Big Ten in position for a historic number of bids
In 2011, the Big East set a record with 11 bids to the NCAA Tournament. Right now, there’s a chance that they can exceed that if the NET rankings are an indicator. Here’s how everyone looks up through January 4th;
Illinois – 4
Michigan – 6
Iowa – 7
Wisconsin – 11
Rutgers – 17
Ohio State – 28
Maryland – 32
Penn State – 42
Minnesota – 43
Purdue – 47
Northwestern – 50
Indiana – 51
Michigan State – 119
Nebraska – 186
I’m not sure which is more amazing of these numbers; the fact that there are a whopping 12 programs ranked in the top-51 overall or that Michigan State isn’t one of them? The Spartans lost their first three games in conference play, before beating lowly Nebraska this past weekend.
The great news for Michigan State is that among the 16 remaining regular-season games, at least 10 of them will be viewed as “Quad 1 opponents”. Big Ten Basketball did an excellent job in the non-conference and teams such as Minnesota and Northwestern already have pulled off multiple quality wins in league play so far.
The Cornhuskers are obviously out of the picture but the 13 remaining programs are alive and well in the at-large picture. It’s safe to say that Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Rutgers, Ohio State, Michigan, and even Minnesota are fairly safe to get bids. And Michigan State should join them once they get things going as well. That makes some of the upcoming “bubble battles” between Indiana, Maryland, Penn State, and Purdue must-watch for the rest of the season.
Of course, all of Big Ten basketball should be in that category if you’re an NCAA basketball fan.