I like Iowa and Illinois as first round opponents, especially if we beat Nebraska. It might be best avoiding MD in DC too. And I can watch it during lunch. But I’ll route for PSU for all the good it will do you guys, and to avoid Purdue as long as possible.
Crazy to think we are better off staying at 8 (provided it is in the “we win today” scenario)? Wouldn’t want any part of Wisc or MD@home, and the caleb/Mo dynamic seems to give us some neutralization where others are exploited. I also don’t know if I’d want Indiana in this setting.
First round matchup as an 8 would be Illinois, 7 would be Indiana, 6 would be Rutgers/OSU. I think Indiana might be the worst draw there.
As for the second round, 8 is Purdue, 7 is Wisconsin, 6 is Maryland. Wisconsin is a messy situation, bad match-up and they need a bounce back win and don’t have a great RPI. Purdue is a fine spot if you don’t need a win, since it wouldn’t hurt at all to drop that game and would help a ton to win it.
IU in the first round would feel like a major trap… they have a lot of talent and can score the ball.
Yeah, avoiding IU first round is probably for the best, and I might rather face Illinois, especially with them coming off that Rutgers loss, than Rutgers or OSU – although avenging that OSU loss would be nice. Looks like Iowa is going to beat PSU and lock us into the 8th seed.
Speaking of Iowa, they will probably get IU, then if they win that Wiscy. If they win those two they might look awfully good for a berth. They have to be kicking themselves over that Omaha-Neb loss. (And while it’s not on the subject, it does show the possible downside of hosting those bad teams that aren’t all that bad, in the 150 range instead of 250.)
I think clearly you’d want to be the 8 seed as laid out in detail above.
My only note is I’d rather be the 7 because that would mean we won tonight and a tourney lock. If this scenario is a guide in who to root for in PSU/Iowa, definitely rooting for Iowa so we stay as the 8 if we win.
PSU is getting blown out, so looks like it will be Michigan-Illinois at noon on Thursday.
May get laughed at for this, but you know one very very small benefit of the early game Thursday is getting the internal clock prepped for a possible early game Thurs/Fri in the tourney.
Obviously they play plenty of early tips on the weekend but never on a weekday.
This may be silly too, but sometimes I think it can be good to get a feel for the rims/shooting lines too. I know Michigan has lost a lot in the BTT their second game, but they have won a couple recently. I tend to think the tired legs really start showing up on the third day. Especially considering our extra motivation against Illinois and the upside of beating Purdue, I’m fine with how the bracket looks for us.
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No biggie if there’s no answer, but curious what kenpom says the spread would be for us vs. Illinois and vs. Purdue on a nuetral floor?
Thanks for the quick answer!
I’m a bit surprised on the Illinois estimate, I was thinking it’d be 5-6 points. A little closer than I thought. Purdue seems about right.
Well it won’t be a secret what will do should they play Michigan again. They will be looking to jam their bigs down Michigan’s throat. It will be interesting to see what Beilein does in anticipation.
And Caleb Swanigan will have to watch this film all week:
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Kenpom gives Michigan a 10% chance of winning the B1G tourney, the best outside the top 4 seeds and essentially the same as Minny and just below MD. Playing the extra game and the facing PU next are the biggest factors pulling UM down.
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So enjoyable.
Really wish we could have avoided Purdue. I’d like our shot to win every other match up. Sure we could do it again but still it would have been much easier to win 2 or three games against anyone else. I would loved to play Maryland again on a neutral floor or better yet minny! God I want to play them so bad again. Their frauds and were gifted that game. No doubt we’d slaughter them on a neutral court.
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Not sure if this would be the right place for this.
I don’t have cable. But like to watch the games on the Big Ten Network when possible. Discovered a couple of weeks ago that the Big Ten Network is available online through https://www.fubo.tv.
They’ve got a seven-day free trial. https://www.fubo.tv/welcome. Just enough to make it through the Big Ten Tournament without having to commit in the long run.
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