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After the two district games I watched last night, I'll gladly donate toward the cost of having shot clocks installed before tonight's final. In fact I'd guess if they had passed the hat about middle of the 3rd quarter of the 2nd game last night, they'd probably have collected the entire cost. And the hat could've made it through the entire crowd before the possession ended.

NU 56 Ind 55

I assume they're having one tonight, but I cannot take any notes - headed out to district basketball. So hopefully somebody can take notes - I'm guessing Coach may be a little keyed up tonight.

Good stuff - worth tracking as we need a few of these mid-major conferences to go chalk and save room for more bubble teams.

Yeah but don't they know it is THE VAULT!!! Vaults rarely get robbed two times in one year. Somebody should clue in the referees on that.

This week RPIForecast gives us a: 9.5% chance of going 2-0 43% chance of going 1-1 47.5% chance of going 0-2 So that's a 52.5% chance of winning at least one of the two games. Do that and we should be at least the #5 seed with a chance at #4 if things break right ... not to mention we'd still have a reasonable shot for an at large NCAA heading into the B1G Tourney.

This is a great idea - plus, if we're on the bubble, I could see CBS wanting to have NU being in one of the four-way split screens, waiting to see if they make it. And having a big crowd behind them would be exactly what CBS would want to feature on the Selection Show, especially when you factor in Miles' personality, the story of the long NCAA drought, the new arena, etc. From NU's perspective, you guys are right - we'd have to feel pretty comfortable that we'd get in. Nobody wants to be sitting there on TV, only to find out you didn't receive a bid. Although I'd prefer if NU would ruin any of CBS's plans by still being busy in Indy that day.

Three tight games Sunday, but only Indiana could pull the upset. Should be a fun final week! And RPIForecast still has NU's expected conf record at 10-8, even though we're underdogs in our final two games, so that means that both games are tight enough that the statistics say we have a good chance to win one of them. Looks like the jockeying for the last two first-round byes -- Michigan and Wisconsin have clinched byes -- and the #9 thru #12 seeds will be tight this week. Current standings through 3/2: 13-3 Michigan 11-5 Wisconsin (1-0 vs MSU) 11-5 Mich St (0-1 vs Wisc) 9-7 Iowa (1-0 vs Neb) 9-7 NEBRASKA (0-1 vs Iowa) 9-8 Ohio St 7-9 Indiana 7-10 Minnesota 6-10 Illinois 5-11 Northwestern (1-0 vs Pur/PSU) 5-11 Penn St (1-1 vs NW/Pur) 5-11 Purdue (1-2 vs PSU/NW) Bracket if tourney “began today”: 11 AM - 9/Illinois vs 8/Minnesota… Winner plays 1/Mich 1:30 PM - 12/Purdue vs 5/NEBRASKA … Winner plays 4/Iowa 5:30 PM - 10/Northwestern vs 7/Indiana… Winner plays 2/Wisconsin 8 PM - 11/Penn St vs 6/Ohio St … Winner plays 3/Mich St Projections end of season according to RPIForecast.com (as of 3/2): 15-3 Michigan 13-5 Wisconsin 12-6 Mich St 10-8 Iowa (1-1 vs OSU) ... (1-1 vs Mich) 10-8 Ohio St (1-1 vs Iowa) ...(0-1 vs Mich) 9-9 / 10-8 NEBRASKA 8-10 Minnesota (1-0 vs Ind) 8-10 Indiana (0-1 vs Minn) 6-12 Illinois (2-1 vs Pur/PSU) ... (.000 vs Mich & Wis) ... (1-1 vs MSU) 6-12 Purdue (2-1 vs Ill/PSU) ... (.000 vs Mich & Wis) ... (0-1 vs MSU) 6-12 Penn St (1-3 vs Pur/Ill) 5-13 / 6-12 Northwestern Bracket projections end of season according to RPIForecast.com: 11 AM - 9/Illinois vs 8/Indiana … Winner plays 1/Michigan 1:30 PM - 12/Northwestern vs 5/Ohio St … Winner plays 4/Iowa 5:30 PM - 10/Purdue vs 7/Minnesota … Winner plays 2/Wisconsin 8 PM - 11/Penn St vs 6/NEBRASKA … Winner plays 3/Mich St Remaining games/tie-breaker options: ("W or L" is a game projected by RPIForecast as 7 pts or more margin, "close W or L" is projected as a 2.5 pt to 6.5 pt margin, "toss-up W or L" is projected as 1 pt or 2 pt margin) ILLINOIS 6-10 – projected 6-12 Possible seed range: 7 through 12 Projected seed: 9 Michigan (close L) At Iowa (L) Favorable tiebreaker: Minn, PSU (2-0) Unfavorable tiebreaker: Iowa*, NW, Pur, Wis (0-2), OSU (0-2) Tied 1-1 season series: Mich* (0-0), Ind, Neb, MSU *Game remaining INDIANA 7-9 – projected 8-10 Possible seed range: 4 through 11 Projected seed: 8 Nebraska (close W) At Michigan (L) Favorable tiebreaker: Mich*, Iowa, OSU Unfavorable tiebreaker: Neb*, Minn, Pur, MSU (0-2) Tied 1-1 season series: Ill, PSU, NW, Wis *Game remaining IOWA 9-7 – projected 10-8 Possible seed range: 3 through 7 Projected seed: 4 At Mich St (toss-up / L) Illinois (W) Favorable tiebreaker: Ill*, Neb, PSU, Pur, NW (2-0) Unfavorable tiebreaker: MSU*, Ind, Wis (0-2) Tied 1-1 season series: Mich, OSU, Minn *Game remaining MICHIGAN 13-3 – projected 15-3 Possible seed range: 1 or 2 Projected seed: 1 At Illinois (close W) Indiana (W) Favorable tiebreaker: NW, PSU, OSU, Neb (2-0), MSU (2-0), Pur (2-0), Minn (2-0) Unfavorable tiebreaker: Ind* Tied season series: Ill* (0-0), Iowa, Wis *Game remaining MICHIGAN STATE 11-5 – projected 12-6 Possible seed range: 2 through 5 Projected seed: 3 Iowa (toss-up / W) At Ohio St (close L) Favorable tiebreaker: Iowa*, OSU*, Minn, Pur, NW (2-0), Ind (2-0), PSU (2-0) Unfavorable tiebreaker: Neb, Wis, Mich (0-2) Tied season series: Ill *Game remaining MINNESOTA 7-10 – projected 8-10 Possible seed range: 7 through 10 Projected seed: 7 Penn St (close W) Favorable tiebreaker: PSU*, Ind Unfavorable tiebreaker: Neb, Ill, MSU, Mich (0-2) Tied 1-1 season series: Wis, OSU, Pur, NW, Iowa *Game remaining NEBRASKA 9-7 – projected 9-9 (10-8) Possible seed range: 2 through 7 Projected seed: 6 At Indiana (close L) Wisconsin (close L) Favorable tiebreaker: Ind*, MSU, Minn, NW (2-0) Unfavorable tiebreaker: Iowa, Mich (0-2) Tied 1-1 season series: Wis* (0-0), OSU, PSU, Pur, Ill *Game remaining NORTHWESTERN 5-11 – projected 5-13 (6-12) Possible seed range: 8 through 12 Projected seed: 12 Penn St (toss-up / L) At Purdue (close L) Favorable tiebreaker: Pur*, Ill Unfavorable tiebreaker: OSU, Mich, Iowa (0-2), MSU (0-2), Neb (0-2) Tied 1-1 season series: PSU* (0-0), Wis, Minn, Ind *Game remaining OHIO STATE 9-8 – projected 10-8 Possible seed range: 4 through 7 Projected seed: 5 Michigan St (close W) Favorable tiebreaker: Wis, NW, Pur (2-0), Ill (2-0) Unfavorable tiebreaker: MSU*, Mich, Ind, PSU (0-2) Tied 1-1 season series: Iowa, Neb, Minn *Game remaining PENN STATE 5-11 – projected 6-12 Possible seed range: 8 through 12 Projected seed: 11 At Northwestern (toss-up / W) At Minnesota (L) Favorable tiebreaker: OSU (2-0) Unfavorable tiebreaker: Minn*, Mich, Iowa, Wis, MSU (0-2), Ill (0-2) Tied 1-1 season series: NW* (0-0), Neb, Pur, Ind *Game remaining PURDUE 5-11 – projected 6-12 Possible seed range: 8 through 12 Projected seed: 10 At Wisconsin (L) Northwestern (close W) Favorable tiebreaker: Ind, Ill Unfavorable tiebreaker: Wis*, NW*, MSU, Iowa, OSU (0-2), Mich (0-2) Tied 1-1 season series: Minn, PSU, Neb *Game remaining WISCONSIN 11-5 – projected 13-5 Possible seed range: 1 through 4 Projected seed: 2 Purdue (W) At Nebraska (close W) Favorable tiebreaker: Pur*, MSU, PSU, Iowa (2-0), Ill (2-0) Unfavorable tiebreaker: OSU Tied season series: Neb* (0-0), Mich, Minn, NW, Ind *Game remaining

The only thing a win on that opening day would do is boost our RPI a few spots because of the 1/4 of the formula component based on our winning percentage. If we'd end up playing a sub-100 RPI team and lost though, that would be a crushing bad loss for a bubble team. I'm in the camp that says it would be better to be the #4 seed.

You guys are right - I misread the tie-breaker rule, thought it said 2-0 was better than 1-0, it actually says the opposite and the winning percentage is what matters, not the number of games played vs an opponent. I'll fix it.

We can at least tie for 4th place by winning our last two so we control our destiny that way, but we don't control our destiny for the #4 seed for the B1G Tourney - we'll lose tie-breakers to Iowa or to both Iowa & OSU if it's a 3-way tie. (EDIT: We could win a head to head tie-breaker with OSU, as long as MSU doesn't fall too far down the standings.) If it ends up as a 4-way tie at 11-7 though (NU/Iowa/OSU/MSU), we can be the #4 seed. So still a lot of possibilities. In fact with Iowa & OSU still having to play MSU, we can get a lot of benefit if MSU sweeps them or if they sweep MSU. About the only problem we'd have is if MSU lost to Iowa but then beat OSU. So if can just win our last two games, we're in pretty good shape to be the #4 seed. Not a lock, but very good chance. We even could get as high as the #2 seed if everything breaks correctly, but we'd need several games to go our way, including Wisconsin & Iowa completely tanking. And one more loss by Indiana will assure us no worse than the #6 seed. It'd be handy if we just took care of handing Indiana that loss Wednesday.

That's a good breakdown - 8 teams for 5 assumes no big upsets in conf tourneys right? Rather than worrying about 19, 20, whatever, the way I look at it for us is this way: We have a possible 5 games left to try to win to bolster our at-large resume (the 6th would be B1G tourney championship game, so a win there makes the at-large a moot point, so I'm not counting that one). at Indiana - likely 3 to 5 pt underdog Wisconsin - likely 3 to 5 pt underdog 1st round B1G (if necessary) - likely 6 to 9 pt favorite (likely vs NW/Ill/PSU/Pur) Quarterfinal B1G - likely 3 to 5 pt underdog (likely vs Iowa/OSU/MSU) Semifinal B1G - likely 5 to 10 pt underdog (likely vs Mich/Wis/MSU) I think we have to do two things: Win any game in which we're favored, which looks like only one, if we even play in it Pull off 2 upsets and we're probably in - doesn't really matter where those 2 upsets occur - any of those upsets would be great resume builders, whether it's a true road win, neutral site win, or win vs highly ranked RPI team Of course it depends on how many bids get stolen by upsets in conf tourneys, but if we just come up with 1 upset, I think it'll be a very nervous Selection Sunday. Could go either way. NU won't be a significant 'dog at least until it would reach the B1G semis, so pulling 2 upsets wouldn't require any huge miracles. There's still a reasonable chance. We probably need to at least split this week, just to keep the confidence alive heading to the B1G tourney.

NU holds serve in race for #4 seed - and now can do no worse than #7 seed. Meanwhile Michigan all but clinches #1 seed - it would take a lot of things to break correctly for Wisky to steal the #1 seed from Mich Sunday's games: Wisconsin at Penn St (11 am, BTN) Purdue at Iowa (1 pm, BTN) Ohio St at Indiana (3 pm, CBS) Indiana & Purdue could greatly help NU's hopes for the #4 seed Current standings through 3/1: 13-3 Michigan 11-5 Mich St 10-5 Wisconsin 9-7 NEBRASKA (1-1 vs OSU) ... (0-2 vs Mich) ... (1-0 vs MSU) 9-7 Ohio St (1-1 vs Neb) ... (0-1 vs Mich) ... (0-1 vs MSU) 8-7 Iowa 7-10 Minnesota 6-9 Indiana 6-10 Illinois 5-10 Penn St (1-1 vs Pur) ... (.000 vs Mich, MSU, and Wis) ... (3-1 vs Neb/OSU) 5-10 Purdue (1-1 vs PSU) ... (.000 vs Mich, MSU, and Wis) ... (1-3 vs Neb/OSU) 5-11 N’western Bracket if tourney “began today”: (fixed) 11 AM - 9/Illinois vs 8/Indiana … Winner plays 1/Mich 1:30 PM - 12/Northwestern vs 5/Ohio St … Winner plays 4/NEBRASKA 5:30 PM - 10/Penn St vs 7/Minnesota … Winner plays 2/Mich St 8 PM - 11/Purdue vs 6/Iowa … Winner plays 3/Wisconsin Projections end of season according to RPIForecast.com (as of 3/1): 15-3 / 14-4 Michigan 13-5 / 12-6 Wisconsin 12-6 Mich St 11-7 / 10-8 Ohio St 10-8 Iowa 9-9 NEBRASKA 8-10 Minnesota 7-11 Indiana 6-12 N’western (2-1 vs Pur/Ill) ... (0-1 vs Mich) ... (1-1 vs Wis) 6-12 Purdue (2-1 vs NW/Ill) ... (0-2 vs Mich) ... (0-2 vs Wis) 6-12 / 7-11 Illinois (0-2 vs NW/Pur) 5-13 / 6-12 Penn St Bracket projections end of season according to RPIForecast.com: 11 AM - 9/Northwestern vs 8/Indiana … Winner plays 1/Michigan 1:30 PM - 12/Penn St vs 5/Iowa … Winner plays 4/Ohio St 5:30 PM - 10/Purdue vs 7/Minnesota … Winner plays 2/Wisconsin 8 PM - 11/Illinois vs 6/NEBRASKA … Winner plays 3/Mich St Remaining games/tie-breaker options: ("W or L" is a game projected by RPIForecast as 7 pts or more margin, "close W or L" is projected as a 2.5 pt to 6.5 pt margin, "toss-up W or L" is projected as 1 pt or 2 pt margin) ILLINOIS 6-10 – projected 6-12 (7-11) Possible seed range: 6 through 12 Projected seed: 11 Michigan (close L) At Iowa (L) Favorable tiebreaker: Minn, PSU (2-0) Unfavorable tiebreaker: Iowa*, NW, Pur, Wis (0-2), OSU (0-2) Tied 1-1 season series: Mich* (0-0), Ind, Neb, MSU *Game remaining INDIANA 6-9 – projected 7-11 Possible seed range: 4 through 12 Projected seed: 8 Ohio St (close L) Nebraska (close W) At Michigan (L) Favorable tiebreaker: Mich*, Iowa Unfavorable tiebreaker: Neb*, Minn, Pur, MSU (0-2) Tied 1-1 season series: OSU* (0-0), Ill, PSU, NW, Wis *Game remaining IOWA 8-7 – projected 10-8 Possible seed range: 2 through 10 Projected seed: 5 Purdue (W) At Mich St (toss-up / L) Illinois (W) Favorable tiebreaker: Ill*, Neb, PSU, NW (2-0) Unfavorable tiebreaker: MSU*, Ind, Wis (0-2) Tied 1-1 season series: Pur* (0-0), Mich, OSU, Minn *Game remaining MICHIGAN 13-3 – projected 15-3 (14-4) Possible seed range: 1 or 2 Projected seed: 1 At Illinois (close W) Indiana (W) Favorable tiebreaker: NW, PSU, OSU, Neb (2-0), MSU (2-0), Pur (2-0), Minn (2-0) Unfavorable tiebreaker: Ind* Tied season series: Ill* (0-0), Iowa, Wis *Game remaining MICHIGAN STATE 11-5 – projected 12-6 Possible seed range: 2 through 6 Projected seed: 3 Iowa (toss-up / W) At Ohio St (close L) Favorable tiebreaker: Iowa*, OSU*, Minn, Pur, NW (2-0), Ind (2-0), PSU (2-0) Unfavorable tiebreaker: Neb, Wis, Mich (0-2) Tied season series: Ill *Game remaining MINNESOTA 7-10 – projected 8-10 Possible seed range: 7 through 10 Projected seed: 7 Penn St (W) Favorable tiebreaker: PSU*, Ind Unfavorable tiebreaker: Neb, Ill, MSU, Mich (0-2) Tied 1-1 season series: Wis, OSU, Pur, NW, Iowa *Game remaining NEBRASKA 9-7 – projected 9-9 Possible seed range: 2 through 7 Projected seed: 6 At Indiana (close L) Wisconsin (close L) Favorable tiebreaker: Ind*, MSU, Minn, NW (2-0) Unfavorable tiebreaker: Iowa, Mich (0-2) Tied 1-1 season series: Wis* (0-0), OSU, PSU, Pur, Ill *Game remaining NORTHWESTERN 5-11 – projected 6-12 Possible seed range: 7 through 12 Projected seed: 9 Penn St (toss-up / W) At Purdue (close L) Favorable tiebreaker: Pur*, Ill Unfavorable tiebreaker: OSU, Mich, Iowa (0-2), MSU (0-2), Neb (0-2) Tied 1-1 season series: PSU* (0-0), Wis, Minn, Ind *Game remaining OHIO STATE 9-7 – projected 11-7 (10-8) Possible seed range: 2 through 7 Projected seed: 4 At Indiana (close W) Michigan St (close W) Favorable tiebreaker: Wis, NW, Pur (2-0), Ill (2-0) Unfavorable tiebreaker: MSU*, Mich, PSU (0-2) Tied 1-1 season series: Ind* (0-0), Iowa, Neb, Minn *Game remaining PENN STATE 5-10 – projected 5-13 (6-12) Possible seed range: 7 through 12 Projected seed: 12 Wisconsin (L) At Northwestern (toss-up / L) At Minnesota (L) Favorable tiebreaker: OSU (2-0) Unfavorable tiebreaker: Minn*, Mich, Iowa, MSU (0-2), Ill (0-2) Tied 1-1 season series: Wis* (0-0), NW* (0-0), Neb, Pur, Ind *Game remaining PURDUE 5-10 – projected 6-12 Possible seed range: 6 through 12 Projected seed: 10 At Iowa (L) At Wisconsin (L) Northwestern (close W) Favorable tiebreaker: Ind, Ill Unfavorable tiebreaker: Wis*, NW*, MSU, OSU (0-2), Mich (0-2) Tied 1-1 season series: Iowa* (0-0), Minn, PSU, Neb *Game remaining WISCONSIN 10-5 – projected 13-5 (12-6) Possible seed range: 1 through 6 Projected seed: 2 At Penn St (W) Purdue (W) At Nebraska (close W) Favorable tiebreaker: Pur*, MSU, Iowa (2-0), Ill (2-0) Unfavorable tiebreaker: OSU Tied season series: Neb* (0-0), PSU* (0-0), Mich, Minn, NW, Ind *Game remaining

Here's what the original Big East -- ever notice how the sequel never quite lives up to the original -- did last season with 14 teams: http://s32.photobucket.com/user/MUBasketball/media/BigEastTournamentBracketThruFeb25.jpg.html UConn was left out of the tournament last year, but that's because they were ineligible. I'm not sure the Big East ever left anyone at home unless they were ineligible - I think they had a 16-team bracket a few years that ran five days and involved two levels of byes. That year Syracuse won it with that 5 or 6 OT game, didn't they win 5 games in 5 days?

Whew - that's a big setback for them. Losing Cobb makes it even more important for NW to get Demps going, but Benny did a great job shutting down Demps last time, hopefully he can do it again. Guessing they'll try to ugly up the game even more than they usually do. By the way NU favored by 8 - our biggest spread as a favorite in a conference game since late in the 2009 season against Iowa St. In our first 49 B1G games we were favored 5 times - now we've been favored in four of our last six games - Las Vegas is finally getting on the Miles bandwagon!

Have they announced how they'll run the B1G tourney in 2015? I assume they'll add Wednesday and make the 11 thru 14 seeds play a couple of bunny bracket games. Or they could just give the 1 and 2 seeds a bye, start Thursday at 6 am and play 6 games in one day.

Neb 63 NW 46

Thursday 2/27 upsets keep NU in the hunt for a first-round bye, but just barely - NU loses the tiebreaker with Iowa - if tied with OSU, NU loses the tie-breaker if Michigan wins the league, but wins the tie-breaker if MSU or Wisky win the league (assuming NU defeats Wisconsin) - and NU finishes last in a 3-way tie-breaker with Iowa & OSU - so NU probably needs to win out to get to 11-7 and hope Iowa & OSU each lose once more to prevent any tie-breakers for 4th Current standings through 2/27: 12-3 Michigan 11-4 Mich St 10-5 Wisconsin 9-7 Ohio St 8-7 Iowa (1-0 vs Neb) 8-7 NEBRASKA (0-1 vs Iowa) 7-9 Minnesota 6-9 Indiana 5-10 N’western (2-0 vs Pur/Ill/PSU) 5-10 Purdue (2-2 vs NW/Ill/PSU) ... (1-0 vs Ill) 5-10 Illinois (2-2 vs Pur/NW/PSU) ... (0-1 vs Pur) 5-10 Penn St (1-3 vs Pur/NW/Ill) Bracket if tourney “began today”: 11 AM - 9/Northwestern vs 8/Indiana … Winner plays 1/Mich 1:30 PM - 12/Penn St vs 5/Iowa … Winner plays 4/Ohio St 5:30 PM - 10/N’western vs 7/Minnesota … Winner plays 2/Mich St 8 PM - 11/Illinois vs 6/NEBRASKA … Winner plays 3/Wisconsin Projections end of season according to RPIForecast.com (as of 2/27): 15-3 / 14-4 Michigan 13-5 / 12-6 Wisconsin (1-0 vs MSU) 13-5 Mich St (0-1 vs Wis) 11-7 / 10-8 Ohio St 10-8 Iowa 9-9 NEBRASKA 8-10 Minnesota 7-11 Indiana 6-12 N’western (1-1 vs Pur) ... (0-1 vs Mich) 6-12 Purdue (1-1 vs NW) ... (0-2 vs Mich) 5-13 / 6-12 Illinois (2-0 vs PSU) 5-13 / 6-12 Penn St (0-2 vs Ill) Bracket projections end of season according to RPIForecast.com: 11 AM - 9/N’western vs 8/Indiana … Winner plays 1/Michigan 1:30 PM - 12/Penn St vs 5/Iowa … Winner plays 4/Ohio St 5:30 PM - 10/Purdue vs 7/Minnesota … Winner plays 2/Wisconsin 8 PM - 11/Illinois vs 6/NEBRASKA … Winner plays 3/Mich St Remaining games/tie-breaker options: ("W or L" is a game projected by RPIForecast as 7 pts or more margin, "close W or L" is projected as a 2.5 pt to 6.5 pt margin, "toss-up W or L" is projected as 1 pt or 2 pt margin) ILLINOIS 5-10 – projected 5-13 (6-12) Possible seed range: 6 through 12 Projected seed: 11 At Mich St (L) Michigan (close L) At Iowa (L) Favorable tiebreaker: Minn, PSU (2-0) Unfavorable tiebreaker: MSU*, Iowa*, NW, Pur, Wis (0-2), OSU (0-2) Tied 1-1 season series: Mich* (0-0), Ind, Neb *Game remaining INDIANA 6-9 – projected 7-11 Possible seed range: 4 through 12 Projected seed: 8 Ohio St (close L) Nebraska (close W) At Michigan (L) Favorable tiebreaker: Mich*, Iowa Unfavorable tiebreaker: Neb*, Minn, Pur, MSU (0-2) Tied 1-1 season series: OSU* (0-0), Ill, PSU, NW, Wis *Game remaining IOWA 8-7 – projected 10-8 Possible seed range: 2 through 10 Projected seed: 5 Purdue (W) At Mich St (toss-up / L) Illinois (W) Favorable tiebreaker: Ill*, Neb, PSU, NW (2-0) Unfavorable tiebreaker: MSU*, Ind, Wis (0-2) Tied 1-1 season series: Pur* (0-0), Mich, OSU, Minn *Game remaining MICHIGAN 12-3 – projected 15-3 (14-4) Possible seed range: 1 through 4 Projected seed: 1 Minnesota (W) At Illinois (close W) Indiana (W) Favorable tiebreaker: Minn*, NW, PSU, OSU, Neb (2-0), MSU (2-0), Pur (2-0) Unfavorable tiebreaker: Ind* Tied season series: Ill* (0-0), Iowa, Wis *Game remaining MICHIGAN STATE 11-4 – projected 13-5 Possible seed range: 1 through 6 Projected seed: 3 Illinois (W) Iowa (toss-up / W) At Ohio St (close L) Favorable tiebreaker: Iowa*, OSU*, Ill*, Minn, Pur, NW (2-0), Ind (2-0), PSU (2-0) Unfavorable tiebreaker: Neb, Wis, Mich (0-2) Tied season series: N/A *Game remaining MINNESOTA 7-9 – projected 8-10 Possible seed range: 4 through 12 Projected seed: 7 At Michigan (L) Penn St (W) Favorable tiebreaker: PSU*, Ind Unfavorable tiebreaker: Mich*, Neb, Ill, MSU Tied 1-1 season series: Wis, OSU, Pur, NW, Iowa *Game remaining NEBRASKA 8-7 – projected 9-9 Possible seed range: 2 through 10 Projected seed: 6 N’western (W) At Indiana (close L) Wisconsin (close L) Favorable tiebreaker: NW*, Ind*, MSU, Minn Unfavorable tiebreaker: Iowa, Mich (0-2) Tied 1-1 season series: Wis* (0-0), OSU, PSU, Pur, Ill *Game remaining NORTHWESTERN 5-10 – projected 6-12 Possible seed range: 6 through 12 Projected seed: 9 At Nebraska (L) Penn St (toss-up / W) At Purdue (close L) Favorable tiebreaker: Pur*, Ill Unfavorable tiebreaker: Neb*, OSU, Mich, Iowa (0-2), MSU (0-2) Tied 1-1 season series: PSU* (0-0), Wis, Minn, Ind *Game remaining OHIO STATE 9-7 – projected 11-7 (10-8) Possible seed range: 2 through 8 Projected seed: 4 At Indiana (close W) Michigan St (close W) Favorable tiebreaker: Wis, NW, Pur (2-0), Ill (2-0) Unfavorable tiebreaker: MSU*, Mich, PSU (0-2) Tied 1-1 season series: Ind* (0-0), Iowa, Neb, Minn *Game remaining PENN STATE 5-10 – projected 5-13 (6-12) Possible seed range: 6 through 12 Projected seed: 12 Wisconsin (L) At Northwestern (toss-up / L) At Minnesota (L) Favorable tiebreaker: OSU (2-0) Unfavorable tiebreaker: Minn*, Mich, Iowa, MSU (0-2), Ill (0-2) Tied 1-1 season series: Wis* (0-0), NW* (0-0), Neb, Pur, Ind *Game remaining PURDUE 5-10 – projected 6-12 Possible seed range: 6 through 12 Projected seed: 10 At Iowa (L) At Wisconsin (L) Northwestern (close W) Favorable tiebreaker: Ind, Ill Unfavorable tiebreaker: Wis*, NW*, MSU, OSU (0-2), Mich (0-2) Tied 1-1 season series: Iowa* (0-0), Minn, PSU, Neb *Game remaining WISCONSIN 10-5 – projected 13-5 (12-6) Possible seed range: 1 through 6 Projected seed: 2 At Penn St (W) Purdue (W) At Nebraska (close W) Favorable tiebreaker: Pur*, MSU, Iowa (2-0), Ill (2-0) Unfavorable tiebreaker: OSU Tied season series: Neb* (0-0), PSU* (0-0), Mich, Minn, NW, Ind *Game remaining

Great! Thanks so much for doing this. I can honestly say your site was the primary thing I missed when NU left the Big XII

Because we played in Charleston, didn't we play the max 12 we were allowed? I thought the rule now was 29 regular-season games with no in-season tournament or 27 reg-season games with an in-season tournament that can consist of up to 4 games (so up to 31 total games). So because our in-season Charleston Tournament was a 3-game tourney, that gave us a 30-game limit - 12 non-cons and 18 conf games. Last year I think we were able to play the max of 31 because the Cip Classic counted as a 4-game tournament. I also believe you can only play in the same tournament once every 4 years, so we couldn't have another Cip Classic until 2016-17 or couldn't go back to Charleston until 2017-18. I believe that's correct.

Had to know this was coming at some point. I guess if the complaining has begun, then we know it's working as intended.

Tuesday's 2/25 results have an upset as Minny tops Iowa, pushing NU into a tie for 5th! Unfortunately we lose the tie-breaker with the Herkies. Current standings through 2/25: 11-3 Michigan 11-4 Mich St 10-5 Wisconsin 9-6 Ohio St 8-6 Iowa (1-0 vs Neb) 8-6 NEBRASKA (0-1 vs Iowa) 7-9 Minnesota 5-9 Purdue (1-0 vs Ind) 5-9 Indiana (0-1 vs Pur) 5-10 N’western 4-10 Illinois (2-0 vs PSU) 4-10 Penn St (0-2 vs Ill) Bracket if tourney “began today”: 11 AM - 9/Indiana vs 8/Purdue … Winner plays 1/Mich 1:30 PM - 12/Penn St vs 5/Iowa … Winner plays 4/Ohio St 5:30 PM - 10/N’western vs 7/Minnesota … Winner plays 2/Mich St 8 PM - 11/Illinois vs 6/NEBRASKA … Winner plays 3/Wisconsin Projections end of season according to RPIForecast.com (as of 2/25): 15-3 / 14-4 Michigan 13-5 / 12-6 Wisconsin (1-0 vs MSU) 13-5 Mich St (0-1 vs Wis) 12-6 / 11-7 Ohio St 11-7 Iowa 9-9 / 10-8 NEBRASKA 8-10 Minnesota 6-12 Purdue (2-1 vs NW/Ind) 6-12 N’western (2-2 vs Pur/Ind) 6-12 Indiana (1-2 vs Pur/NW) 5-13 Illinois 4-14 / 5-13 Penn St Bracket projections end of season according to RPIForecast.com: 11 AM - 9/N’western vs 8/Purdue … Winner plays 1/Michigan 1:30 PM - 12/Penn St vs 5/Iowa … Winner plays 4/Ohio St 5:30 PM - 10/Indiana vs 7/Minnesota … Winner plays 2/Wisconsin 8 PM - 11/Illinois vs 6/NEBRASKA … Winner plays 3/Mich St Remaining games/tie-breaker options: ("W or L" is a game projected by RPIForecast as 7 pts or more margin, "close W or L" is projected as a 2.5 pt to 6.5 pt margin, "toss-up W or L" is projected as 1 pt or 2 pt margin) ILLINOIS 4-10 – projected 5-13 Possible seed range: 6 through 12 Projected seed: 11 Nebraska (close W) At Mich St (L) Michigan (close L) At Iowa (L) Favorable tiebreaker: Minn, PSU (2-0) Unfavorable tiebreaker: Neb*, MSU*, Iowa*, NW, Pur, Wis (0-2), OSU (0-2) Tied 1-1 season series: Mich* (0-0), Ind *Game remaining INDIANA 5-9 – projected 6-12 Possible seed range: 4 through 12 Projected seed: 10 Iowa (close L) Ohio St (close L) Nebraska (close W) At Michigan (L) Favorable tiebreaker: Mich*, Unfavorable tiebreaker: Neb*, Minn, Pur, MSU (0-2) Tied 1-1 season series: Iowa* (0-0), OSU* (0-0), Ill, PSU, NW, Wis *Game remaining IOWA 8-6 – projected 11-7 Possible seed range: 1 through 10 Projected seed: 5 At Indiana (close W) Purdue (W) At Mich St (toss-up / L) Illinois (W) Favorable tiebreaker: Ill*, Neb, PSU, NW (2-0) Unfavorable tiebreaker: MSU*, Wis (0-2) Tied 1-1 season series: Pur* (0-0), Ind* (0-0), Mich, OSU, Minn *Game remaining MICHIGAN 11-3 – projected 15-3 (14-4) Possible seed range: 1 through 6 Projected seed: 1 At Purdue (W) Minnesota (W) At Illinois (close W) Indiana (W) Favorable tiebreaker: Minn*, Pur*, NW, PSU, OSU, Neb (2-0), MSU (2-0) Unfavorable tiebreaker: Ind* Tied season series: Ill* (0-0), Iowa, Wis *Game remaining MICHIGAN STATE 11-4 – projected 13-5 Possible seed range: 1 through 6 Projected seed: 3 Illinois (W) Iowa (toss-up / W) At Ohio St (close L) Favorable tiebreaker: Iowa*, OSU*, Ill*, Minn, Pur, NW (2-0), Ind (2-0), PSU (2-0) Unfavorable tiebreaker: Neb, Wis, Mich (0-2) Tied season series: N/A *Game remaining MINNESOTA 7-9 – projected 8-10 Possible seed range: 4 through 12 Projected seed: 7 At Michigan (L) Penn St (W) Favorable tiebreaker: PSU*, Ind Unfavorable tiebreaker: Mich*, Neb, Ill, MSU Tied 1-1 season series: Wis, OSU, Pur, NW, Iowa *Game remaining NEBRASKA 8-6 – projected 9-9 (10-8) Possible seed range: 1 through 10 Projected seed: 6 At Illinois (close L) N’western (W) At Indiana (close L) Wisconsin (close L) Favorable tiebreaker: NW*, Ind*, Ill*, MSU, Minn Unfavorable tiebreaker: Iowa, Mich (0-2) Tied 1-1 season series: Wis* (0-0), OSU, PSU, Pur *Game remaining NORTHWESTERN 5-10 – projected 6-12 Possible seed range: 6 through 12 Projected seed: 9 At Nebraska (L) Penn St (toss-up / W) At Purdue (close L) Favorable tiebreaker: Pur*, Ill Unfavorable tiebreaker: Neb*, OSU, Mich, Iowa (0-2), MSU (0-2) Tied 1-1 season series: PSU* (0-0), Wis, Minn, Ind *Game remaining OHIO STATE 9-6 – projected 12-6 (11-7) Possible seed range: 1 through 8 Projected seed: 4 At Penn St (W) At Indiana (close W) Michigan St (close W) Favorable tiebreaker: Wis, NW, Pur (2-0), Ill (2-0) Unfavorable tiebreaker: MSU*, PSU*, Mich Tied 1-1 season series: Ind* (0-0), Iowa, Neb, Minn *Game remaining PENN STATE 4-10 – projected 4-14 (5-13) Possible seed range: 6 through 12 Projected seed: 12 Ohio St (L) Wisconsin (L) At Northwestern (toss-up / L) At Minnesota (L) Favorable tiebreaker: OSU* Unfavorable tiebreaker: Minn*, Mich, Iowa, MSU (0-2), Ill (0-2) Tied 1-1 season series: Wis* (0-0), NW* (0-0), Neb, Pur, Ind *Game remaining PURDUE 5-9 – projected 6-12 Possible seed range: 6 through 12 Projected seed: 8 Michigan (L) At Iowa (L) At Wisconsin (L) Northwestern (close W) Favorable tiebreaker: Ind, Ill Unfavorable tiebreaker: Mich*, Wis*, NW*, MSU, OSU (0-2) Tied 1-1 season series: Iowa* (0-0), Minn, PSU, Neb *Game remaining WISCONSIN 10-5 – projected 13-5 (12-6) Possible seed range: 1 through 6 Projected seed: 2 At Penn St (W) Purdue (W) At Nebraska (close W) Favorable tiebreaker: Pur*, MSU, Iowa (2-0), Ill (2-0) Unfavorable tiebreaker: OSU Tied season series: Neb* (0-0), PSU* (0-0), Mich, Minn, NW, Ind *Game remaining

Tonight's (2/25) B1G projected RPIForecast.com results: at Wisconsin by 11.5 over Indiana Iowa by 6.3 at Minnesota

Well I was listening to the voices in my head and they were thinking 5 seed, but we're probably just splitting hairs now.

Fran is upset about something? I'm pretty surprised