It’s a little hard to believe, but some of the smaller conference tournaments start this week and teams will be punching their tickets to the Big Dance soon.  Sometimes it’s a little tough to keep track of who’s in and who’s out, so here’s a rundown of how the Big Ten is looking.

In: Michigan State, Purdue, Illinois

The Spartans clinched at least a share of the Big Ten Championship Sunday, beating Illinois.  With a trip to the finals of the conference tournament the Spartans will likely lock up a two seed in the field of 64.  Purdue and Illinois have been impressive all year, hovering in the top 25 for most of the time.  Both suffered big losses this week (at Michigan for Purdue and against MSU for Illinois) that will knock them down a peg or two when it comes to seeding.  If you don’t think the last week and the conference tourney is important for these two, the difference between a 3 seed and a 4 or 5 could mean the difference between playing UNC or Kansas to start the second weekend.

Out: Indiana, Iowa, Northwestern

Northwestern had a chance to sneak into the bubble talk, but a stretch where the Wildcats lost 4 of 5 probably doomed them.  With games at Purdue and Ohio State left, it doesn’t look good.  NU fans should be proud of this group though, they played hard all the time and were actually pretty fun to watch.

On the Bubble: Ohio State, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Penn State

Most think the Big Ten ends up with 6 or 7 spots in the tourney, meaning that one or two of these teams will be playing in the NIT.  Ohio State is the safest this bunch I think, with season sweeps against Michigan and Penn State.  They played a respectable out of conference slate and finish out with easier games against Iowa and Northwestern.  Wisconsin is also pretty safe after a big win against Michigan Sunday.  The Badgers played the toughest schedule of the bubble teams, have the best RPI, and are 9-7 in the conference.  Wisconsin plays at Minnesota and finishes with Indiana at home.

Minnesota, Penn State, and Michigan are the interesting ones here.  Penn State saw their touney dreams flash before their eyes on Saturday as they barely escaped with a win at home against Indiana.  The Nittany Lions have 20 wins, but played an embarrassing non-conference schedule including such tournament bound teams as…well, no one.  Lunardi has PSU as one of the last four teams in the tournament right now, but they might need to win out to stay in with the winner of the Michigan-Minnesota game this weekend likely getting a big boost.

Minnesota and Michigan play on Saturday and the winner has a very good chance of making the Big Dance.  Both teams have very impressive non-conference wins; Louisville for Minnesota and Duke and UCLA for Michigan.  I’d say Michigan has to win at Minnesota and their first round game in the Big Ten Tournament to get in, while Minnesota has to split their home games against Wisconsin and Michigan this week and win one tourney game as well.

Big games to watch:

• Ohio State at Iowa, Tue. 8:05 PM (BTN)
• Wisconsin at Minnesota, Wed. 7:30 PM (BTN)
• Illinois at Penn State, Thu. 8:00 PM (ESPN)
• Michigan at Minnesota, Sat. 11:00 AM (ESPN)
• Penn State at Iowa, Sat. 1:05 PM (BTN)
• Purdue at Michigan State, Sun. 11:00 AM (CBS)
• Indiana at Wisconsin, Sun. 6:00 PM (BTN)

Related Posts:

• Big Ten Tournament: Day Two Part Two (0)
• Big Ten Tournament: Day Two (0)
• Big Ten Tournament Previews (0)
• Victory! Big Ten Takes ACC-Big Ten Challenge (3)
• Big Ten Power Rankings – Preseason (3)
• Big Ten Media Days Signal Football is Back — Almost (3)
• Big Ten Tournament Field is Set (1)

Tags: Big Ten, Bubble Watch, College Basketball, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin