Big Ten Daily: Where We Stand With NCAA Tournament Bids

On Feb 26, 2022

Here we go with the penultimate weekend of the Big Ten basketball regular season, with a ton of great games on the slate as we head into the final eight days of the season.

The Big Ten title race is still crowded, and there are a lot of great head-to-head matchups on the agenda. Winning the regular season is a huge deal, and Purdue and Wisconsin are tied for the lead, with Illinois and Ohio State still in striking range.

Seeding for the Big Ten Tournament matters a little bit too, but the biggest prize — earning an NCAA Tournament berth — is really the ultimate regular season goal.

So as we head down the home stretch, here’s the schedule for the final eight days, and then we’ll take a look at who’s in the NCAA field already, who still has work to do, who needs a lot of things to go right, and who needs a miracle.

Saturday’s games

No. 4 Purdue at Michigan State, Noon ET (TV: ESPN)
No. 13 Wisconsin at Rutgers, 6 p.m. ET (TV: Big Ten Network)

Sunday’s games

No. 15 Illinois at Michigan, 2 p.m. ET (TV: CBS)
No. 22 Ohio State at Maryland, 4 p.m. ET (TV: CBS)
Indiana at Minnesota, 6 p.m. ET (TV: ESPN2)
Nebraska at Penn State, 7 p.m. ET (TV: Big Ten Network)

Monday’s games

Northwestern at No. 25 Iowa, 8 p.m. ET (TV: Big Ten Network)

Tuesday’s games

Nebraska at No. 22 Ohio State, 7 p.m. ET (TV: Big Ten Network)
Michigan State at Michigan, 8:30 p.m. ET (TV: FOX Sports 1)
No. 4 Purdue at No. 13 Wisconsin, 9 p.m. ET (TV: ESPN)

Wednesday’s games

Rutgers at Indiana, 7 p.m. ET (TV: Big Ten Network)
Minnesota at Maryland, 9 p.m. ET (TV: Big Ten Network)

Thursday’s games

Penn State at No. 15 Illinois, 7 p.m. ET (TV: FOX Sports 1)
Michigan State at No. 22 Ohio State, 7 p.m. ET (TV: ESPN)
No. 25 Iowa at Michigan, 9 p.m. ET (TV: FOX Sports 1)

Saturday’s games (March 5)

Indiana at No. 4 Purdue, 2 p.m. ET (TV: ESPN)

Sunday’s games (March 6)

Penn State at Rutgers, Noon ET (TV: Big Ten Network)
Michigan at No. 22 Ohio State, 12:30 p.m. ET (TV: FOX)
Nebraska at Wisconsin, 2 p.m. ET (TV: Big Ten Network)
Maryland at Michigan State, 4:30 p.m. ET (TV: CBS)
No. 25 Iowa at No. 15 Illinois, 7:30 p.m. ET (TV: FOX Sports 1)
Minnesota at Northwestern, 7:30 p.m. ET (TV: Big Ten Network)

NCAA Tournament locks

PURDUE (24-4, 13-4): Purdue is ranked No. 4 in the country, and has a legitimate chance at locking up a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament if they can win their last three games and clinch a regular season title, their 25th ever, most in league history. They’ve been the best team in the Big Ten all year, starting with the flashy Jaden Ivey and the two-headed monster at center in Trevion Williams and Zach Edey
WISCONSIN (22-5, 13-4): Wisconsin has been the surprise of the league this year, picked to finish in the middle of the pack but tied for the lead now. The Badgers have done it by being spectacular in close games, posting an amazing 13-1 record in games decided by six points or less, and the only close loss was to Providence way back in mid-November. That’s clutch. Johnny Davis has emerges as a Player of the Year candidate.
ILLINOIS (19-8, 12-5): Illinois looked like the favorite to win the league before losing at home to Ohio State on Thursday. They will be favored in their final three games, so potentially still grabbing a share of the title is an option. There are reasonable scenarios for that to happen. Kofi Cockburn has been great all year, and the Illini’s three-point shooting, when it’s on, makes this team very dangerous.
OHIO STATE (18-7, 11-5) The Buckeyes’ upset of Illinois kept them right in the title mix, but they’ve got four games to play in eight days and can’t afford a slip-up. The Buckeyes are probably going to be favored in all four games as well, and could slip into a tie for the title, too.

Teams with a little work still to do

IOWA (20-8, 10-7): The Hawkeyes have been red-hot lately, winning six of seven games, and they are most likely already in. But they need to beat Northwestern to be sure, because they finish with tough road game with Michigan and Illinois. A three-game losing streak to close the year might be devastating.
MICHIGAN STATE (18-9, 9-7): The Spartans haven’t been very good lately, losing five of six games. The only win was against Indiana when they played like a desperate team. Why no desperation since in the last three losses? It’s Tom Izzo, and he always gets extra NCAA selection committee love, but this is a problem now. They have Purdue Saturday, then a road trip toi Michigan and Ohio State. Lose three more games, and they might be out.

Teams with a lot of work still to do

INDIANA (17-10, 8-9): The Hoosiers are probably two wins away from making the field, and the easiest path to get there is to win Sunday at Minnesota and Wednesday in the home finale against Rutgers. The quality wins against Purdue and Ohio State help the Hoosiers a lot, as does the Notre Dame win in December all of a sudden, now that the Irish are 20-8 and fighting for the ACC title. Indiana ends the season at Purdue, which will be tough, so it would behoove the Hoosiers to get the next two.
MICHIGAN (15-11, 9-7): The Wolverines have 11 losses already, are just 5-4 in their last nine and have three games left against ranked teams. That’s opportunity too, but they’ll have to do it all without coach Juwan Howard. They probably need three wins to get into the field, and that might be asking too much.
RUTGERS (16-11, 10-7): The Scarlet Knights had an amazing run, beating four ranked teams in a row, the first time any unranked team had done that in NCAA history. They were clearly back in the NCAA mix, but then they lost back-to-back games to Purdue and Michigan by 12 and nine points respectively. They have several horrible nonconference losses, so a big finish was critical. Do they need to win all three to get in? Probably. And that won’t be easy. The Knights might need a good Big Ten Tournament run to seal things, and that’s not easy either.