There were two upsets this weekend, Michigan State's win at Maryland and Northwestern's win at Nebraska.
Both of those kept things more interesting than they otherwise would have been. Maryland would have clinched at least a share of the regular season title and a double-bye with a win. With their loss, IL, MSU, UW, PSU, and IA are still at least mathematically in the race.
Nebraska would have nearly cliched the #13 seed with a win. With their loss, Northwestern is now more likely than not to get that.
Updated projected final standings/BTT seeds and match-ups:
- 15-5/25-6 Maryland
- 13-7/20-11 Wisconsin
- 13-7/23-8 Penn State
- 13-7/21-10 Michigan State
- 13-7/21-10 Illinois
- 12-8/21-10 Iowa
- 11-9/21-10 Ohio State
- 10-10/19-12 Michigan
- 10-10/20-11 Indiana
- 9-11/18-13 Rutgers
- 9-11/16-15 Purdue
- 8-12/14-16 Minnesota
- 2-18/7-23 Northwestern
- 2-18/7-24 Nebraska
The tiebreakers are:
For the four-way tie for 2nd-5th at 13-7 the first tiebreaker is H2H2H2H:
- They are all .500. MSU is 3-3 while the other three are 2-2. There were numerous games not played and upsets but they all balanced out so we move to the next tiebreaker:
The second tiebreaker is record against the best team(s) in the conference, 15-5 Maryland:
- 1-0 Wisconsin (no game in College Park)
- 1-0 Penn State (no game in College Park)
- 2-2 Michigan State (won in College Park, lost in East Lansing)
- 0-2 Illinois
Thus, MSU get the #4 seed, Illinois gets the #5 seed, while UW and PSU move on to record against Iowa:
- 1-0 Wisconsin (no game in Iowa City)
- 1-1 Penn State
Thus UW gets the #2 seed and PSU gets the #3 seed.
For the two-way tie for 8th/9th at 10-10 (only determines jersey color in the 8/9 game) the first tiebreaker is H2H. They only played once, in Ann Arbor, and Michigan won. Thus Michigan gets the #8 seed and home jerseys in the 8/9 game.
For the two-way tie for 10th/11th at 9-11 the first tiebreaker is H2H. Rutgers already won in Picastaway, Purdue is projected to win in West Lafayette. Thus we move to record against the best team in the conference, 15-5 Maryland. Both are projected to go 0-season against Maryland so we move to record against the four 13-7 teams:
Thus Rutgers gets the #10 seed and does not have to play until Thursday. Purdue gets the #11 seed and a game on Wednesday.
Thus, the BTT match-ups would be:
Wednesday, March 11:
- #11 Purdue vs #14 Nebraska, 930 on BTN
- #12 Minnesota vs #13 Northwestern, 6 on BTN
Thursday, March 12:
- #5 Illinois vs MN/NU, 230 on BTN
- #6 Iowa vs PU/UNL, 9 on BTN
- #7 Ohio State vs #10 Rutgers, 630 on BTN
- #8 Michigan vs #9 Indiana, noon on BTN
Friday, March 13:
- #1 Maryland vs M/IU, noon on BTN
- #2 Wisconsin vs tOSU/RU, 630 on BTN
- #3 Penn State vs IA/PU/UNL, 9 on BTN
- #4 Michigan State vs IL/MN/NU, 230 on BTN
Saturday, March 14:
- UMD/M/IU vs MSU/IL/MN/NU, 1 on CBS
- UW/tOSU/RU vs PSU/IA/PU/UNL, 330 on CBS
Sunday, March 15:
- UMD/M/IU/MSU/IL/MN/NU vs UW/tOSU/RU/PSU/IA/PU/UNL, 330 on CBS
Even this late in the season, this is STILL very fluid because the teams remain very bunched up.