B1G-East:
- 4-0 Ohio State: They are in the CG so long as they play their last two games and don't lose both. However, they are out if they miss another game and could be out if they lose both.
- 5-1 Indiana: The Hoosiers would lose a tie with tOSU or win a tie with UMD. They are in if they win out and tOSU loses out or if they win at least one more and tOSU misses at least one more or if tOSU misses at least one more and UMD loses at least one more.
- 2-2 Maryland: The only way they can make it is if tOSU misses at least one more and Indiana loses out.
- 2-3 Michigan State: Cannot get to the CG but could theoretically tie for the Division Championship*.
- All other B1G-E teams are mathematically eliminated because IU is already eligible and can do no worse than 5-3. That could be tied with MSU but the Hoosiers already beat MSU so it wouldn't matter.
Weird theoretical possibility*:
- tOSU misses at least one more game.
- IU loses out (@UW, vPU).
- MSU plays at least one more game and wins all remaining games that they play (vtOSU, @PSU).
- UMD plays both of their remaining games and goes 1-1 (@M, vRU).
In that case the Buckeyes would be ineligible and the best eligible teams would be:
- 5-3 Indiana
- 4-3 or 3-3 Michigan State
- 3-3 Maryland
You would think that IU would simply win because 5-3 is better than either 4-3 or 3-3 and the Hoosiers already beat both the Spartans and the Terps but it isn't that simple.
The
B1G 2020 tiebreraker stipulates that "If two (or more) teams have the same number of conference losses but a different number of conference wins, head-to-head results will take precedence over winning percentage, as long as the two (or more) teams meet the minimum number of games language noted above."
So Indiana still wins because they are 2-0 H2H2H while Spartans and Terps are each 0-1, right? Well, no. Down in the multiple team language the first step is H2H . . . 2H but it stipulates that "In the event of an unbalanced schedule, if one or multiple teams did not play all teams in the group of tied teams, move to the next step in tiebreaker."
Thus, Indiana's superior winning percentage and 2-0 H2H record do NOT get them to the CG and we move to the next step, winning percentage within the division with the stipulation that really, only losses count. In this case their division records would be:
- 5-1 Indiana (beat PSU, RU, M, MSU, and UMD, lost to tOSU).
- 3-1 Maryland (beat PSU, M, RU, lost to IU).
- 2-2 or 3-2 Michigan State (beat M and either tOSU or PSU or both, lost to RU and IU).
That STILL doesn't break the tie because according to the B1G, in 2020 5-1 = 3-1 so Indiana and Maryland are still tied. However, Indiana wins because MSU is eliminated which means that IU and UMD revert to the two-team tiebreaker of H2H where the Hoosiers beat the Terps.
In the end, IU goes anyway, but it is just weird that they would go based on something like tiebreaker #46 rather than just going based on superior winning percentage or being 2-0 against the two teams with the same number of losses as them.
