Finishing 6th in the Big 10

DunderMifflinHk

DunderMifflinHk

Well-Known Member
It would be huge for us to get to that 6th seed and hope that Indiana and Michigan finnish #1 and #2 in the conference. That would mean we would face the #11 seed in the Big 10 Tournament, which would probably be Nebraska. Then we would have the #3 seed Wisconsin or MSU in the second round, which I wouldn't mind having another shot at. Also all our games would be the last one of the day and we'd get to watch them. If we can go 6-1 the rest of the way that should be enough to finish 6th.
 
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The only reason why I want the 6th seed is because that pretty much assures Iowa is in the NCAA tournament. I used to think Indiana and Michigan were head and shoulders above the rest of the conference but you have to add MSU to that elite group. The B1G is so strong this year that it really does not matter who you play in the 2nd round it is going to be a tough game.
 


ssckelley said:
The only reason why I want the 6th seed is because that pretty much assures Iowa is in the NCAA tournament. I used to think Indiana and Michigan were head and shoulders above the rest of the conference but you have to add MSU to that elite group. The B1G is so strong this year that it really does not matter who you play in the 2nd round it is going to be a tough game.
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Even the 11 seed in the B1G tournament won't be an easy out, especially for this Iowa team.
 






IowaFan81 said:
Even the 11 seed in the B1G tournament won't be an easy out, especially for this Iowa team.
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Depends on which team shows up, the one that shoots 25% or the one that shoots 40%. Defensively they have proved they can play with anyone outside of Michigan.
 


ssckelley said:
The only reason why I want the 6th seed is because that pretty much assures Iowa is in the NCAA tournament. I used to think Indiana and Michigan were head and shoulders above the rest of the conference but you have to add MSU to that elite group. The B1G is so strong this year that it really does not matter who you play in the 2nd round it is going to be a tough game.
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No it doesn't. It is not hard to do the math where IL and or MN finish lower by 2 games and beat out Iowa for the dance.

One one hand, both MN and IL show a propensity to not get it done. They've also shown a propensity to get it done. Iowa isn't as high or low in that re. Iowa getting a 6 seed doesn't promise anything. It doesn't hurt though.
 


ILHawk said:
No it doesn't. It is not hard to do the math where IL and or MN finish lower by 2 games and beat out Iowa for the dance.

One one hand, both MN and IL show a propensity to not get it done. They've also shown a propensity to get it done. Iowa isn't as high or low in that re. Iowa getting a 6 seed doesn't promise anything. It doesn't hurt though.
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Yeah it does because in order for Iowa to get the 6th seed it means they have beaten both Illinois and Minnesota. If that was to happen Iowa's RPI would skyrocket and there is no way the committee is leaving out a B1G team that finishes above .500 in conference.

When the committee decides who is going to get an at large Iowa is not necessarily competing against Illinois and Minnesota, it will be the Saint Mary's, Baylor's, and Wyomings of college basketball.
 




Iowa needs to finish at least 6-1 (or at least 5-2 if we beat IU) in the regular season, win our first-round game, then draw anyone but Michigan in the 2nd round. The rest is irrelevant. If these things happen we are in, if they don't we are out.
 


bwsmoney said:
Iowa needs to finish at least 6-1 (or at least 5-2 if we beat IU) in the regular season, win our first-round game, then draw anyone but Michigan in the 2nd round. The rest is irrelevant. If these things happen we are in, if they don't we are out.
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You might be right but I think a 9-9 Iowa team with a 1st round BTT win gets Iowa on the bubble. A lot is going to be determined by how well they do this week if they can get past Penn State and upset Minnesota at home.

I hate to say this but seeing how Iowa has lost to teams like Virginia Tech and Purdue on the road I have a hard time believing Iowa beats both Penn State and Nebraska on the road. A stumble to either of those teams would almost kill any small chance Iowa has to reach the NCAA.
 


ssckelley said:
The only reason why I want the 6th seed is because that pretty much assures Iowa is in the NCAA tournament. I used to think Indiana and Michigan were head and shoulders above the rest of the conference but you have to add MSU to that elite group. The B1G is so strong this year that it really does not matter who you play in the 2nd round it is going to be a tough game.
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MSU has 4-5 really tough games coming up. I don't think they will be considered in the same "class" as Mich and IU at the end of conference play.
 




DunderMifflinHk said:
It would be huge for us to get to that 6th seed and hope that Indiana and Michigan finnish #1 and #2 in the conference. That would mean we would face the #11 seed in the Big 10 Tournament, which would probably be Nebraska. Then we would have the #3 seed Wisconsin or MSU in the second round, which I wouldn't mind having another shot at. Also all our games would be the last one of the day and we'd get to watch them. If we can 6-1 the rest of the way that should be enough to finish 6th.
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Excellent post. I hate when the Hawks play in the BTT during the day. The last night game I remember them playing was in 2006 when the Hawks beat Minny in a very ugly game.

Who was the player with the floppy braids for Minny? Grier or something like that?
 




ssckelley said:
Yeah it does because in order for Iowa to get the 6th seed it means they have beaten both Illinois and Minnesota. If that was to happen Iowa's RPI would skyrocket and there is no way the committee is leaving out a B1G team that finishes above .500 in conference.

When the committee decides who is going to get an at large Iowa is not necessarily competing against Illinois and Minnesota, it will be the Saint Mary's, Baylor's, and Wyomings of college basketball.
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Seriously? A team with 4 top 25 wins? IL and MN gain at least 1 game over Iowa due to SoS non conference and maybe up to 2. The gain a half game up to 1 for conference. A 7 win IL team still MAYBE beats out a 10 win Iowa team. I'm not in favor of it, but it does make sense. You can't gloss over a very weak schedule with less than solid results. IL will likely have at least one more big win. That would give them 6 over top 25 teams. How many would Iowa have? Zero w/o beating IN. The other possibility is winning 2 over top 40 in the tourney.
 
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ILHawk said:
Seriously? A team with 4 top 25 wins? IL and MN gain at least 1 game over Iowa due to SoS non conference and maybe up to 2. The gain a half game up to 1 for conference. A 7 win IL team still MAYBE beats out a 10 win Iowa team. I'm not in favor of it, but it does make sense. You can't gloss over a very weak schedule with less than solid results. IL will likely have at least one more big win. That would give them 6 over top 25 teams. How many would Iowa have? Zero w/o beating IN. The other possibility is winning 2 over top 40 in the tourney.
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I agree that Iowa's non-conference schedule isn't going to help them alot, compared to teams with a tougher schedule, but I still have a hard time seeing a 7-11 Illinois team getting into the tournament over a 10-8 Iowa team, particularly since if Iowa gets to 10-8, they will need to beat Illinois and Minnesota (or substitute an Indiana win for one of those) to do so. Wisconsin is ranked, and Iowa beat them once. And Minnesota may or may not be ranked come March - that could be another feather in Iowa's cap if they beat them.

In this league, this season, I think 10-8 gets Iowa in.
 


1977Hawkeye said:
I agree that Iowa's non-conference schedule isn't going to help them alot, compared to teams with a tougher schedule, but I still have a hard time seeing a 7-11 Illinois team getting into the tournament over a 10-8 Iowa team, particularly since if Iowa gets to 10-8, they will need to beat Illinois and Minnesota (or substitute an Indiana win for one of those) to do so. Wisconsin is ranked, and Iowa beat them once. And Minnesota may or may not be ranked come March - that could be another feather in Iowa's cap if they beat them.

In this league, this season, I think 10-8 gets Iowa in.
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What you say is plausible, but you can't overlook 5 top 25 wins already in the bag....well maybe 4, if MN doesn't recover. No other team can top that at this point in the nation last I checked.

Subtract out 1/2 of the games Iowa has with PSU, NW, Nebby and that's +3 for IL as they didn't play them 2x. 7 maybe gets them in against an Iowa team with no top 25 wins and a weak schedule.
 
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ILHawk said:
What you say is plausible, but you can't overlook 5 top 25 wins already in the bag....well maybe 4, if MN doesn't recover. No other team can top that at this point in the nation last I checked.
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Ok, well dang - I checked and ESPN has Illinois at #25 in the RPI, and I didn't realize they were that high. That's pretty solid. I know RPI isn't the ONLY criteria the selection committee looks at, but I'm not sure I've seen a team that high in the RPI get left out.
 


Iowa winning on the road at PSU and Nebby is not a slam dunk for this squad....which is why we are having this fun debate.
 


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