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Wisconsin Basketball: Analyzing possible Big Ten Tournament seeding

By Trevor Jossart

Feb 26, 2017; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans and Wisconsin Badgers fight for position while Wisconsin Badgers forward Nigel Hayes (10) shoots a free throw during the second half of a game at the Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 26, 2017; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans and Wisconsin Badgers fight for position while Wisconsin Badgers forward Nigel Hayes (10) shoots a free throw during the second half of a game at the Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Wisconsin Badgers face a number of seeding possibilities as they enter the Big Ten Tournament

The last week of the regular season is finally here and the good news for the Wisconsin Badgers is that they are just one game out for a Big Ten championship. The team they are chasing, Purdue, has a tough final stretch vs. Indiana and at Northwestern.

Despite recent struggles the Badgers still have a chance- although very slim- to get the number one overall seed in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament. Wisconsin also has a slight possibility to fall within the 6-7 seed range as well.

The top four seeds within the league will earn double byes in the Big Ten Tournament, meaning they will  not have to play until Friday of next week. The bottom four teams will start on Wednesday, while the rest will tip off action on Thursday.

Scenarios

1 seed

In order to grab the number one overall seed, the Badgers would need to win both of their remaining games against Iowa AND Minnesota, as well as have Purdue lose both of their remaining contests. Due to Purdue owning the tiebreaker thanks to their victory over Wisconsin earlier in the year, the Badgers will need to win the conference outright in order to gain the advantage over the Boilermakers.

Purdue hosts Indiana on Tuesday.

2 seed

Any win by Purdue from here on out will guarantee the Badgers’ highest seed will be the two. If Wisconsin wins out and Purdue wins at least one game, the two seed will belong to the Badgers and give them their double bye.

In addition to this, the Badgers are one game up on Maryland, Michigan State, and Minnesota and hold the tiebreaker over Minnesota and Maryland at the moment . The Badgers and Gophers will play on Sunday to end the regular season.

One Badgers win and one loss by Maryland, Michigan State, and Minnesota will guarantee the Badgers a two seed. If the Badgers end up tied with all three teams separately, they will earn seeding rights over Maryland, but not Michigan State. With Minnesota, it would depend on how Sunday’s contest goes and what they next tiebreakers in line would be.

3-7 seed

Because there is so much basketball left to be play and the margin between teams 2-7 are so slim, there are numerous possible outcomes that could arise in just these final two games.

Out of all the teams alive for a three seed- Wisconsin, Maryland, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, and Michigan, the Badgers currently hold the outright tiebreaker over just one team: Maryland. Wisconsin still has Minnesota to play and split their meetings with Michigan. The Badgers will be on the negative side of things if they end up tied with Michigan State or Northwestern, or both.

Current Standings (Top 7):

  1. Purdue (12-4)
  2. Wisconsin (11-5)
  3. Maryland (10-6)
  4. Michigan State (10-6)
  5. Minnesota (10-6)
  6. Northwestern (9-7)
  7. Michigan (9-7)

*The Iowa Hawkeyes are 8-8 and eliminated from No. 1 and No. 2 seeds but could move up within the top five.

Wisconsin will face Iowa on Thursday on ESPN at 8:00 CT.

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