With Christmas in the rear view mirror we are coming up on conference play in college basketball. Ohio State will play West Virginia on Saturday to finish off the non-conference slate before two and half months of Big Ten opponents.
The conference projects to be competitive as although Purdue is certainly the front runner all 14 Big Ten teams currently rank in the top 110 of the Basketball Power Index (BPI).
Seven of those teams are currently projected to be amongst the field of 68 in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament in March by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi and his venerable “Bracketology.”
Lunardi has been one of the go-to analysts in college basketball for many years and on Tuesday he updated his predictions for who would make the big dance from the Big Ten.
Purdue (11-1)
Bracketology Breakdown
Seeding | No. 1 – Midwest Region (Indianapolis)
Opponent | No. 16 seed (winner of Southern vs. Merrimack)
The season so far
Loss(es) | at Northwestern
Best Win(s) | Arizona, Marquette, Tennessee, Gonzaga
Illinois (9-2)
Bracketology Breakdown
Seeding | No. 3 – East Region (Memphis)
Opponent | No. 14 seed Vermont
The season so far
Loss(es) | Marquette, at Tennessee
Best Win(s) | FAU, at Rutgers, Missouri
Wisconsin (9-3)
Bracketology Breakdown
Seeding | No. 3 – South Region (Memphis)
Opponent | No. 14 seed Samford
The season so far
Loss(es) | Tennessee, at Providence, at Arizona
Best Win(s) | Virginia, Marquette, at Michigan State
Ohio State (10-2)
Bracketology Breakdown
Seeding | No. 7 – Midwest Region (Charlotte)
Opponent | No. 10 seed Mississippi State
The season so far
Loss(es) | Texas A&M, at Penn State
Best Win(s) | Alabama, UCLA
Northwestern (9-2)
Bracketology Breakdown
Seeding | No. 9 – East Region (Omaha)
Opponent | No. 8 seed Utah
The season so far
Loss(es) | Chicago State, Mississippi State
Best Win(s) | Purdue, Dayton, Arizona State
Michigan State (7-5) - Last Four Byes
Indiana (9-3)
Nebraska (10-2) - First Four Out
Bracketology Breakdown
The season so far
Loss(es) | Creighton, @ Minnesota
Best Win(s) | Michigan State, @ Kansas State
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