Big Ten Tournament--who do we want to play and who do we want to avoid?

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UpAndUnder43

UpAndUnder43

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Looking at the standings, we are hopefully avoiding Weakling Wednesday. With 5 games remaining, we have two home games (Purdue, Michigan) and 3 road games (Northwestern, Rutgers and Maryland)

Current standings below as well as seeding/tournament breakdown.

Question is: Who do we WANT to play? (realistically) and who do we want to avoid?

I'd like to play Rutgers first round. I want to avoid Illinois and Ohio State. They kill us.

Second round (assuming we win) I'd like a shot at wisconsin again and avoid MSU (unless Ward is still out, then I don't have that matchup)

Wednesday, March 13, 2019
Game 1: #12 seed vs. #13 seed (5:30 p.m. CT, BTN) Game Info
Game 2: #11 seed vs. #14 seed (8 p.m. CT, BTN)
Thursday, March 14, 2019
Game 3: #8 seed vs. #9 seed (11:30 a.m. CT, BTN)
Game 4: #5 seed vs. Game 1 winner (25 min after Game 3, BTN)
Game 5: #7 seed vs. #10 seed (6 p.m. CT, BTN)
Game 6: #6 seed vs. Game 2 winner (25 min after Game 5, BTN)
Friday, March 15, 2019
Game 7: #1 seed vs. Game 3 winner (11:30 a.m. CT, BTN)
Game 8: #4 seed vs. Game 4 winner (25 min after Game 7, BTN)
Game 9: #2 seed vs. Game 5 winner (6 p.m. CT, BTN)
Game 10: #3 seed vs. Game 6 winner (25 min after Game 9, BTN)

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In the first game. Want to play a bad team with a good net ranking:
Nebraska or Indiana

In the second game, want to play Wisconsin for a rubber game.

In the third game, want to play the other of Nebraska/Indiana who got hot and went a a run
 

I think it depends on what our record and NET are going in.
 

Looked at this the other day. I wouldn't mind playing Illinois again. I don't think it's a terrible match up even though they blew us out in Champaign, the Gophers got their revenge when they visited the barn.

I would least like to face Ohio St because I don't think the Gophers match up well vs Wesson.

I have not taken into account who would be the best to face in terms of NET. It really looks like Illinois, Ohio St and Minnesota are fighting for the same seeds. I am guessing in terms of NET Ohio St would be the best team to face.
 


Don't want anything to do with zone defense teams.

Wouldn't mind playing Indiana and then Iowa.
 

First Game in Chicago

Want to Play
Nebraska -- they suck but have a good NET ranking, won't beat Gophers a second time

Ohio State -- getting a head to head win over another bubble team would be significant

Want to Avoid
Illinois --not interested in trying to beat them a second time, this time in Chicago
 

I think MSU with Ward, OSU, and Maryland all seem to be tough match ups for Minnesota. Big physical and quick bigs are tough for undersized Murphy, thin Oturu, and a not healthy Curry.
 

SelectionSunday said:
Want to Play
Nebraska -- they suck but have a good NET ranking, won't beat Gophers a second time

Ohio State -- getting a head to head win over another bubble team would be significant

Want to Avoid
Illinois --not interested in trying to beat them a second time, this time in Chicago
Click to expand...

Illinois in United Center is a terrible match up for anyone. From my memory, it is Illinois and Ohio State that most often outperform their seeds in the BTT. I don't see that changing this year.
 



Keep us away from Illinois. That’s a trap game that could easily derail our tournament chances. I’d agree that we match up with Indiana and Iowa. I’d even say Michigan wouldn’t be the worst deal, but we all know that Beilein’s teams are unreal come March.
 

I also would very much like to avoid playing Illinois. They seem to have an explosive offense when running on all cylinders, which granted is only about 50% of the time or less. But I'd much rather play a predictable opponent.
 

Illinois has a much easier schedule that both us and Ohio State. Seems like it is possible they could pass both of us and we end up in the 8-9 game against Ohio State. I guess I'm not sure of all the tiebreaker scenarios though.
 

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