Gophers now out

[howeda7]

Assuming the Gophers beat Penn State (not a safe assumption at all), Illinois is our most likely opponent in the 7-10 game, which is a good thing. Illini the only potential top-100 opponent we could play on Thursday.

This weekend. ...

Gophers beat Penn State.
Iowa beats Illinois in Iowa City.
Purdue beats Northwestern in West Lafayette.

= Illinois, Penn State, Purdue all 6-12 and tied for 9th.

Tiebreaker (head to head)
Purdue 2-1 (earns #9 seed with head-to-head win over Illinois)
Illinois 2-1 (earns #10 seed with sweep of Penn State)
Penn State 1-3 (#11)

Survive & advance by beating Penn State, then let's see what we can do in Indy. Gophers chances to make the NCAA are far from gloom & doom. The bubble is fluid; it changes every day.

Clearly, playing Illinois is preferable, but wouldn't Iowa losing and falling back to the Bubble, potentially creating an extra spot be at least as valuable as the net difference between beating Purdue and Illinois? If Iowa loses, they will have lost 5 of 6 and probably have an RPI worse than MN. Also, it seems unclear if we'd actually play Illinois anyway.

 

[jaymil]

It's also very possible I misinterpreted it. After re-reading the 3-way tiebreaker (below), I'm even more confused. Now I hope this scenario plays out just so we'll find out who'd be the #9 and #10 between Purdue/Illinois.
_______________________________________________________
(per Big Ten)
B. Multiple team tie:

1. Results of head-to-head competition during the regular-season. a. When comparing records against the tied teams, the team with the higher winning percentage shall prevail, even if the number of games played against the team or group are unequal (i.e., 2-0 is better than 3-1, but 2-0 is not better than 1-0). (This gets us to Illinois and Purdue both 2-1)

(this is where I get confused)

b. After the top team among the tied teams is determined, the second team is ranked by its record among the original tied teams, not the head-to-head record vs. the remaining team(s). (top team is not determined because Illinois & Purdue are tied at 2-1 with Penn State eliminated, so wouldn't/shouldn't it revert back to Illinois vs. Purdue head-to-head to determine the top team, which would favor Purdue & make the Boilers the #9 seed?)

(this is where I see how you came up with Purdue as the #10 seed)

2. If the remaining teams are still tied, then each tied team's record shall be compared to the team occupying the highest position in the final regular-season standings, continuing down through the standings until one team gains an advantage.

I'm doing too much hand-wringing over a 9 and 10 seed, but I really want to play Illinois! They will not beat the Gophers a second time.

I see what you're saying. It's definitely confusing. I'm with you in wanting to play Illinois though! If the games go as planned we'll find out what the tiebreaker is.

 

[victor04]

I see what you're saying. It's definitely confusing. I'm with you in wanting to play Illinois though! If the games go as planned we'll find out what the tiebreaker is.

Do we really want to play the illini? I guess if they are a top 100 team then yeah I see the logic, I just find them a tough match up personally, in comparison to the other options which seem like easyish wins. The Illini have been playing good recently, dont sleep on those folks.

 

[jaymil]

Do we really want to play the illini? I guess if they are a top 100 team then yeah I see the logic, I just find them a tough match up personally, in comparison to the other options which seem like easyish wins. The Illini have been playing good recently, dont sleep on those folks.

I think the Gophers are past the point of just beating easy teams and getting in. I would rather be in the position of Nebraska this weekend in playing a good team that would genuinely bump you up with a win rather than playing a no-win situation type of game against PSU. A lot of bubble teams had good wins this past week, and while Illinois isn't a great team, they'd still be a better win than a Purdue. And let's face it, Illinois is playing better recently but if we can't beat them in a do-or-die type game we don't deserve to go anyways.

 

[bemidjigopher]

Do we really want to play the illini? I guess if they are a top 100 team then yeah I see the logic, I just find them a tough match up personally, in comparison to the other options which seem like easyish wins. The Illini have been playing good recently, dont sleep on those folks.

I know they beat us and that was a pathetic showing on our part, but did you see them vs Michigan?

 

[GophersInIowa]

Haha.

Seriously. If they can't get up for the next three, they might as well not even show up for the NIT.

Sorry, had to do it.

But you're right, winning the next three is not out of the question. To be honest, the way the Big Ten has gone this year, just about anyone could win the conference tourney and I wouldn't be surprised.

 

[Gopherguy0723]

My God!!! You had a three some with two other guys????

Doc., you'd have a heart attack, and we'd never see you again if you knew the half of it. If you're interested, I will meet you at J.T. Cigarros.

 

[Rouser]

Hopefully the Gophs can go on the kind of run that leaves the committee no choice. At the end of the day, whatever happens we should not blame either the committee or the "luck" of other games this week not falling our way. We lost some games to bad teams, and we lost some games because of stupid and avoidable mistakes (those two categories aren't mutually exclusive). When all is said and done, we had plenty of opportunities to seal the deal and leave us nowhere near the bubble had we taken care of business against the likes of Northwestern, Purdue, and Illinois. We are left sweating it out because we didn't get it done in those games. I hope we end up on the right side, and I hope we go on a run, but at the end of the day we get what we deserve this season.

That said, it has been a fun season with a new coach that is leaving me optimistic for the next few years regardless of how it shakes out this year.

Sure, all you said is true, but we also won a lot of games I didn't think this team was capable of winning. Bottom line, your statement goes for every bubble team we are competing with, or they would be a lock by now. We are on the bubble which is more than I expected this season... Our next two games are very winnable.. lets make it happen and roll the dice in game 3...

 

[GoldenRodents]

Just think if we had beaten Michigan State