It’s becoming more and more likely that we’re going to have two, three, or even four teams potentially tie for the Big Ten conference crown. Consider this — if Ohio State wins out, Purdue beats Wisconsin this week, and Illinois takes care of business, it’ll be a four-team tie atop the conference (banner makers beware).
Of course, there’s a lot that can happen, and if the Badgers win their last two games, including the big one against Purdue in West Lafayette, they will be outright conference champs. However, in the event that mass chaos ensues, then it’s important to understand what the tiebreaking procedures are for purposes of seeding in the upcoming Big Ten tournament.
You’ll have to read slowly, get a decoder pen, and carry the square root of the Pythagorean theorem, but here’s how it all lines up according to the Big Ten’s website.
Big Ten tiebreakers
Determining Conference Champion or Co-Champions
To be considered Big Ten Conference Champion or Co-Champion, a team must satisfy a minimum-game threshold of meeting or exceeding 75 percent of the average number of Conference games played*.
If a team does not satisfy the minimum-game threshold, “losses” may be added to the team’s record to allow the team to reach the minimum-game threshold. These “losses” have no impact on a team’s overall record or RPI**.
A team that meets the minimum-game threshold may be declared Conference Champion in one of two ways, both using results in Conference play only***:
- 1) By having the highest winning percentage.
- 2) By having the best record when using the “games ahead/games back” method.
*-If 75 percent of the average number of Conference games played is not a whole number, the number will be rounded up to the nearest whole number (i.e. if the average number of Conference games played is 15, 75 percent of 15 is 11.25, so a team would need to play at least 12 Conference games to satisfy the minimum-game threshold).
**-To illustrate using the example above, if a team finished 10-1, a loss could be added to the record (thereby bringing the record to 10-2) to allow the team to satisfy the minimum-game threshold.
***-For example, if Team A has the highest winning percentage in the Conference but Team B has the best record in the Conference using the “games ahead/games back” method, then Team A and Team B would be Co-Champions. Each respective approach applies independently of the other, so a team that is not at the top of the standings using either method would not be Co-Champion. Ties will not be broken for the purpose of determining Conference Champion or Co-Champions, so teams tied at the top of the standings under either method will be declared Co-Champions.
Tiebreaker Procedures for Tournament Seeding
1) There is no minimum-game threshold for tournament seeding purposes, but the Conference Champion or Co-Champions shall occupy the top seed(s) of the tournament.
3) After the Champion has (or Co-Champions have) been seeded, the remaining seeds for the tournament (down through No. 14) shall be determined exclusively by winning percentage, with the tiebreaking procedures set forth below used as needed.
4) Procedures used to determine seeding among Co-Champions or to break ties among the remaining seeds are as follows:
A. Ties Involving Two Teams:
1) Results of head-to-head competition during the regular season.
2) Each team’s record vs. the team occupying the highest position in the final regular-season standings (or in the case of a tie for the championship, the next highest position in the regularseason standings), continuing down through the standings until one team gains an advantage.
- a. When arriving at another pair of tied teams while comparing records, use each team’s record against the collective tied teams as a group (prior to their own tiebreaking procedures), rather than the performance against the individual tied teams.
- b. When comparing records against a single team or a group of teams, the higher winning percentage shall prevail, even if the number of games played against the team or groupare unequal (i.e., 2-0 is better than 3-1, but 2-0 is not better than 1-0 or 0-0).
3) Won-loss percentage of all Division I opponents.
4) Coin toss conducted by the Commissioner or designee.
B. Ties Involving more than Two Teams:
1) Results of head-to-head competition during the regular season.
- a. When comparing records against the tied teams, teams will be seeded based on winning percentage among the group, 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 or 0-0). If all teams among the group are separated based on winning percentage, all ties are broken. If winning percentage among the group for any tied teams is equal, move to step b with those specific tied teams only (e.g. if there is a four-team tie, one team is 4-0, another is 3-1 and the last two are 2-2 among the group, the two teams that are 2-2 move to step b and the teams that are 4-0 and 3-1 assume the next two available highest seeds).
Note: Teams can be separated from the top, middle or bottom. - b. If a team or teams are separated from the group based on step a, seeding for remaining teams among the group is not determined by head-to-head record vs. the remaining teams, but rather by taking all remaining teams to next tiebreaker.
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.
- a. When arriving at another pair of tied teams while comparing records, use each team’s record against the collective tied teams as a group (prior to their own tiebreaking procedures), rather than the performance against the individual tied teams.
- b. When comparing records against a single team or group of teams, 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 or 0-0).
3) Won-loss percentage of Division I opponents.
4) Coin toss conducted by Commissioner or designee.