Eight Big Ten basketball teams are projected to make the NCAA Tournament according to The Sporting News, an outlook that holds up pretty well with a number of other
It has been a rough-and-tumble kind of year for the Big Ten as a basketball conference as the league’s depth has resulted in a grueling conference slate and very little separation in the top half of the standings.
On Monday, Bill Bender of The Sporting News took a crack at his NCAA Tournament projections which he foresees as including eight teams from the Big Ten.
What is the outlook for the Big Ten as it comes to NCAA Tournament projections? Here are Bender’s projections with his thoughts on several of the top seeds…
- No. 1 Purdue (24-5, 13-5 Big Ten): “UCLA is a viable candidate to steal the last No. 1 seed. It’s a close call, but we’ll stick with Purdue for now.”
- No. 4 Indiana (20-9, 11-7 Big Ten): “The Hoosiers have won five of their last seven…”
- No. 6 Maryland (20-9, 11-7 Big Ten): “The Terps have a stronger ranking combination than Indiana and can build on their resume with road victories against Ohio State and Penn State.”
- No. 8 Northwestern (20-9, 11-7 Big Ten): “The Wildcats are 11-9 in Quads 1-2…”
- No. 8 Illinois (19-10, 10-8 Big Ten): “…it is a tough week ahead with Michigan and a trip to Purdue.”
- No. 9 Michigan State (17-11, 9-8 Big Ten)
- No. 9 Iowa (18-11, 10-8 Big Ten)
- No. 11 Rutgers (18-11, 10-8 Big Ten)
Michigan (17-11, 11-7 Big Ten) is ‘On the Bubble’ with Bender noting that “The Wolverines are close after a 87-79 overtime victory against Wisconsin, but tests against Illinois and Indiana remain on the regular-season schedule.”
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Future Big Ten member UCLA is projected as a No. 1 seed. USC, also slated to join the Big Ten in 2024, is a No. 11 seed per Bender.
Click here to check out all of Bender’s NCAA Tournament projections for The Sporting News.
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