Tough year for the Big Ten.
Lots of head-fakes.
Lots of false starts.
Lots of Nebraska losing.
Yes, the Big Ten’s had a tough time getting anyone into the NIT picture. Plenty of teams have gotten NIT buzz, but few have been serious contenders. Here’s who’s still standing coming into the week:
Michigan – 0.5% NIT-Likely Entering Today
Penn State – 0.9% NIT-Likely
Iowa – 1.7% NIT-Likely
I mean, these would be really shocking.
Rutgers – 5.3% NIT-Likely
Illinois – 5.6% NIT-Likely
Rutgers wouldn’t be shocking, but only because it’s Rutgers. Illinois would be pretty shocking.
Purdue – 51.9% NIT-Likely
Ah, here we are.
Purdue is in the thick of the NIT chase. Looks like just a loss to Ohio State tomorrow night would do it. If they win, it gets less hopeful, but not impossible. After all, the Boilermakers have lost fifteen times. They should make that sixteen this week.
Indiana – 55.0% NIT-Likely, Projected One-Seed
Further south in the state, Archie Miller may be building quite the program in Bloomington. The Hoosiers made a nice run in last year’s NIT, to the point where Assembly Hall was pretty loud at the end. The Final Four wasn’t in the cards, but…there’s always this year.
IU can beat Nebraska tonight, but it probably needs to lose tomorrow to Penn State.
Minnesota – 87.6% NIT-Likely, Projected Three-Seed
These guys.
Trying to answer once and for all whether a sub-.500 team will be allowed into a post-2016 NIT.
The Gophers need to win three to feel safe. They need to win two to finish just one game under .500. They need to win one to hold position (or so) in our model’s bracketology.
By the time this is said and done, we all may have learned something.
