Bracketology: Big Ten to be well represented in the NCAA Tournament

It’s no secret the Michigan Wolverines are currently projected to be a 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament by just about everyone. In fact BracketMatrix, a site that compiles brackets from 99 different sources and puts them all into one chart, has Michigan as a 1-seed in every single bracket. Not too shabby.

Today, we wanted to see where some of the major bracketologists have the rest of the Big Ten teams at with about a month left in the regular season.

Joe Lunardi, ESPN

Lunardi is typically referred to as the gold standard when it comes to bracketology, so let’s start with him. He has Michigan as the only Big Ten team on the 1-seed line, though the Big Ten litters the high seeds after.

The Nebraska Cornhuskers are a 2-seed in the West Region, while Illinois projects as the 2-seed in the East Region. Interestingly, Lunardi has the Michigan State Spartans as the 3-seed in the Midwest, the same region where Michigan is the 1-seed. Purdue also projects as the 3-seed in the South Region.

Five teams with top-3 seeds would be very impressive for the conference.

There’s a large drop-off after that, as Iowa comes in next highest as a 7-seed in the South. Wisconsin and Indiana appear next as 9-seeds, while USC and UCLA are 10-seeds and in the “Last Four Byes” category. Ohio State is on the wrong side of the bubble as the literal first team out of Lunardi’s bracket.

This would give the Big Ten a solid 10 teams in the NCAA Tournament, which seems very doable at this stage of the season.

Jerry Palm, CBS

Palm is the second-most famous bracketologist, so let’s look at his projections as well. Like Lunardi, Palm has Michigan as the 1-seed in the Midwest. However, Palm has Illinois as the only 2-seed from the Big Ten. He has Nebraska as a 3-seed in the West, Michigan State as a 3-seed in the South, and Purdue as a 3-seed in the East. This would pave the way for a Michigan State vs Illinois matchup in the Sweet Sixteen should higher seed hold.

Palm and Lunardi both agree that five Big Ten teams will be top-3 seeds.

The Iowa Hawkeyes are also next in the pecking order, as they are a 7-seed in the South. Palm nearly mirrors Lunardi after that, as Wisconsin and Indiana are both 9-seeds while USC and UCLA are both 10-seeds. Ohio State is listed in the “First Four Out” category, though the Buckeyes are third in that bucket. Palm’s projection is 10 Big Ten teams to make the tournament field.

James Fletcher III, On3

Unsurprisingly, everyone agrees Michigan would be the 1-seed in the Midwest as of right now. However, On3 gets a little spicy by putting Illinois as the 2-seed in Michigan’s same region. Fletcher has Nebraska as a 2-seed in the West, and also has Michigan State and Purdue as 3-seeds, just as Lunardi and Palm both did.

The common theme among these bracketologists is that the top-five teams in the Big Ten are loaded.

Fletcher is then higher on the Hawkeyes than his compatriots, as he has them as a 6-seed in the Midwest Region. Like the others, he then has Indiana as a frisky 9-seed.

After that, things go off the rails a bit. Fletcher projects Wisconsin (10), UCLA (10) and Ohio State (11) to all not only make the tournament, but to have byes. He then has USC (11) as a “Last Four In” team. This is markedly higher than Lunardi and Palm for Ohio State, who they don’t have in the field at all. It’s also lower than the others for Wisconsin and USC.

This projection would give the Big Ten a whopping 11 teams in the field. While not impossible, I think it’s fairly aggressive to consider Ohio State a tournament team at this juncture.