Big Ten Bracketology: A tale of two bubbles

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Picture two bubbles representing Iowa and Illinois. Now add a rather large needle pointing directly at both of them in your picture.

The needle is getting closer to both.

Step by step, inch by inch, it shortens the distance from the Illinois bubble after its loss to Northwestern, then even closer after Indiana easily defeated the Illini, and now, it’s rubbing up against that bubble after losing to Michigan.

The only way to stop that sharp point from popping their bubble and ruining their NCAA tournament chances is to take out Purdue and Nebraska this week. That should spare them some breathing room.

Want to know what happened to Iowa? It’s tragic, really. After the Hawkeyes lost to Northwestern, the needle went right through their bubble. But the strange thing is, much like a magic trick, it hasn’t popped yet. It’s still a bubble, but there is no room for error or the needle stuck all the way through it will pop it for sure. There is still hope for them to survive, but they need to be perfect from here on out.

Although Purdue has not done the best against ranked opponents, moving to 0-6 against top-25 ranked teams with its three point loss to Ohio State, the Boilermakers do beat the teams they’re supposed to. A victory over Northwestern helped them remain as the team furthest away from the needle.

Speaking of Northwestern, its loss to Purdue isn’t the end of the world since the Wildcats beat one of the other teams searching for an at-large bid, Iowa. Wednesday will feature Northwestern taking on Indiana in what shapes up to be a desperate game for both teams. Neither can afford a loss to the other at this point in their season. If the Wildcats can pull off the upset, they might be able to lose one more game while still keeping postseason hopes alive.

Proceed to seed

The Michigan State Spartans did the most work this week to improve their seed number with an incredibly impressive win over Ohio State Saturday. They moved to 8 on the OCS power rankings and have a legitimate shot at a #1 seed. It seemed like before people were not giving MSU their utmost respect, but it’s tough not to now. They will probably have to win out to receive the #1 seed for the first time since 2001 when Zach Randolph and Charlie Bell roamed the courts in East Lansing.

One team looking to ruin MSU’s run to the top will be Wisconsin. The Badgers travel to Michigan State on Thursday in hopes of avenging their 63-60 overtime loss earlier in the year. This game, along with trying to take care of business vs. Penn State this week, will be critical to where the Badgers end up in the tournament.

Indiana also needs to handle its upcoming games against Northwestern (home) and Iowa (away) in order to remain a lock. The Hoosiers have played sub-.500 basketball the past month, going just 4-5. The only way the Hoosiers remain a lock is if they keep up their relentless offense and if Cody Zeller keeps producing the way he is. Otherwise, you might need to add Indiana to that bubble/needle picture next week.

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