With one game left on Maryland’s schedule, it is still unknown where the Terps will land in next week’s Big Ten Tournament.
Michigan State could help make that more clear – the Spartans are headed to College Park on Saturday, which will likely decide whether Maryland receives a double bye or not.
Here it is. All 128 scenarios. I’ll separate top/bottom seeds next. pic.twitter.com/ipYv4Hx8iy
— SpartanDan (@dbaker3448) March 3, 2017
Currently, Maryland is tied for second place with Minnesota and Wisconsin with an 11-6 record. Michigan State and Northwestern are both just one game behind in the Big Ten conference. Here’s the breakdown of all the scenarios for Maryland in the Big Ten Tournament entering their final game of the regular season.
Purdue clinched the Big Ten regular-season title earlier this week against Indiana. Minnesota holds the tiebreaker against Maryland because they have a better record against Purdue. Wisconsin holds the tiebreaker over Maryland because Wisconsin won in their only matchup. Michigan State holds the tiebreaker against Minnesota due to head-to-head record.
Maryland gets the three seed if:
Maryland beats Michigan State (matchup on March 4), regardless of the result of Minnesota vs. Wisconsin (matchup on March 5) since the winner will hold the tiebreaker over Maryland. Both Maryland and the winner of Minnesota/Wisconsin would have a 12-6 record, and Maryland would lose the tiebreaker to either team.
Maryland gets the four seed if:
Michigan State beats Maryland and Wisconsin beats Minnesota. In this case, Maryland, Michigan State and Minnesota teams would all have an 11-7 record, in which case the tiebreaker goes to the teams’ records against the teams they are tied with. Here, Michigan State (3-0) holds the tie-breaker over both, followed by Maryland (1-2) and then Minnesota (1-3).
Maryland gets the five seed if:
Michigan State beats Maryland and Minnesota beats Wisconsin. Maryland, Wisconsin, and Michigan State would all finish at 11-7 and Michigan State would get the three seed, since they are undefeated against Maryland and Wisconsin. Wisconsin would drop from the two seed to the four seed here, and Maryland go to the five seed and lose a double bye.
Maryland gets the six seed if:
If Michigan State beats Maryland, Minnesota beats Wisconsin and Northwestern upsets Purdue, Maryland would fall to the six seed. MSU, Northwestern, Maryland and Wisconsin would all have the same record in this case at 11-7, and MSU would be undefeated against the other three teams so they secure a three seed. Northwestern, Maryland and Wisconsin all went 1-1 against each other, but Northwestern would be the only school of these three to earn a victory against Purdue, so Northwestern would be the four seed. Since Wisconsin beat Maryland, Wisconsin would be the five seed and Maryland would lose every tie breaker if all four of these teams finish with the same record.
Takeaway: Winning is the only cure for Maryland to get the three seed. If the Terps lose to the Spartans on Saturday, Maryland will fall in the standings.