WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!! YEAH!!!

Stuff. Of. Legends.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

Gotta be the shoes!

Most likely…..(barring a homes loss by osu or wisc) we are locked into the 7 seed and will play Iowa who is locked into the 10 seed… If we can beat Iowa the #2 seed could be psu( if they win @ iowa and purdue loses @msu) Purdue (if they beat msu) or Illinois ( if purdue loses @ msu and psu loses @ iowa).

Either way I won’t rule out a saturday appearance for us if we play inspired bball! Good win Boys!

If Northwestern beats OSU we get the 6 seed and Indiana in the first round, correct?

I think that’s correct. Go back to some past comments on articles. People posted tie-breaker scenarios during the week.

Not likely, if we get into a 3 way tie with minn and osu…osu (is 3-1 vs mich and minn)…we are (2-2 vs osu and minn) and minn (is 1-3 vs mich and osu)…osu would still have the tie breaker which leaves us in the 7 spot…….I really don;t know a way that we get out of the 7 spot right now to be honest.

I don’t want to play Indiana… Just a recipe for disaster to play Indiana in Indianapolis IMO. Also the one truly bad loss that you could have in the BTT.

Big time game by LLP…he brought us back…Manny and Sims delivered when it counted…and thank you Tubby–I bet he feels like a loser…GREAT WIN for this program! GO BLUE!!!

Actually…add in NW and osu would be 4-2 and we would also be 4-2…so you could be right…..sorry forgot that a NW win would make a 4-way tie….you may be correct BJ.

Per Andy:

Scenario #1. UM beats Minn, NU beats OSU

UM 4-2
OSU 3-3
NW 3-3
Minn 2-4

Seeds are UM = 6, NW = 7 (via the win vs. MSU), OSU = 8, Minn = 9.

Scenario #2. UM beats Minn, OSU beats NW

Seeds are OSU = 6, UM = 7 (via head to head with Minn), Minn = 8, NW = 9.

Scenario #3. Minn beats UM, NU beats OSU

Seeds are Minn = 6, NU = 7 (via beating MSU), OSU = 8, UM = 9.

Scenario #4. Minn beats UM, OSU beats NU

Seeds are OSU = 6 (via win over PSU, but this is complicated), Minn = 7, UM = 8, NW = 9.

LLP was amazing – totally in a zone!

With 13:50 left on the clock, Johnson dunks over Novak to give the Gophers a 12 point lead. I had pretty much lost hope at that point. The play was a perfect example of why we were losing. Too much size and too many mismatches. Not to mention they were shooting 80% and never missed a free throw. How we came out on top has to be one of the most clutch performances in our school history. It’s really fun to disect the video on this one. I pray you have DVR.

KRIS- yea thats right…I must have missed something with not having NW be that high….good thing we have ANDY!

I know Ken, I wish i did have dvr…i don’t know what to do right now!!!

i completely agree dylan. iu has been looking too good lately (at least for them) and if for some reason we blow a first round game i think we still get in with a loss to iowa.

plus i know that the committee says they don’t pay attention to conferences and stuff like that, but i think it just looks a lot better if the team that swept us finishes ahead of us, northwestern finishes out of the picture, and the team we are tied with we swept.

Could the loss at Iowa have been a blessing in disguise? If we come into this game at 9-8 rather than 8-9, I don’t think we play with the same sense of urgency. I like a win at Minny much better than a win at Iowa, especially because it’s fresh on the minds of the committee.

Also, I would root for NW tomorrow if their RPI was somewhere in the 50s – a win by them would likely give us 8 wins against Top 50 teams, which would be the most by far among bubble teams (NW would probably be the closest with 7). But it looks like it will take a whole lot for NW to sneak into the Top 50… so I guess I’m not going to be rooting for either team.

what a difference a little more talent makes. llp at his best is better than most of the others on this team at their best. [i am not saying that llp should not have had his minutes cut earlier---he really did not play well in many conference games this season.]

New RPI is 40. Minnesota at 42.

I’m still shocked that we pulled it out. Just a phenomenal game by LLP, and some great plays by Manny down the stretch helped us take over the Barn. If Penn State somehow gets the 2-seed, I see no reason for us not to make it to Saturday. At this point, if we just keep playin inspired basketball, we can beat anyone in the Big Ten except for probably MSU and Wisco. So let’s go get a few victories to secure our spot in the big dance!

In bubble news outside the conference, Cincinnati lost to Seton Hall in OT at home, basically ending any chance they had.

Florida is up 9 at the half on Kentucky. If that holds, Kentucky is done, plus Florida still has a little work to do.

BC barely beat Georgia Tech (won by 1) and Miami needed a 2nd-half comeback to beat NC State.

UMASS up on Rhode Island at half. If UMASS holds on, Rhode Island’s at-large chance is dead.

Texas A&M is destroying Mizzou. If they don’t choke, they will likely be in the tournament.

South Carolina is only up by 4 at the half on Georgia. If Georgia can find a way to come back, South Carolina’s at-large chances are basically dead.

GO BLUE! What a game! Turned on BTN during halftime of the PSU/Iowa game and Tim Doyle thinks we are officially in now. During the preseason, he was the only analyst I heard say Michigan will make it to the NCAA Tournament. One more win and he will for sure be correct.

Let’s see how much farther up we can get with other teams losing.

My guess is we’ll pull a 10-seed in Lunardi’s bracket on Monday, as well as many of the other brackets out there.

A 7/10 matchup with West Virginia in the first round of the NCAA Tournament is VERY POSSIBLE at this point.

Good stuff IX. Keep it coming, you should be doing my job.

michigan can beat anybody in the country if they are on point w/ threes and play “inspired” defense, let alone mich st and wisconsin……..that just isnt always the case

I had to work today and missed the game.

Just read all 270 game comments.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

10-22 to the verge of the tourney. In Beilein We Trust.

Great heart, great hustle, great work. Anyone have any idea when the ]V[ bus will get back to AA? It would be sweet if there was a crowd to welcome the boys back and celebrate their great regular season finish.

Still have a little work to do, but for now It’s Great to be a Michigan Wolverine!

Just popped a bottle of bubbly! 10 years of futile fandom is over!!! Cheers!!

Kenstradomus said:

“This might be a little off the topic, but you heard this prediction here first: At the end of their respective careers at Michigan, Eso Akunne will have contributed more to the team than LLP. Lock it in.”

Considering LLP may have just punched our ticket, I am no longer allowed to make baseless predictions nor say anything derogatory about LLP ever again.

Wow what an unbelivably clutch performance today by the team and especially llp. Someone earlier in the week asked for someone unexpected (like llp) to have like 16 points off the bench so whoever that was props! As always Dylan and everyone on this blog great work. There are very useful and insightful things being said. I think we are in regardless of what happens in the BTT but I’d like to be the 7 seed and play iowa and psu/purdue. We can make it to sat!

So are we rooting for PSU or Iowa? If PSU wins we could see them in the 2nd round of the BTT, if they lose then our loss at Iowa doesn’t look as bad. I still think PSU is in either way.

haha

You’d have to think Michigan is *safely* in compared to some of these other bubble teams like Oklahoma State, South Carolina, UNLV, St. Mary’s, etc.

i personally think wins by psu and osu make the conference look stronger and help our chances despite what that means for BTT or iowa or northwestern’s rpis

I’m sure this has already been answered, but would a win by Iowa here possibly put them into the top 100?

Highly doubt it. They would need to climb 17 spots and PSU’s RPI is not that good.

I’m really doubtful they would jump the 15 spots they would need to be top 100, but it’s irrelevant as long as we beat them in the BTT because they would drop below 100. So for us, it doesn’t help to have Iowa win.

Unbelievable season thus far. Very proud of this team, and the best is yet to come. Beilein is a genius, period. And I do think his recruiting will only improve over the coming years. All of a sudden, with a tourney bid, practice facility, and a great in-state ’11 class on the horizon, this program has some serious momentum.

Yea, Iowa would only climb 5 or so spots. They are up on PSU with a few minutes to go.

We are definetly ahead of most of the bubble teams. Come Monday, we will be better than a Last Four In.

well this is ridiculous. who is watching the psu game?

This is an epic choke by Iowa. Wow.

Yeah, Penn State up 2 with 34.1 seconds left.

This choke job is right up there with the Knicks when Reggie Miller hit those three 3 pointers.

Penn State/Iowa going to OT.

me, wow it is unreal PSU gets soo lucky

Couldn’t DVR the game so I read through the comments of the last post. Pretty funny how despondent everyone got. And I was right there too.

Time to savor.

haha iowa getting no love from the refs

I would prefer PSU because a win by them and an MSU win tomorrow gives PSU the 2 seed. If we beat Iowa (assuming we get them), I’d much rather face PSU than Illinois or Purdue in the second round.

Iowa up 64-61 with 1:28 left in OT. Jake Kelly 3-pointer off the glass about a minute ago, lucky shot.

Rhode Island loses at the buzzer to UMass!

Double overtime in Iowa City.

UMASS just beat Rhode Island with a layup at the buzzer!!! Rhode Island was on the bubble and will only get in the tournament now if they win their conference tournament. HUGE for us!

Dang Dylan how do you beat me with all this news? Huge loss for Rhode Island… good news because most of the other bubble teams are winning today.

so how come peedi gets no mention for b10 player of the year? the guy has some of the best moves in the conference and really has been rock solid consistent this year. what are his numbers in our wins vs. rpi top 50 teams?

god i hate baulwinkle

Happy they pulled this out, BUT Coach Beilein please cut Novaks minutes down when hes gettin abused being out of position defensively. On O..Novak coming off that curl screen refuses to put the ball on the floor and act like hes looking to go towards the basket. He has a nice J, take 2 dribbles pull up mid range or dish. Plus hes gettin abused on D being undersized

Didn’t check if anyone mentioned it yet, but Florida defeated Kentucky, so Kentucky is officially dead. If Florida can lose early in the SEC tournament that’ll knock them out.

This game is ridiculous. Taylor Battle for Big Ten player of the year?

All I have to say is hell yes! I’m having a celebratory drink right now. Go Blue baby. What a huge win. I never lost hope. Thank you LLP, and great heart by everyone. Go Blue!

OK — I think that was the most ridiculous shot of the Big Ten season. Jake Kelly is out of control.

Jake Kelly is unreal!

I still count two scenarios where UM could get the 8 seed in the BTT – only happens if PSU finishes ahead of Purdue, so go Iowa!

right kelly

Kelly could be scary in the first round of the BTT, but I think our guys will have a lot of motivation to get revenge for the loss a couple weeks ago.

That is an absolutely devastating loss for Penn State. They are definitely back on the bubble. Jake Kelly played a hell of a game but so did Talor Battle. Triple double I believe, I think he takes the Big Ten scoring title from Manny too.

Where are my tiebreaker guys at? What happens now that we are down to 3 Big Ten games left?

Talor Battle is Big Ten MVP, no question about it. He is the reason PSU is going to the tournament.

Maryland up by 1 on Virginia at half
New Mex Wyoming tied at half

Also, who do we want to win tonight UNLV @ San Diego St.?

Amazing win today!!

I’m working on the tie-breakers. I’ll post them when I finish figuring out all of them.

UNLV since they’re more in the tournament than SD State right now.

Yep, definitely UNLV. They’ve got a great profile with 4 Top 25 wins.

we finish first in the tiebreak between us osu minny and nu

Michigan is #7 unless Northwestern beats OSU and Wisconsin beats IU, in which case UM is #6.

ill swept purdue.

wisconsin swept psu so would win that if osu loses and when wisc wins

if osu wins it goes wisco, osu, psu

So we’re basically playing either Iowa or Indiana… which I don’t mind, since it can be tough to beat a team 3 times in a season (especially a quirky one like NW).

Highley agreed Kjay. Cant say enough about JB. What a job he has done in raising the level of skill in theses guys, particularily with our supporting cast around Manny, and Peedi. Did not expect the performance from LLP today. I think with more time in this program he can really round out his game and be a more conisitant threat. What a breakthrough for us. Quenched an 11 or whatever drought from the dance, and yes, with getting into the tournament, new facilities, a solid class coming in to help with our size deficiency, and lack of a scoring PG (no offense to CJ) JB has us well on our way. I think we did an amazing job of keeping our composure when we were down. We just ran our stuff, stayed patient on the offensive side, and made Minn play defense for much of the shotclock.
HUGE win for this program.
GO BLUE!!

1. MSU 2. ILL 3. PU 4. WISC 5. OSU 6. PSU 7. MICH 8. MINN 9. NU 10. IOWA 11. IU if osu wins

1. MSU 2. ILL 3. PU 4. WISC 5. PSU 6. MICH 7. OSU 8. NU 9. MINN 10. IOWA 11. IU if northwestern wins

lets just assume iu loses

Here’s what I’ve got – YMMV:

#1 MSU
#2 Illinois if MSU beats PU, otherwise PU
#3 PU if MSU beats PU, otherwise lliniois
#4 UW if UW beats IU. OSU if OSU beats NU and IU beats UW. PSU if NU beats OSU and UI beats UW
#5 OSU if UW beats IU and OSU beats NW. PSU if IU beats UW or NU beats OSU, but not both. UW if NU beats OSU and IU beats UW.
#6 PSU if UW and OSU both win. UW if they lose and OSU wins. Michigan if UW wins and OSU loses. NU if OSU and UW both lose.
#7 NU if they and UW both win, otherwise Michigan.
#8 OSU if they lose and UW wins, otherwise Minnesota.
#9 OSU if they lose and UW loses. Minnesota if OSU loses and UW wins. Otherwise, NU.
#10 Iowa
#11 Indiana

yeah purdue can finish 2nd with a win

Back to our win today – looking at the box score, this win has “Beilein” written all over it. We get outrebounded by a ridiculous margin (30-13), give up tons of easy baskets down low (Iowa shoots 67% on 2-pointers), but knock down 9-22 threes and win the turnover battle 9 to 18.

Forgive the naive question as I don’t follow basketball that much. Just UM. Has the SEC fallen that far that an 8-8 Kentucky team is out or a 9-7 Florida team is fighting for its life? I thought that conference was nearly as magical in basketball as it is supposed to be in football. What a strange season. Kentucky out and the mighty Blue in. Wow.

Kentucky is officially dead. Their losses are terrible, VMI and Georgia (both at home). Those are the only ones I know off the top of my head. They flat out suck!

The SEC in general is terrible this year. Only LSU and Tennesse deserve to get in. The best seed anyone in the SEC will get is a 5, 4 if their commish whines about it during the selection process (since he is the head of the committee this year).

Thanks, IX. What a strange but great season. I don’t think any of us thought NCAA’s back in November when the season was just starting. We have to be at least 1-2 years ahead of schedule.

Tim Doyle was the only one who predicted it, he knows all!

Not to be a Debbie Downer here, but I’m not a big fan of all the we’re a lock talk. Nobody has given us a bid yet, so let’s not create any bad karma for ourselves. I hope to god that the team isn’t as confident as we are, because they have some more games to play. That being said, I think we deserve the bid regardless of what happens. GO BLUE!!

I have the list of eight possible scenarios done, but I’m not able to post it. Like I post it, but then it disappears.

I’ll try posting it in parts because its really long.

There are eight scenarios with the three games left. Below are them. Michigan State is #1, Iowa is #10 and Indiana is #11 in all scenarios.

A: Wisconsin, Michigan State, Ohio State win.
B: Wisconsin, Michigan State, Northwestern win.
C: Wisconsin, Purdue, Ohio State win.
D: Wisconsin, Purdue, Northwestern win.
E: Indiana, Michigan State, Ohio State win.
F: Indiana, Michigan State, Northwestern win.
G: Indiana, Purdue, Ohio State win.
H: Indiana, Purdue, Northwestern win.

Scenario A:
2. Illinois: 11-7
3. Purdue: 11-7
4. Wisconsin: 10-8
5. Ohio State: 10-8
6. Penn State: 10-8
7. Michigan: 9-9
8. Minnesota: 9-9
9. Northwestern: 8-10

Notes: Illinois has the head to head over Purdue for #2. Wisconsin is 3-0 against the other two, Ohio State is 1-1 and Penn State is 0-3. Michigan has the head to head over Minnesota.

Scenario B:
2. Illinois: 11-7
3. Purdue: 11-7
4. Wisconsin: 10-8
5. Penn State: 10-8
6. Michigan: 9-9
7. Northwestern: 9-9
8. Ohio State: 9-9
9. Minnesota: 9-9

Notes: Illinois and Wisconsin have the tie breakers because of head to head over Purdue and Penn State respectively. For the four way tie for #6 to #9, Michigan is 4-2 vs the other three, Ohio State and Northwestern are both 3-3, and Minnesota is 2-4. Northwestern would have the tie-breaker over Ohio State because they beat Michigan State once while Ohio State did not.

Scenario C:
2. Purdue: 12-6
3. Illinois: 11-7
4. Wisconsin: 10-8
5. Ohio State: 10-8
6. Penn State: 10-8
7. Michigan: 9-9
8. Minnesota: 9-9
9. Northwestern: 8-10

Notes: Wisconsin is 3-0 against the other two, Ohio State is 1-1 and Penn State is 0-3. Michigan has the head to head over Minnesota.

Scenario D:
2. Purdue: 12-5
3. Illinois: 11-7
4. Wisconsin: 10-8
5. Penn State: 10-8
6. Michigan: 9-9
7. Northwestern: 9-9
8. Ohio State: 9-9
9. Minnesota: 9-9

Notes: Wisconsin has the tie breaker because of head to head over Penn State. For the four way tie for #6 to #9, Michigan is 4-2 vs the other three, Ohio State and Northwestern are both 3-3, and Minnesota is 2-4. Northwestern would have the tie-breaker over Ohio State because they beat Michigan State once while Ohio State did not.

Scenario E:
2. Illinois: 11-7
3. Purdue: 11-7
4. Ohio State: 10-8
5. Penn State: 10-8
6. Michigan: 9-9
7. Minnesota: 9-9
8. Wisconsin: 9-9
9. Northwestern: 8-10

Notes: Illinois has the head to head tiebreaker over Purdue for #2 and Ohio State has the head to head tiebreaker over Penn State for #4. For the three way tie for #6 to #8, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota are all 2-2 against each other. The next tiebreaker is record against the first place team and so on. None beat Michigan State, so it would go to the record against Illinois. All three teams were 1-1 vs Illinois, so it would go to record against Purdue. Michigan beat Purdue once and the others didn’t, so they would be #6. Head to head would then be used for Minnesota and Wisconsin, which Minnesota has.

Scenario F:
2. Illinois: 11-7
3. Purdue: 11-7
4. Penn State: 10-8
5. Wisconsin: 9-9
6. Northwestern: 9-9
7. Michigan: 9-9
8. Minnesota: 9-9
9. Ohio State: 9-9

Notes: Illinois would have the head to head over Purdue for #2. For the five way tie, Wisconsin was 4-3 vs the other teams, making them the #5, while Ohio State was 3-4, putting them at #9. For the other three teams, it goes to record against the #1 team, Michigan State. Northwestern has a win, putting them at #6. Michigan has the head to head over Minnesota, putting them at #7.

Scenario G:
2. Purdue: 12-6
3. Illinois: 11-7
4. Ohio State: 10-8
5. Penn State: 10-8
6. Michigan: 9-9
7. Minnesota: 9-9
8. Wisconsin: 9-9
9. Northwestern 8-10

Notes: Ohio State has the tiebreaker because of head to head over Penn State. For the three way tie for #6 to #8, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota are all 2-2 against each other. The next tiebreaker is record against the first place team and so on. None beat Michigan State, so it would go to the record against Illinois. All three teams were 1-1 vs Illinois, so it would go to record against Purdue. Michigan beat Purdue once and the others didn’t, so they would be #6. Head to head would then be used for Minnesota and Wisconsin, which Minnesota has.

Scenario H:
2. Purdue: 12-6
3. Illinois: 11-7
4. Penn State: 10-8
5. Wisconsin: 9-9
6. Northwestern: 9-9
7. Michigan: 9-9
8. Minnesota: 9-9
9. Ohio State: 9-9

Notes: For the five way tie, Wisconsin was 4-3 vs the other teams, making them the #5, while Ohio State was 3-4, putting them at #9. For the other three teams, it goes to record against the #1 team, Michigan State. Northwestern has a win, putting them at #6. Michigan has the head to head over Minnesota, putting them at #7.

If any of these are wrong please let me know. Thanks. All of the scenarios are listed in the first post.

Whoa, redwings, good stuff.

Virginia 68, Maryland 63 FINAL!!!

Ken, you’re not being Eeyore at all. We do need to be realistic. We lose to Iowa or Indiana Thursday and we may drop out. We do need to win that first game if it is them. Lose to any of the others and we should be ok.

But I won’t begrudge myself the partying today. It was a huge win and for those people who bashed Beilein the whole game, when was Amaker’s last big win? If I remember that bad dream, we usually came into the B10 season 11-2 or something like that and cratered the last 10 games in a row to get lucky to get the NIT. I don’t remember a season where Amaker’s team had to win 2 of 3 against 3 real tough opponents and did it. Just sayin’.

Wow IX, that Michigan basketball hating god must have taken a long vacation to Bermuda. It’s strange how nearly everything that had to go Michigan’s way this last week did.

I guess to sum up the week, we’ll steal a line from Milhouse on the Simpsons “Hoo boy! Everything’s coming up Michigan!!!”

yup!

Go blue! Huge win… Wit psu losing r they still in? Some people think they’re out. I still think they’re in tho…

Jeez. Do u see the creighton score? They’re are getting run out of the gym by Illinois state. That can’t be good.

[...] Redwings8831 did a great job in the comments of breaking down the tiebreakers for the Big Ten tournament. Michigan can get either the 6 seed [...]

Great job, Redwings – I screwed up the Wisconsin 9-9 tiebreakers.

So, to correct my post above:

#6 PSU if UW and OSU both win. NU if OSU and UW both lose. Otherwise, Michigan.
#7 UW if they lose and NU wins. NU if they win and UW wins. Otherwise, Michigan.

redwings – awesome work there. Really interesting.