The B1G could realistically get 10 teams in this year which is crazy. Did some serious work in the non conference schedule.
The Big Ten both had some very good performances in OOC play, and has 2 teams way below the rest of the conference (Rutgers and Illinois) that will likely both have a ton of losses in conference play so the other 12 teams can be way above .500 combined. This will likely result in the median team being at or above .500 in conference play and possibly several teams just barely below .500 in conference play. Combined with strong OOC resumes, those 9-11 ish sort of teams would almost all be likely to get in the tourney.
It's sort of a perfect storm for getting a lot of teams in the tourney this year.