ADVERTISEMENT

Schedule the rest of the way

There is a high potential for another chaotic final standings situation this year. As of right now 9 teams are still able to get the double bye. Some possibilities:

A 7-way tie for 2nd place at 11-9, where Wisconsin is the 2nd seed, Iowa 3rd, Illinois 6th, NU 7th and MSU 8th
A 7-way tie for 3rd place at 10-10, where Iowa is the 4th seed and NU is 9th
A 5-way tie for 4th place at 10-10, where NU is the 3rd seed, Rutgers is 4th, and MSU is 8th, along with a 4-way tie for 9th place at 9-11, where Iowa is 12th
A 6-way tie for 4th place at 10-10, where NU is the 3rd seed, Iowa is 4th, Penn State is 5th, Wisconsin is 8th, MSU is 11th and Maryland is 13th
An 8-way tie for 6th place at 9-11, where Indiana is the 6th seed, OSU is 9th and Rutgers is 13th
I'm not saying you've looked at every scenario, but if NU somehow loses out, the worst I see above is a ninth seed, so that's at least one bye.

I kinda want the 7-way tie for second place, just because of chaos, except it means NU is way down at seven.
 
I'm not saying you've looked at every scenario, but if NU somehow loses out, the worst I see above is a ninth seed, so that's at least one bye.

I kinda want the 7-way tie for second place, just because of chaos, except it means NU is way down at seven.
I'm fairly certain that with Penn State's loss last night, there is no scenario that has us playing on the first day. I think 10th is the worst we can do right now if we lose out. That would be a 6-way tie for 5th at 10-10 with Iowa as the 5th seed, Rutgers 6th, and us 10th. In doing so, we would be 4-4 against the top 4 seeds, 5-0 against the bottom 4 seeds, and 1-6 against the middle seeds.
 
There is a high potential for another chaotic final standings situation this year. As of right now 9 teams are still able to get the double bye. Some possibilities:

A 7-way tie for 2nd place at 11-9, where Wisconsin is the 2nd seed, Iowa 3rd, Illinois 6th, NU 7th and MSU 8th
A 7-way tie for 3rd place at 10-10, where Iowa is the 4th seed and NU is 9th
A 5-way tie for 4th place at 10-10, where NU is the 3rd seed, Rutgers is 4th, and MSU is 8th, along with a 4-way tie for 9th place at 9-11, where Iowa is 12th
A 6-way tie for 4th place at 10-10, where NU is the 3rd seed, Iowa is 4th, Penn State is 5th, Wisconsin is 8th, MSU is 11th and Maryland is 13th
A 6-way tie for 5th place at 10-10, where Iowa is the 5th seed, Rutgers 6th, and NU 10th.
An 8-way tie for 6th place at 9-11, where Indiana is the 6th seed, OSU is 9th and Rutgers is 13th
This makes my head hurt
 
  • Like
Reactions: IGNORE2
The Big Ten schedule forward is pretty interesting.
Smelly's table at the top of the thread is great!

Illinois (11-5) hosts Minnesota, plays at Wisconsin, hosts Purdue and then at Iowa.
Wisconsin (10-7) hosts Illinois, hosts Rutgers, plays at Purdue
Nebraska (10-7) plays at Ohio State, hosts Rutgers, then at Michigan
Michigan State (9-8) plays at Purdue, hosts NU, then at Indiana.
Minnesota (8-8) plays at Illinois, hosts Penn State and Indiana, then plays at NU.
Iowa (9-9) plays at NU, has a break, then hosts Illinois
Northwestern (10-6) plays at Maryland, hosts Iowa, plays at MSU, then hosts Minnesota.

There are a bunch of critical games. Unfortunately for NU, Iowa faces a must-win game in Evanston.
Michigan State will probably be 9-9 and desperate when NU rolls into East Lansing.
Minnesota seems likely to be 10-9 and desperate when they play their season finale in Evanston.

Nebraska and Illinois should get at least 12 wins, with Illinois maybe even getting to 14, but they close with 3 challenging games.
Wisconsin should be either 12-8 or 11-9.
It looks like quite a few teams could end up at 11-9, with fingers crossed.
We do not want to be one of them.
Prediction time:
NU 13-7
Neb 12-8
Ill 12-8
Wis 12-8
MSU 11-9
Iowa 10-10
Minn 10-10

Purple-hued glasses a little bit on that top one, but otherwise, I think this is realistic. Illinois has a really tough last three games.
 
I know all hope is lost, but...with Illinois losing tonight, it's still technically possible for NU to get second place. They just have to win their last two games and for Iowa to win (at home) against Illinois. Hey, it's POSSIBLE.
 
  • Like
Reactions: NUinIowafan
I hope this chart looks ok. In case you were wondering who was playing, when, and where, among the teams competing with Northwestern for seeding in the Big Ten, here you go. I only included teams with seven or more wins, as I hope teams with six wins just aren't going to catch NU at this point.

Purdue
Illinois
Northwestern
Nebraska
Wisconsin
Iowa
Michigan St.
Minnesota
15-3
13-6
11-7
11-8
10-8
10-9
9-9
9-9
2/20
Maryland (W)
at Michigan St. (W)
Iowa (L)
2/21
at Penn St. (L)
at Indiana (W)
2/22
Rutgers (W)
Michigan (W)
Ohio St. (W)
2/24
Iowa (W)
at Illinois (L)
2/25
at Michigan (W)
Minnesota (W)
Ohio St. (L)
at Nebraska (L)
2/27
at Indiana (L)
Penn St. (W)
2/28
Minnesota (W)
at Maryland (W)
at Illinois (L)
2/29
at Ohio St. (L)
3/2
Michigan St. (W)
at Wisconsin (W)
Iowa (L)
Illinois (L)
at Northwestern (W)
at Purdue (L)
Penn St. (W)
3/3
Rutgers (W)
3/5
at Illinois (W)
Purdue (L)
3/6
at Michigan St.
Northwestern
Indiana
3/7
Rutgers
3/9
Minnesota
at Northwestern
3/10
Wisconsin
at Iowa
at Michigan
at Purdue
Illinois
at Indiana
 
Purdue is at 16-3 now w 1 game left against wi. Chart still shows 15-3. No biggie just happened to notice. Great chart. I look
At this every day! Fingers crossed for two more NU wins before big 10 tournament
 
  • Like
Reactions: NUCat320
Purdue is at 16-3 now w 1 game left against wi. Chart still shows 15-3. No biggie just happened to notice. Great chart. I look at this every day! Fingers crossed for two more NU wins before big 10 tournament
Thanks. It's fixed now. Glad you're enjoying it.
 
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest posts

ADVERTISEMENT