Penn State’s upset of Illinois moves Nittany Lions up in Big Ten basketball tournament seeding
We are at the point in the college basketball regular season where seeding in the NCAA tournament is beginning to come into much more focus, but first comes the conference tournaments. Penn State’s chances of playing in the NCAA tournament are still far-fetched at this late stage, but Penn State did manage to do themselves some real good in the Big Ten tournament picture with their comeback victory over the Illini on Wednesday.
Penn State came into the home game against Illinois in one of the Big Ten’s bottom four seeds, which would have them playing on the first day of the Big Ten men’s basketball tournament. But one win against Illinois jumped Penn State out of the bottom four and up two pivotal spots in the overall Big Ten seeding.
If the season were to end today, Penn State would be the no. 9 seed in the Big Ten tournament and would play Iowa in the second round of the conference tournament. The winner of that matchup would then go on to face Purdue in the quarterfinals. Penn State won the first regular season meeting between the two schools earlier in February. Penn State visits Iowa next week in a game that could be important for Big Ten tournament seeding purposes.
Iowa has the unenviable task of visiting Illinois on Saturday. Illinois picking up a rebound win against the Hawkeyes would continue to help Penn State in the standings. Iowa also has to play Illinois twice in their final four games. Iowa also plays a game at Northwestern, one of the top four seeds in the Big Ten standings at the moment.
Penn State still has work to do, of course. The Nittany Lions have to take care of their own business to avoid falling back into the bottom four seeds, which can happen quickly. Next up for Penn State is a home game against Indiana this Saturday. A home win over the Hoosiers paired with an Iowa loss to Illinois would move Penn State up into the no. 8 seed and make it a little more difficult to slip back into the bottom four seeds. The previously mentioned road game at Iowa will still be a concern, and Penn State has to overcome its road demons with a trip to Minnesota. Penn State dropped the previous meeting with the Gophers, who are currently the no. 7 seed in the Big Ten standings.
Penn State also closes out the regular season at home against Maryland. The Terrapins are currently in the bottom four of the Big Ten standings. That regular season finale could potentially be a game to determine which team plays in the first round of the conference tournament.
The top four seeds in the Big Ten tournament receive a double-bye and do not have to play a game until the quarterfinals. The no. 5 through no. 10 seeds all get a first-round bye. The bottom four seeds are paired against each other on the first day of the tournament.
You can see the updated Big Ten men’s basketball tournament seeding right here.
This year’s Big Ten basketball tournament will take place from March 13 through March 17 in the Target Center in Minneapolis, MN.
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