The college basketball season is off to an exciting start. Through six weeks we have seen many intriguing matchups and down to the wire games.
Early in the season it’s apparent that the Big Ten has at least one national title contender. Purdue has looked fantastic as evidenced by its 92-84 victory over Arizona on Saturday and reclaiming of the No. 1 ranking.
The Boilermakers are the clear frontrunners in the Big Ten currently but the conference projects to be very competitive with 12 of the 14 teams currently sitting in the top 100 of the Basketball Power Index (BPI). Seven of those teams are currently projected to be amongst the field of 68 in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament in March by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi and his venerable “Bracketology.”
Lunardi has been one of the go-to analysts in college basketball for many years and on Tuesday he updated his predictions for who would make the big dance from the Big Ten.
Purdue Boilermakers (10-1)
Bracketology Breakdown
Seeding | No. 1 – Midwest Region (Indianapolis)
Opponent | No. 16 seed (winner of Southern vs. Merrimack)
The season so far
Loss(es) | at Northwestern
Best Win(s) | Arizona, Marquette, Tennessee, Gonzaga
Illinois Fighting Illini (8-2)
Bracketology Breakdown
Seeding | No. 3 – South Region (Memphis)
Opponent | No. 14 seed Colgate
The season so far
Loss(es) | Marquette, at Tennessee
Best Win(s) | FAU, at Rutgers
Wisconsin Badgers (8-3)
Bracketology Breakdown
Seeding | No. 4 – East Region (Brooklyn)
Opponent | No. 13 seed Akron
The season so far
Loss(es) | Tennessee, at Providence, at Arizona
Best Win(s) | Virginia, Marquette, at Michigan State
Ohio State Buckeyes (9-2)
Bracketology Breakdown
Seeding | No. 7 – Midwest Region (Indianapolis)
Opponent | No. 10 seed Mississippi State
The season so far
Loss(es) | Texas A&M, at Penn State
Best Win(s) | Alabama, UCLA
Northwestern Wildcats (8-2)
Bracketology Breakdown
Seeding | No. 9 – West Region (Salt Lake City)
Opponent | No. 8 seed Texas
The season so far
Loss(es) | Chicago State, Mississippi State
Best Win(s) | Purdue, Dayton
Nebraska Cornhuskers (9-2)
Bracketology Breakdown
Seeding | No. 11 – East Region (Charlotte)
Opponent | No. 11 seed Nevada (Winner plays No. 6 Alabama)
The season so far
Loss(es) | UConn, Auburn, Kansas
Best Win(s) | Maryland, at Michigan
Losses: Creighton, @ Minnesota
Best Wins: Michigan State, @ Kansas State
Indiana Hoosiers (8-3)
Michigan State (6-5) - First team out
Bracketology Breakdown
The season so far
Loss(es) | James Madison, Duke, Arizona, Wisconsin, at Nebraska
Best Win(s) | Baylor, Butler
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