I was just poking around the internet, looking at various things and I have a couple interesting observations about the Big Ten landscape:
1) As pointed out elsewhere, ESPN and pretty much everyone else has MSU solidly in the Tournament at around an 8 or 9 seed. In general the Bracket Project is a great reference for this
One stat I like to track throughout the season is the "+/-" for each team, which is this context is road wins (+) minus home losses (-). At the end of the year, this translates to games above or below 500, but it normalizes things a bit at earlier points in the season. The +/- rating highlights some interesting facts:
2) The only team currently with a +/- over 1 is oddly enough, Northwestern, who has 3 road wins (at PSU, Nebraska, and Rutgers) and 1 home loss (to Minnesota). Incidentally, the Bracket Project also has the Wildcats in the tournament as an 8-ish seed. I am sure that most here realize that the Wildcats are the ONLY power 5 program to have never played in the NCAA Tournament.
3) Five teams have a +/- of 1: MSU, Wisconsin, Maryland, Minnesota, and Nebraska.
4) Only two teams are at -2 in +/-: Rutgers and Indiana. But, Indiana is also currently an 8 or 9 seeds by most accounts.
5) Despite Wisconsin's 14-3 record, they are 0-3 against the RPI Top 50. Only Rutgers shares the distinction of no Top 50 wins and only Iowa and OSU have just 1.
6) If one were to rank Big Ten teams by RPI right now, it would be an odd list: Minnesota (14), Maryland (22), Purdue (32), Wisconsin (37), MSU (39), Northwestern (41), Illinois (44), and Nebraska (46) are the teams in the Top 50. Illinois in the Top 50 is odd, and since MSU already holds wins over Minnesota and Northwestern, if helps us if they keep winning.
In general, good luck sorting this conference out this year. It is going to continue to be a wild ride.
1) As pointed out elsewhere, ESPN and pretty much everyone else has MSU solidly in the Tournament at around an 8 or 9 seed. In general the Bracket Project is a great reference for this
One stat I like to track throughout the season is the "+/-" for each team, which is this context is road wins (+) minus home losses (-). At the end of the year, this translates to games above or below 500, but it normalizes things a bit at earlier points in the season. The +/- rating highlights some interesting facts:
2) The only team currently with a +/- over 1 is oddly enough, Northwestern, who has 3 road wins (at PSU, Nebraska, and Rutgers) and 1 home loss (to Minnesota). Incidentally, the Bracket Project also has the Wildcats in the tournament as an 8-ish seed. I am sure that most here realize that the Wildcats are the ONLY power 5 program to have never played in the NCAA Tournament.
3) Five teams have a +/- of 1: MSU, Wisconsin, Maryland, Minnesota, and Nebraska.
4) Only two teams are at -2 in +/-: Rutgers and Indiana. But, Indiana is also currently an 8 or 9 seeds by most accounts.
5) Despite Wisconsin's 14-3 record, they are 0-3 against the RPI Top 50. Only Rutgers shares the distinction of no Top 50 wins and only Iowa and OSU have just 1.
6) If one were to rank Big Ten teams by RPI right now, it would be an odd list: Minnesota (14), Maryland (22), Purdue (32), Wisconsin (37), MSU (39), Northwestern (41), Illinois (44), and Nebraska (46) are the teams in the Top 50. Illinois in the Top 50 is odd, and since MSU already holds wins over Minnesota and Northwestern, if helps us if they keep winning.
In general, good luck sorting this conference out this year. It is going to continue to be a wild ride.
