How Indiana can win or lose a berth the B1G Tournament
by Carl James • @jovian34 • May 21st, 2022
The top eight teams in the B1G Standings by winning percentage earn a berth the B1G Tournament which starts on Wednesday in Omaha, Nebraska. Saturday’s games will conclude the regular season. Indiana and Iowa wrap their series at 9pm ET on ESPNU. This gives the Hoosiers the advantage of know whether a win will be necessary to earn that final bid. The good news for Indiana is that for the Hoosiers to not make the B1G Tournament as of Saturday morning all four of the following would have to happen on the last day:
- Michigan State defeats Nebraska in Lincoln
- Purdue either beats no. 15 Maryland in West Lafayette or the game is rained out as the forecast does not look promising
- Northwestern bests Minnesota in Minneapolis
- Iowa completes a sweep of Indiana in Iowa City
Results updated 11:12pm ET
***INDIANA CLINCHES B1G TOURNEY BERTH***:
- Michigan State at Nebraska (Nebraska wins 10-9)
- no. 15 Maryland at Purdue (Game cancelled for storms – Purdue clinches spot)
- Northwestern at Minnesota (Northwestern wins 8-5)
- Indiana at Iowa (Iowa wins 2-1)
The reason for this is that the best Nebraska and Northwestern can do (down a game) is tie Indiana. Indiana holds the two-team tiebreaker over Nebraska and a three-team tiebreaker with Nebraska and Northwestern. What Indiana does not have is the two team tiebreaker with Northwestern. If Purdue avoids a sweep today they would pass Indiana for seventh place. If only Northwestern ties Indiana for eighth place, Northwestern takes the last slot via the two-team tiebreaker.
I will update the B1G Standings throughout the day as games are concluded and update this page with results of the four games listed above.