Notable Games & Discussion 1/26/2010

• Azubuike24

  

  Minnesota got a big win over Northwestern. This makes the Big Ten NCAA Tourney push even cloudier. It probably comes down to 1 of the 3 (Minnesota, Illinois or Northwestern) getting in. Honestly, as of now, the closest is Minny, but their remaining schedule isn't easy either. Only a quality OOC win over Butler may not get the Gophers very far unless they win more than 10 in Big Ten play.
• gorocks99

  

  Azubuike24 wrote: Minnesota got a big win over Northwestern. This makes the Big Ten NCAA Tourney push even cloudier. It probably comes down to 1 of the 3 (Minnesota, Illinois or Northwestern) getting in. Honestly, as of now, the closest is Minny, but their remaining schedule isn't easy either. Only a quality OOC win over Butler may not get the Gophers very far unless they win more than 10 in Big Ten play.

  Gophers need to win probably 7 of their final 10 to feel OK (20-10 final record):
  
  @ Ohio State (likely L)
  @ Penn State (toss up)
  vs Michigan (likely W)
  @ Northwestern (toss up)
  vs Wisconsin (toss up)
  vs Indiana (likely W)
  vs Purdue (toss up)
  @ Illinois (toss up)
  @ Michigan (toss up)
  vs Iowa (likely W)
  
  Which means they have to win four of those six "toss up" games, which I'm not positive they can do. They also probably need to beat Purdue and Wisconsin to bolster the resume because, as you said, they only have two quality wins this year - Butler and Ohio State.
• Azubuike24

  

  I agree. I don't see them beating OSU, not in Columbus. I know Michigan is a tough team too, but I'd bank on them not having much to play for when they visit Minneapolis. That game on the 27th in Champaign might be a play-in game of sorts. I think whoever finishes 5th in the conference (whether it be Minnesota or Illinois at this point) has an advantage because they get to face a quality opponent in RD2 of the conference tournament. Getting the extra first round win over Iowa, Penn State or Indiana isn't going to mean anything this year.