Big 10 in NCAA Tourney

[NJCat83588]

What record gets a Big 10 team into the Tournament? Win at least half of your regular season conference games and finish at least 7th. Here are the regular season wins of Tournament teams for the last 10 seasons:

2015: Wisc 16, MD 14, MSU/Iowa/PU 12, OSU 11, IU 9 (Missed: Illinois 9)
2014: Mich 15, Wisc/MSU 12, NE 11, OSU 10, Iowa 9
2013: IU 14, OSU/MSU 13, Mich/Wisc 12, Ill/Minny 8 (Missed: Iowa 9, PU 8)
2012: OSU/MSU/Mich 13, Wisc 12, IU 11, PU 10 (Missed: NU 8!)
2011: OSU 16, PU 14, Wisc 13, Mich/Ill/MSU/PSU 9
2010: OSU/PU/MSU 14, Wisc 13, Minny 9 (Missed: Ill 10)
2009: MSU 15, Ill/PU 11, Wisc/OSU 10, Mich/Minny 9 (Missed: PSU 10)
2008: Wisc 16, PU 15, IU 14, MSU 12 (Missed: OSU 10)
2007: OSU 15, Wisc 13, IU/PU/ILL 9, MSU 8 (Missed: Iowa 9, Mich 8)
2006: OSU 12, Iowa/iLL 11, Wisc/IU 9, MSU 8 (Missed: Mich 8)

2006 and 2007 were 16 game BT seasons, all others were 18.

Bottom line: win at least half of your Big 10 games and you have a really good chance of making the Tournament: 59 out of 68 teams who were 0.500 or better made it, or 87%. Two teams actually made it with less than a 0.500 regular season conference record in 2013. The Big 10 has never had more than 7 teams in the Tournament in a single season......

 

[Gladeskat]

Good work! You get an Wildcat Report A+ and are in the running for a Purpulitzer.

 

[Walker Fan]

Nice research, but the NCAA committee looks at a team's body of work and there is not a magic number of conference wins that will get you in the tourney. They look at quality wins, strength of schedule, etc. I do not believe that conference win/loss records is a determining factor.

Since NU has a very weak non-conference schedule and assuming that NU does not upset UNC on 11/23, they, in all likelihood, will have to finish with better than a 9-9 Big 10 conference record to make the tourney.

Your research is also flawed in part also because the NCAA tournament over the past couple of years invites 68 teams and not the 64 or 65 teams in years prior to the past three or four years.

Also, NU's conference schedule is weaker due to the fact that they play some of the top team's only once this upcoming year like MSU, Indiana and Purdue which are in the top tier of the Big 10 this year. So going 9-9 would not mean as much as in prior years.

 

[backdoorpass]

This is a nice post. Others have mentioned the importance of a strong OOC performance, but you also have to consider the BTT results. This is where B1G teams hovering at or just above .500 in the B1G regular season make or break it. Many teams on your list played themselves into or out of the NCAA Tournament in the BTT.