The Big Ten got the top nine teams in the conference in the NCAA Tournament this year, leaving their selection (and seeding) to interpretation.
And soon one of the leading collegiate basketball analysts disagreed.
Seth Davis said during a CBS brackets show Sunday night that he was “surprised” to see Indiana in this week’s Top Four game after the Hoosiers beat Michigan and Illinois to advance to the semi-finals of the Big Ten tournament.
Indiana will play Wyoming Tuesday night in Dayton, Ohio for the No. 12 seed and the right to play No. 5 St. Mary’s later this week.
“I’m a little surprised to see Indiana seeded so low,” said Davis, a CBS college basketball analyst.
The Hoosiers (20-13) were among the last four teams in this year’s tournament, along with Notre Dame, Rutgers and Wyoming, which left Davis wondering why Michigan had an overall record of 17-14 and a second round exit in the Big Ten. tournament – why was not one of them.
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“I’m surprised Michigan is not on this list,” Davis said.
CBS colleague Clark Kellogg chimed in during the broadcast and agreed with Davis, but pointed to Michigan’s strong charting – as of Sunday morning, it was seventh nationally – as an advantage.
This season, the Wolverines also have a NET 34 rating and five Quad-1 wins, which is a solid indication of a team that can compete (and win) against some of the best in college basketball.
Michigan finished 11th and will play No. 5 Colorado State in Indianapolis on Thursday, missing the Dayton preliminaries.
“We know how the committee evaluates strength (schedules), especially non-conference schedules,” Kellogg said. “And I think that helped (for Michigan) along with the quality wins.
“Teams on a bubble, you get compared to other teams – and no one has more significant flaws than the rest. So some of those things – the strength of the no-conference schedule, who you beat – all of those things can carry a lot of weight and set (you) apart.”
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This appears to be referring to Michigan, one of three Big Ten bubble teams to enter the tournament, but the only team that doesn’t need to travel to Dayton first.
Rutgers (18-13) will also play Notre Dame in Dayton this week.