The Big Ten is always well represented in the NCAA tournament and the 2009 season will be no exception. Three teams are locks already in Purdue, Illinois, and Michigan State. While these teams are enjoying the sure fire invitations to come, five other teams are fighting it out over the bids that might be left. All five have an argument for inclusion, and all five are not quite done yet on the season. Which of the five will get in? Lets take a look at each of them:

Wisconsin Badgers – The Badgers are near the top of this list largely due to the fact that they have played one bear of a schedule. They are ranked at number 6 for strength of schedule, and still came out with 18 wins as of this writing. They are also at 9-7 in the conference with big wins over Michigan twice, Penn State twice, and Ohio State. They still have games left against Minnesota and Indiana this week, and can greatly enhance their already strong resume.

Minnesota Gophers – Louisville, Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, and Illinois are all teams that have fallen to the Gophers. The bad news? They are falling apart lately with five losses in the last seven games. This is not the time to start losing games, and the Gophers must right the ship fast. They still have games against Wisconsin and Michigan and they must take one of those games to get in more than likely. If I were the Gophers, I might want to win both. The Gopher stock is falling.

Ohio State Buckeyes – The Buckeyes have some huge wins over some of the better teams in the country including Butler, Purdue, Michigan twice, Miami, and Minnesota. After beating Iowa on Tuesday, the Buckeyes are looking more and more like a team on the rise as far as bubble entries. They now have Northwestern on Sunday to close out the regular season, and should be able to get in with that resume. The Buckeyes are a good example of how quality wins can vault you into NCAA consideration. They won the big games consistently.

Michigan Wolverines – See Ohio State above. The Wolverines too have some powerfully important wins over Duke, UCLA, Illinois, and Minnesota this year. They have played an extremely difficult schedule as well. The problem with Michigan is road games in which they are 2-8 on the season. The Wolverines are not in as good of a position as Ohio State, but a win over Minnesota on Saturday could put them very close.

Penn State Nittany Lions – Penn State played the softest schedule of all the bubble teams on this list, and they had a rather rediculous nonconference cakewalk. Many of the Nittany Lions twenty victories came over teams that are not much to brag about. They did have some quality wins over Mich St, and Purdue, as well as a couple of wins over Michigan and Minnesota. The poor schedule, and average record in conference will work against Penn State without two more wins over Iowa and Illinois. Those two games will likely be the litmus test for the Nittany Lions NCAA chances.

Tagged with: bubble teams, louisville ohio, michigan state, minnesota gophers, ncaa, ncaa tournament

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