Hey folks,
The NCAA brackets just came out, and the final verdict is this:
Only four Big Ten teams made the tournament, Michigan State being left out among the five in the running (the four in are Ohio State, Iowa, Purdue and Minnesota).
What does this mean? Well, should they accept their soon-to-come WNIT bid, it means the Spartans will be the automatic entry into the WNIT from the Big Ten. That in turn means IU will have to look for an at-large bid to get into postseason play.
There is a good chance of this, it would seem, seeing as IU had a worse record and conference record last year and got in, but they'll probably have to fight it out with Illinois, who has a similar resume and a strong finish - the Illini stormed into the Big Ten finals from the nine-seed position. A final announcement should be made by midnight tonight on the WNIT field.
Michigan State and Minnesota were both among Charlie Creme's "last four in" in the ESPN analyst's last bracketology projection before tonight's selection show.
