After upsets shakes B1G BB standings.....

[keithbooth22]

After upset shakes Big Ten basketball standings, what are Maryland chances at double-bye, conference title?​

The Terps remain in contention for a share of the Big Ten regular-season title, though they do not control their own destiny.​

Maryland was not in action this weekend, but the Big Ten men's basketball standings still took a turn this weekend.

On Friday night, Michigan State beat Michigan, 75-62, on the road to grab sole possession of first place in the conference. On Saturday afternoon, Oregon came back from a 17-point deficit to knock off Wisconsin in overtime, 77-73, on the road.

Five teams are separated by two games at the top of the Big Ten standings, and UCLA is right behind the top five. It will only stay like this for a few more hours, as Purdue takes on Indiana in Bloomington on Sunday afternoon. Here's what the standings look like as of Sunday morning.

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Maryland still plays big games against Michigan State and Michigan, along with Penn State and Northwestern. If the Terps run the table, both the Spartans and Wolverines would have at least four conference losses. Michigan State and Michigan close the regular season against each other in East Lansing on March 9, meaning one of the two would be guaranteed to have five losses if they were to both lose to Maryland.

Let's say Michigan State wins at home to complete the season sweep of Michigan. That would mean that Maryland would need the Spartans to lose either at home to Wisconsin on March 2 or at Iowa on March 6 to bring them to five losses. If Michigan were to get revenge on its in-state rival to end the regular season, it would need to also lose at Nebraska or against either Rutgers or Illinois at home. Again, both scenarios require the Terps winning their final four regular-season games, which would include wins over both the Wolverines and the Spartans. We will know whether Maryland is still alive by the time the second meeting between Michigan and Michigan State comes around. KenPom projects Maryland to finish 3-1, beating Michigan State at home but losing to Michigan on the road.

With a tie between several teams for first place possible, plenty of combinations for Big Ten Tournament seedings remain on the table. Fans can simulate the rest of the season's potential outcomes through mred's Big Ten Tournament tiebreaker site. Maryland is currently in a position to secure a double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament with a top four finish in the conference.

Michigan State 13-3

Michigan 12-3 (0.5 GB)

Maryland 11-5 (2 GB)

Wisconsin 11-5 (2 GB)

Purdue 11-5 (2 GB)

UCLA 10-6 (3 GB)

Do the Terps realistically have a path to claim a share of the Big Ten league title? They do not control their own destiny, but winning out would be a start.

The Wisconsin loss helped Maryland. In any two-way tie with the Badgers, the Terps own the head-to-head tiebreaker. A three-way (or more) tie could get confusing. Here's how that procedure that work:

1. Results of head-to-head competition during the regular season.

• a. When comparing records against the tied teams, teams will be seeded based on winning percentage head-to-head among the group, even if the number of games played against the team or group are unequal (i.e., 2-0 is better than 3-1, but 2-0 is not better than 1-0 or 0-0). If all teams among the group are separated based on winning percentage, all ties are broken. Ties shall be considered separated when a team(s) emerges from the top, middle or bottom of the group and is awarded a seed(s).
• b. Once a seed is awarded, all remaining tied teams shall restart the tiebreak process at the first criteria (e.g. if there is a four-team tie, one team is 4-0, another is 3-1 and the last two are 2-2 among the group, the two teams that are 2-2 move to step a (head-to-head) and the teams that are 4-0 and 3-1 assume the next two available highest seeds).

2. If the remaining teams are still tied, then each tied team's record shall be compared to the team occupying the highest position in the final regular-season standings, continuing down through the standings until one team gains an advantage.

• a. When arriving at another pair of tied teams while comparing records, use each team's record against the collective tied teams as a group (prior to their own tiebreaking procedures), rather than the performance against the individual tied teams.
• b. When comparing records against a single team or group of teams, the higher winning percentage shall prevail, even if the number of games played against the team or group are unequal (i.e., 2-0 is better than 3-1, but 2-0 is not better than 1-0 or 0-0).

3. Won-loss percentage of Division I opponents.
4. Highest NET ranking of the teams. NET rankings that are released on the last Friday of the regular season will be utilized.

The puzzle pieces will fall into place and the only thing Maryland can control is winning. Regardless of whether winning out would be enough to grab a share of the Big Ten title, that or a 3-1 finish could be enough to elevate Maryland into top four seed status in the NCAA Tournament. The Terps have won four in a row, eight of their last nine games and 10 of their last 12 games. The fun ride continues on Wednesday night, when they welcome Michigan State to the XFINITY Center.

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