It's hard to predict exactly how many times national college basketball analysts will say "résumé" this week, but it will surely be a lot.
With major conferences holding their season-ending tournaments, numerous teams will have final opportunities to get that signature win, grab an RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) boost and catch the attention of the NCAA Selection Committee before it announces the 65-team March Madness field this Sunday.
Every conference except the Ivy League has a postseason tournament, and the winners each receive an automatic bid to the Big Dance, leaving 34 at-large selections to be decided.
It's the teams vying for these spots -- the theoretical bubble teams -- which are likely to stir debate among Dick Vitale, Jay Bilas and their analytic colleagues.
The Big Ten, which begins its tournament Thursday, has its share of NCAA tournament hopefuls that can contribute to the discussion.
Other than Ohio State, the nation's top-ranked team, and No. 3 Wisconsin, no Big Ten team is ranked in the top 25 in this week's Associated Press poll.
But nearly all its members, except Penn State, Minnesota and Northwestern, could have legitimate cases to make the national tournament depending on their performances later this week, even without being crowned conference champ.
Six teams, in addition to the Buckeyes and Badgers, have conference records of .500 or better: Indiana (20-9, 10-6 Big Ten), Iowa (17-13, 9-7), Purdue (20-10, 9-7), Illinois (21-10, 9-7), Michigan State (21-10, 8-8) and Michigan (20-11, 8-8).
"The bottom three, the top two, and the middle six. This tournament holds more weight this year than it ever has," Minnesota interim head coach Jim Molinari said yesterday on the weekly Big Ten coaches' conference call. "There are a lot of teams that have to play well if they want to get into the tournament."
Of the middle six, Michigan State, Indiana and Illinois are within the top 35 in the RPI, which is used as a guideline by the tournament selection committee. These teams have been projected by many analysts to have qualified for the NCAAs already.
Then comes Purdue (45), Michigan (53) and Iowa (83), which will be looking to play their way out of the NIT (National Invitation Tournament).
"You have so many teams that can help themselves," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. "We've got the big two and the rest of us. Sometimes you can help yourself in it; sometimes you can hurt yourself in it."
Indiana, seeded third with a first-round bye, will play the winner of Thursday's game between sixth-seeded Illinois and last-ranked Penn State.
Iowa and Purdue, seeded fourth and fifth, respectively, also have byes and will begin by playing each other in the quarterfinals Friday.
Michigan State faces Northwestern and the winner plays second-seeded Wisconsin. Top-seed Ohio State faces the winner of Minnesota and Michigan.
"It's going to be a great tournament with the matchups we're going to have with so much that's still on the line," Michigan coach Tommy Amaker said. "It allows everyone to have continued hope for the remainder of their seasons."
ending tournaments, numerous teams will have final opportunities to get that signature win, an RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) boost and catch the attention of the NCAA Selection Committee before it announces the 65-team March Madness field this Sunday.
Every conference except the Ivy League has a post-season tournament, and the winners each receive an automatic bid to the Big Dance, leaving 34 at-large selections to be decided.
It's the teams vying for these spots -- the theoretical bubble teams -- which are likely to stir debate among Dick Vitale, Jay Bilas and their analytic colleagues.
The Big Ten, which begins its tournament Thursday, has its share of NCAA tournament hopefuls that can contribute to the discussion.
Other than Ohio State, the nation's top-ranked team, and No. 3 Wisconsin, no Big Ten team is ranked in the top-25 in this week's Associated Press poll.
But nearly all its members, except Penn State, Minnesota and Northwestern, could have legitimate cases to make the national tournament depending on their performances later this week, even without being crowed conference champ.
Six teams, in addition to the Buckeyes and Badgers, have conference records of .500 or better: Indiana (20-9, 10-6 Big Ten), Iowa (17-13, 9-7), Purdue (20-10, 9-7), Illinois (21-10, 9-7), Michigan State (21-8, 8-8) and Michigan (20-11, 8-8).
"The bottom three, the top two, and the middle six. This tournament holds more weight this year than it ever has," Minnesota interim head coach Jim Molinari said yesterday on the weekly Big Ten coaches' conference call. "There are a lot of teams that have to play well if they want to get into the tournament."
Of the middle six, Michigan State, Indiana and Illinois are within the top-35 in the RPI, which is used as a guideline by the tournament selection committee. These teams have been projected by many analysts to have qualified for the NCAAs already.
Then comes Purdue (45), Michigan (53) and Iowa (84), which will be looking to play their way out of the NIT (National Invitation Tournament).
"You have so many teams that can help themselves," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. "We've got the big two and the rest of us. Sometimes you can help yourself in it, sometimes you can hurt yourself in it."
Indiana, seeded third with a first-round bye, will play the winner of Thursday's game between sixth-seeded Illinois and last-ranked Penn State.
Purdue and Iowa, seeded fourth and fifth, respectively, also have byes and will begin by playing each other in the quarterfinals Friday.
Michigan State faces Northwestern and the winner plays second-seeded Wisconsin. Top-seed Ohio State faces the winner of Minnesota and Michigan.
"It's going to be a great tournament with the matchups we're going to have with so much that's still on the line," Michigan coach Tommy Amaker said. "It allows everyone to have continued hope for the remainder of their seasons."
