March 14--The only real surprise regarding the Big Ten came early during CBS' bracket unveiling: League tournament champion Michigan State was relegated to a No. 2 seed, losing out to Kansas, North Carolina, Virginia and Oregon.
Perhaps the NCAA tournament selection committee weighed the RPI metric more than expected. Michigan State's RPI is 11, eight spots lower than Virginia.
What also qualified as news was that Michigan made it in the field, sort of. The Wolverines need to beat Tulsa in a first-four game to get a shot at Notre Dame in Brooklyn.
With Michigan State getting a No. 2 seed in the Midwest, which feeds to second-weekend games at the United Center, here are the other five Big Ten teams (in addition to Michigan) to make the cut:
Maryland gets No. 5 seed and will play South Dakota State in Spokane.
Indiana snags a No. 5, and will take on Chattanooga in Des Moines.
Purdue also gets a No. 5, and will duel with Little Rock in Denver.
The final two: Iowa gets a No. 7 seed and will play Temple in Brooklyn. Wisconsin is also a No. 7, taking on Pitt in St. Louis.
tgreenstein@tribpub.com
