February 5 RPI Updates

On a night they didn't play, Ohio State and Purdue gained the most among Big 10 teams with regards to at-large resumes and/or NCAA seeding. Ohio State has to like the fact Miami-Florida (who they beat on the road) throttled slumping Wake Forest. Likewise, Purdue's resume got a little stronger with Boston College's road win at Virginia. The win got BC into the top 50, adding another top-50 win for the Boilers.

Now let's talk Gophers. ... beat Ohio State in Columbus on Saturday and the Gophers are in GREAT shape for the NCAA Tournament. However, if you're not at least a little nervous about the Gophers' at-large chances, you should be. The Ohio State, Michigan (2), Penn State and Illinois games loom particularly large. The Gophers likely need to win three of those games to avoid having to play on Thursday at the BTT. Especially this season, I don't want to be a Big 10 bubble team having to beat an Indiana or an Iowa on play-in Thursday, presenting the possibility of the dreaded "bad loss" at exactly the wrong time.

All rankings courtesy of CollegeRPI.com.

Big Ten RPI Rankings
4. Michigan State
18. Illinois
24. GOPHERS
26. Ohio State
32. Purdue
40. Wisconsin
58. Michigan
59. Northwestern
62. Penn State
101. Iowa
187. Indiana

Big Ten Nonconference SOS Rankings (out of 343 D-I teams)
16. Wisconsin
43. Indiana
45. Michigan State
105. Michigan
107. Ohio State
144. Illinois
178. Northwestern
182. Iowa
189. Purdue
223. GOPHERS
320. Penn State

Big Ten Overall SOS Rankings
3. Michigan State
4. Wisconsin
12. Indiana
22. Michigan
27. Ohio State
39. Northwestern
41. GOPHERS
45. Purdue
48. Illinois
62. Iowa
108. Penn State

Wins vs. RPI Top 50 (35)
Michigan State 8: Kansas (16), Illinois (18), at Gophers (24), Gophers (24), at Ohio State (26), Ohio State (26), vs. Oklahoma State (30), vs. Texas (38)

Purdue 5: at Gophers (24), vs. Davidson (33), at Wisconsin (40), Wisconsin (40), vs. Boston College (49)

Northwestern 4: at Michigan State (4), Gophers (24), Florida State (29), Wisconsin (40)

GOPHERS 4: vs. Louisville (12), Illinois (18), Ohio State (26), at Wisconsin (40)

Illinois 4: vs. Mizzou (22), Ohio State (26), at Purdue (32), Wisconsin (40)

Michigan 3: Duke (2), Illinois (18), vs. UCLA (28)

Ohio State 3: Butler (9), Purdue (32), at Miami-Florida (42)

Penn State 2: at Michigan State (4), Purdue (32)

Iowa 1: Wisconsin (40)

Wisconsin 1: at Virginia Tech (43)

Big Ten Out of Conference Top-50 Wins = 13

National RPI Top 25 Rankings
1. Oklahoma
2. Duke
3. Pitt
4. Michigan State
5. UConn
6. North Carolina
7. Clemson
8. Xavier
9. Butler
10. Villanova
11. Memphis
12. Louisville
13. Utah
14. Marquette
15. Wake Forest
16. Kansas
17. Tennessee
18. Illinois
19. West Virginia
20. Washington
21. Siena
22. Mizzou
23. Georgetown
24. GOPHERS
25. Syracuse