The NCAA has previously told tha Big Ten that their tournament wraps up too late for the final game to be considered in their seedings. That’s usually not a big deal because both teams are typically in the tournament so the committee just seeds as if the game isn’t being played.

They won’t be able to do that this year however. The committee will have to have some plan for what to do if Illinois or Minnesota wins the title. One team that should be worried is Ohio State. The easiest scenario for the selection committee is to work out the brackets as if the MSU/Wisconsin winner wins the title. If that happens, five Big Ten teams would be in the Dance – Wisconsin, Purdue, Indiana, Michigan State, and Ohio State. If the Illinois/Minn winner claims the title you just bump OSU from the tournament and insert the Ill/Minn into OSU’s spot. In theory, that shouldn’t happen because the team that should get bumped would be the last at-large bid, which shouldn’t be Ohio State. However, the selection committee could just point to the Big Ten and say that the Big Ten was warned about scenarios like this.

The SEC tournament presents a somewhat similar scenario. Tonights game between Kentucky and Georgia has been moved to Saturday. Neither of those teams have an NCAA bid locked up. Kentucky is close and a win against Georgia MIGHT put them in. That could solve the NCAA’s problem because all four remaining teams could be considered in the dance.

A Georgia win thought would really muck things up. The only way Georgia gets in is by winning the tournament. An upset against Kentucky puts the selection committee into a bind just like the Big Ten tournament. That bind could be solved by having the Geo/KY winner play their semifinal game against Mississippi State tomorrow night – a move that I think is unlikely.

What I see the SEC doing is playing the Kentucky/Georgia game Saturday and postponing both of the semifinal games until Sunday. The Kentucky/Geo winner would meet Mississippi State winner in one semifinal while Arkansas would face Tennessee in the other. The finals would be canceled and the winners of the semifinal games would be considered co-champs.

That would work except for one very unlikely scenario, that being Georgia as one of the co-champs. People will want to know if that earns them an NCAA bid. From the NCAAs perspective, that should be a resounding NO. I see it as very unlikely that the NCAA would award a bid to anyone as a co-champion. If the SEC goes through with a plan like the above the NCAA should rule the auto-bid void.

Having said that, I could see one backroom deal being concocted. It’s quite possible that the NCAA could work out a deal with the SEC where something akin to the above mentioned Illinois/Minnesota deal is structured. The NCAA could put Kentucky on the hot seat. Basically an off the record deal could be made where Kentucky is assumed to be in. A Kentucky win over Georgia Saturday morning and everyone’s problems are solved because all four remaining SEC teams would have bids. But if Georgia were to beat Kentucky, then NCAA then tells the SEC that if Georgia wins the semifinal game they would claim Kentucky’s spot and the Wildcats would be left out. While it’s a possibility, I really can’t see it happening and from the NCAA’s perspective it shouldn’t.

It wouldn’t surprise me in the least to see the SEC announce the co-champion routine tomorrow and leave open the question of who gets the auto-bid by simply saying that they are negotiating with the NCAA to determine that. Then they just pray that Georgia loses the game and solves the problem for them.

Game Predictions:

• Ohio State 64.6 Michigan State 64.3 (I guess OSU wins in OT)
• Indiana 75 Penn State 65
• Purdue 89 Michigan 61

NCAA witholds scholarships for Ohio State men’s basketball – NCAA Basketball – Yahoo! Sports via kwout

The NCAA has slapped Ohio State with the loss of a scholarship for a year because of their failure to meet the Academic Progress Rate standard.

From the quote in the article

Bruno said the sanction was triggered by one athlete who left the university during the 2006-07 school year while academically ineligible. Bruno did not disclose the name. Players Greg Oden, Daequan Cook and Mike Conley Jr. left the team that year when drafted into the NBA.

it appears that at least one of the short timers might have been just playing ball not attending class. Of course, it’s a stretch for OSU to point fingers at one guy because it takes more than one guy screwing up to put you in the APR penalty box to begin with.

Basically, the way that APR works is that if enough guys aren’t making progress toward their degrees, the school is gets a warning. With that warning goes the stipulation that during this probationary period if a kid leaves school who would have been ineligible the following season, you are penalized with loss of a scholarship. If Ohio State hadn’t been in the APR doghouse to begin with, it wouldn’t have mattered that one of these three wasn’t going to class.

In other action, Ohio State needs a win at Minnesota to improve their NCAA hopes. A loss here would jeopardize their chances for an at large bid.

Game Predictions:

• PSU 70 Michigan 67
• Purdue 76 Northwestern 57
• Ohio State 65 Minnesota 64
• Illinois 58 Iowa 54

Game Predictions:

• Michigan 72 Northwestern 63
• Indiana 69 Ohio State 62

Game predictions:

• Minnesota 73 Penn State 63
• Wisconsin 62 Ohio State 59

Game Prediction:

Ohio State 69 Michigan 61

• Indiana 63.10 Wisconsin 63.07
• Ohio State 71 Northwestern 58

Prediction:

• Ohio State 66 Indiana 64

Predicted scores:

Purdue 73 Penn State 63
Ohio State 75 Michigan 59