Took a late lunch at my desk and did some digging. Thought that some on here would like to view some historical data . . . expanding upon @KyleHuesmann 's tweet from last week.
2014 Big 10 - Top 6 teams - conference record - RPI - invite status
Indiana (21-3) (9) - automatic; conf tourney winner
Nebraska (18-6) (33) - at large
Illinois (17-7) (56) - no invite
Minnesota (13-11) (118) - no invite
Michigan (13-11) (108) - no invite
Michigan State (11-13) (100) - no invite
TOTAL - 2 teams; Illinois left hanging with 17-7 record and #56 RPI rating. Clearly not a stellar year in the Big 10. Indiana, Nebraska and Illinois were the only B1G teams with RPI ratings less than 100.
2015 Big 10 - Top 6 teams- conference record - RPI - invite status
Illinois (21-1) (13) - at large
Iowa (19-5) (29) - at large
Maryland (14-10) (42) - at large
Michigan (14-10) (61) - automatic; conf tourney winner
Michigan St. (14-10) (51) - no invite
Indiana (12-10) (34) - at large
TOTAL - 5 teams; Indiana likely got a bid because of its RPI. Top 3 received at large. All with RPI less than 50. We will never know if Michigan would have gotten in as an at large since it won the tournament. Given that MSU did not get in with same record and better RPI, it is fair to conclude that Michigan winning the B1G tournament was likely a good thing.
2016 Big 10 - Top 6 teams - conference record - RPI - invite status
Minnesota (16-7) (50) - at large
Nebraska (16-8) (53) - at large
Ohio State (15-9) (36) - automatic; conf tourney winner
Indiana (15-9) (104) - no invite
Michigan (13-10) (39) - no invite
Illinois (12-12) (55) - no invite
TOTAL - 3 teams; RPI and "name" didn't save Michigan this year. Nebraska's second place victory likely sealed its bid - even after going 0-2 in the B1G baseball tournament as a #2 seed. Given its RPI, OSU likely gets an invite but mooted the point with the close victory over Iowa in the B1G tournament championship game. Notable . . Indiana's 3rd place tie with OSU did not get them into the dance; likely hurt by its #104 RPI rating.
2017 Big 10 - Top 6 teams - conference record - RPI - invite status
Nebraska (16-7-1) (54) - at large
Michigan (16-8) (40) - at large
Minnesota (15-8) (72) - no invite
Maryland (15-9) (44) - at large
Iowa (15-9) (80) - automatic; conf tourney winner
Indiana (14-9-1) (34) - at large
TOTAL - 5 teams. Would Iowa have received an at large bid if it didn't win the tournament? The 3rd place Gophers would say "no" as they were on the outside looking in with a better record and a better RPI. Maryland, with its #44 RPI ranking, received an at-large despite finishing behind Minnesota in the B1G standings. Notably, Indiana also received an at-large bid even though it finished 1.5 games behind Minnesota; its #34 RPI likely tipped the balance in its favor over #72 RPI Minnesota.
2018 Big 10 - Top 7 teams - conference record - RPI - invite status
Minnesota (18-4) (12) - automatic; conf tourney winner
Purdue (17-6) (40) - at large
Michigan (15-8) (63) - no invite
Illinois (15-9) (50) - no invite
Indiana (14-9) (34) - at large
Iowa (13-9) (78) - no invite
Ohio State (14-10) (46) - at large
TOTAL - 4 teams. 1st, 2nd, 5th and 7th place finishers. 3rd place Michigan (#63 RPI), 4th place Illinois (#50 RPI) left out. 5th place Indiana (#34 RPI) invited. 7th place Ohio State (#46 RPI) invited. Certainly looks like RPI played a role here. #12, #40, #34 and #46 RPI teams get invites; #50, #63 and #78 left out of the NCAA tournament. Perhaps OSU making it to B1G tournament final four teams tipped the scale? Well . . 4th place Illinois also made final four teams in that tournament and was left hanging. Illinois also beat Indiana twice in the B1G tournament that year and won 1 of 3 games in Bloomington (lost one of the games in 10 innings) . . . and Indiana received an at large. Indiana was 38-17 overall; Illinois was 33-20 overall.
2019 Big 10 - Top 7 teams - conference record - RPI - invite status
Indiana (17-7) (35) - at large
Michigan (16-7) (19) - at large (finishes 2nd in CWS)
Illinois (15-9) (38) - at large
Nebraska (15-9) (40) - at large
Minnesota (15-9) (64) - no invite
Ohio State (12-12) (118) - automatic; conf tourney winner
Iowa (12-12) (106) - no invite
TOTAL - 5 teams. Clearly, OSU only qualified by winning the B1G tournament. Otherwise, the bids would have gone to the top 4 teams - all of whom had RPIs at #40 or better. Minnesota had the same B1G record as Nebraska but was 29-27 overall and had an RPI of #64.
2020 Big 10 - CANCELLED DUE TO COVID - IOWA GETS SHAFTED
2021 Big 10 - Top 6 teams - conference record - RPI - invite status
Nebraska (31-12) (30) - automatic; conf champ
Maryland (28-16) (56) - at large
Michigan (27-17) (94) - at large
Iowa (26-18) (76) - no invite
Indiana (26-18) (107) - no invite
Ohio State (22-20) (102) - no invite
TOTAL - 3 teams. Michigan benefits from its 2019 CWS runner-up status and a messed up COVID schedule which called accuracy of B1G's RPI ratings into question. Michigan's selection was not without a fair number of critics.
Is Iowa in the tournament if it finishes in the top 3 of the B1G? Here are the latest 3rd place finishes:
2014 - Illinois (17-7; 56) - no bid
2015 - Maryland (14-10; 42) - invite
2016 - Ohio State won tournament
2017 - Minnesota (15-8; 72) - no bid
2018 - Michigan (15-8; 63) - no bid
2019 - Illinois (15-9; 38) - invite
2021 - Michigan (27-27; 94) - invite
Currently Iowa sits at 23-12 overall (RPI = 57). If it can win its mid-week games and 9 of its final 12 B1G games, it will finish 17-7; 35-15.
At 17-7, Iowa would need the following teams to finish as follows to catch them:
Rutgers (currently 12-3); would have to go 5-4 against Ohio State, Maryland, Michigan
Illinois (currently 11-3); would have to go 5-4 against Indiana, Nebraska, Penn State
Maryland (currently 9-3); would have to go 8-4 against Northwestern, Rutgers, Michigan, Purdue
Michigan (currently 8-4); would have to go 9-3 against Purdue, Indiana, Maryland, Rutgers
Going to be a fun weekend of games. No head-to-head match-ups. Real easy to figure out whom to root for.
2014 Big 10 - Top 6 teams - conference record - RPI - invite status
Indiana (21-3) (9) - automatic; conf tourney winner
Nebraska (18-6) (33) - at large
Illinois (17-7) (56) - no invite
Minnesota (13-11) (118) - no invite
Michigan (13-11) (108) - no invite
Michigan State (11-13) (100) - no invite
TOTAL - 2 teams; Illinois left hanging with 17-7 record and #56 RPI rating. Clearly not a stellar year in the Big 10. Indiana, Nebraska and Illinois were the only B1G teams with RPI ratings less than 100.
2015 Big 10 - Top 6 teams- conference record - RPI - invite status
Illinois (21-1) (13) - at large
Iowa (19-5) (29) - at large
Maryland (14-10) (42) - at large
Michigan (14-10) (61) - automatic; conf tourney winner
Michigan St. (14-10) (51) - no invite
Indiana (12-10) (34) - at large
TOTAL - 5 teams; Indiana likely got a bid because of its RPI. Top 3 received at large. All with RPI less than 50. We will never know if Michigan would have gotten in as an at large since it won the tournament. Given that MSU did not get in with same record and better RPI, it is fair to conclude that Michigan winning the B1G tournament was likely a good thing.
2016 Big 10 - Top 6 teams - conference record - RPI - invite status
Minnesota (16-7) (50) - at large
Nebraska (16-8) (53) - at large
Ohio State (15-9) (36) - automatic; conf tourney winner
Indiana (15-9) (104) - no invite
Michigan (13-10) (39) - no invite
Illinois (12-12) (55) - no invite
TOTAL - 3 teams; RPI and "name" didn't save Michigan this year. Nebraska's second place victory likely sealed its bid - even after going 0-2 in the B1G baseball tournament as a #2 seed. Given its RPI, OSU likely gets an invite but mooted the point with the close victory over Iowa in the B1G tournament championship game. Notable . . Indiana's 3rd place tie with OSU did not get them into the dance; likely hurt by its #104 RPI rating.
2017 Big 10 - Top 6 teams - conference record - RPI - invite status
Nebraska (16-7-1) (54) - at large
Michigan (16-8) (40) - at large
Minnesota (15-8) (72) - no invite
Maryland (15-9) (44) - at large
Iowa (15-9) (80) - automatic; conf tourney winner
Indiana (14-9-1) (34) - at large
TOTAL - 5 teams. Would Iowa have received an at large bid if it didn't win the tournament? The 3rd place Gophers would say "no" as they were on the outside looking in with a better record and a better RPI. Maryland, with its #44 RPI ranking, received an at-large despite finishing behind Minnesota in the B1G standings. Notably, Indiana also received an at-large bid even though it finished 1.5 games behind Minnesota; its #34 RPI likely tipped the balance in its favor over #72 RPI Minnesota.
2018 Big 10 - Top 7 teams - conference record - RPI - invite status
Minnesota (18-4) (12) - automatic; conf tourney winner
Purdue (17-6) (40) - at large
Michigan (15-8) (63) - no invite
Illinois (15-9) (50) - no invite
Indiana (14-9) (34) - at large
Iowa (13-9) (78) - no invite
Ohio State (14-10) (46) - at large
TOTAL - 4 teams. 1st, 2nd, 5th and 7th place finishers. 3rd place Michigan (#63 RPI), 4th place Illinois (#50 RPI) left out. 5th place Indiana (#34 RPI) invited. 7th place Ohio State (#46 RPI) invited. Certainly looks like RPI played a role here. #12, #40, #34 and #46 RPI teams get invites; #50, #63 and #78 left out of the NCAA tournament. Perhaps OSU making it to B1G tournament final four teams tipped the scale? Well . . 4th place Illinois also made final four teams in that tournament and was left hanging. Illinois also beat Indiana twice in the B1G tournament that year and won 1 of 3 games in Bloomington (lost one of the games in 10 innings) . . . and Indiana received an at large. Indiana was 38-17 overall; Illinois was 33-20 overall.
2019 Big 10 - Top 7 teams - conference record - RPI - invite status
Indiana (17-7) (35) - at large
Michigan (16-7) (19) - at large (finishes 2nd in CWS)
Illinois (15-9) (38) - at large
Nebraska (15-9) (40) - at large
Minnesota (15-9) (64) - no invite
Ohio State (12-12) (118) - automatic; conf tourney winner
Iowa (12-12) (106) - no invite
TOTAL - 5 teams. Clearly, OSU only qualified by winning the B1G tournament. Otherwise, the bids would have gone to the top 4 teams - all of whom had RPIs at #40 or better. Minnesota had the same B1G record as Nebraska but was 29-27 overall and had an RPI of #64.
2020 Big 10 - CANCELLED DUE TO COVID - IOWA GETS SHAFTED
2021 Big 10 - Top 6 teams - conference record - RPI - invite status
Nebraska (31-12) (30) - automatic; conf champ
Maryland (28-16) (56) - at large
Michigan (27-17) (94) - at large
Iowa (26-18) (76) - no invite
Indiana (26-18) (107) - no invite
Ohio State (22-20) (102) - no invite
TOTAL - 3 teams. Michigan benefits from its 2019 CWS runner-up status and a messed up COVID schedule which called accuracy of B1G's RPI ratings into question. Michigan's selection was not without a fair number of critics.
Is Iowa in the tournament if it finishes in the top 3 of the B1G? Here are the latest 3rd place finishes:
2014 - Illinois (17-7; 56) - no bid
2015 - Maryland (14-10; 42) - invite
2016 - Ohio State won tournament
2017 - Minnesota (15-8; 72) - no bid
2018 - Michigan (15-8; 63) - no bid
2019 - Illinois (15-9; 38) - invite
2021 - Michigan (27-27; 94) - invite
Currently Iowa sits at 23-12 overall (RPI = 57). If it can win its mid-week games and 9 of its final 12 B1G games, it will finish 17-7; 35-15.
At 17-7, Iowa would need the following teams to finish as follows to catch them:
Rutgers (currently 12-3); would have to go 5-4 against Ohio State, Maryland, Michigan
Illinois (currently 11-3); would have to go 5-4 against Indiana, Nebraska, Penn State
Maryland (currently 9-3); would have to go 8-4 against Northwestern, Rutgers, Michigan, Purdue
Michigan (currently 8-4); would have to go 9-3 against Purdue, Indiana, Maryland, Rutgers
Going to be a fun weekend of games. No head-to-head match-ups. Real easy to figure out whom to root for.