Do you agree with BTT tie breaker rules?

[Franisdaman]

Check this out. With 4 teams tying for 3rd at 12-6, there had to be a way to seed them 3, 4, 5 and 6 for the BTT.

I understand why MD got the 3 and WI the 6 but since Purdue and Iowa were both 2-2 in all the head to heads of the four teams, shouldn't the head to head between Iowa and Purdue determine who is 4 and who is 5? Iowa, of course, swept Purdue this year. Just doesn't seem fair or right. Or, do you agree with Fran, who said, "You want to move up? Win more games.”

From http://www.hawkcentral.com/story/sp...rica-status-jarrod-uthoff-peter-jok/81439280/

Tiebreaker hurt Iowa

McCaffery, in Monday’s Big Ten coaches’ teleconference to preview this week’s conference tournament, said of the 21-9 Hawkeyes, who dropped three spots to No. 18 in the USA TODAY Coaches' Poll: “I feel really good about where our team is now, and I’m excited.”

His team tied for third place in the league for the second consecutive year — yet will be the No. 5 seed in the league tournament for the second consecutive year. Purdue, which Iowa swept but had an identical 12-6 conference record, got the No. 4 and a double-bye this week in Indianapolis. Meanwhile, the Hawkeyes get the Illinois-Minnesota winner on Thursday.

There was a four-way tie at No. 3 this year, and here’s how it broke down: Maryland got the 3 spot by posting the best round-robin record (3-2) among the four tied teams; Iowa and Purdue were each 2-2 in the round robin, and Wisconsin was slotted No. 6 because of a 2-3 mark.

To break Iowa-Purdue tie, the conference goes by record against the team “occupying the highest position in the final regular-season standings, continuing down through the standings until one team gains an advantage.” Iowa went 0-2 vs. first-place Indiana; Purdue 0-1. Iowa went 2-0 vs. second-place Michigan State; Purdue 1-0. The four tied teams are skipped, and Purdue got the 4 seed by virtue of its 1-0 record vs. seventh-place Ohio State over Iowa’s 0-1.

“To be honest with you, I’ve never really studied it,” McCaffery said. “We just play the games. I’m fairly certain the tiebreaker formula is a fair one. … So I look at it like this: You want to move up? Win more games.”

 

[thewop]

In this one instance this year it went down so far that yes, Iowa got "screwed," but I'm with Fran on this one. Win more games.

 

[Franisdaman]

In this one instance this year it went down so far that yes, Iowa got "screwed," but I'm with Fran on this one. Win more games.

makes losing at PSU, at OSU and at home to IU and Wisconsin all the more difficult to swallow; win just one of those games....

 

[markfromj]

makes losing at PSU, at OSU and at home to IU and Wisconsin all the more difficult to swallow; win just one of those games....

Why just those 4 of the 6?

 

[Franisdaman]

Why just those 4 of the 6?

those 4 were very much winnable games.

 

[IamHawkeye]

those 4 were very much winnable games.

Weren't all Iowa losses close?

 

[TankHawk]

A team that goes from 10-1 to finish at 12-6 probably doesn't deserve better than a #5 seed. The Hawkeyes had all kinds of chances to finish stronger but didn't. I have no problem with how it came out and I am just hoping they can make it to the B1G final and then snag the #4 seed in Des Moines.

 

[OC_Hawk]

It is repeatedly stated that Purdue went 2-2 against Maryland+Iowa+Wisconsin in that article. Purdue actually went 3-3 against those teams. As far as tie-breakers go, 3-3 is equal to 2-2 so it's moot, but in an article about numbers, you should probably get your numbers accurate.

 

[MTHawkeyes43]

Talk about fairness, Bucky comes into CA and beats the Hawks and they get the 6 seed. All of this nonsense is the product of the super conferences. The make up of the super conference creates these problems Iowa received the seeding they earned.

 

[Chewback]

As the saying goes, "Them's the rules." And it really makes sense when you see it laid out. I suppose there could be other ways to do it, but this is the way they do it. And I agree with the poster above, if you go from 10-1 to 12-6 you probably ought to feel good about still having the 5.

 

[Ronman]

I think that if they are going to have unbalanced schedules, the difficulty of each teams conference schedule should be taken into account as a tiebreaker and I don't believe any other conference team played a more difficult conference schedule than the Hawks.

 

[hoffmkr]

Some people might think that Iowa "Lost" the tie-breaker but in this case, it feels like Iowa won with the lower seed.
Historically, Iowa struggles in Big 10 first round game shooting so an easier game is better.
Also, Iowa's odds of getting a better seed in the NCAA go up winning another game even if it's not a tough opponent.
Winning 4 games for the title is likely to get Iowa a 3 seed in Des Moines. Winning 3 games and a title would not have been quite as convincing and a 4 seed will not get you Des Moines probably.

 

[SDHawkDoc]

It's stupid that head to head record isn't the first criteria in case of ties, but I don't have any heartburn over it.
Win more games; that's the solution.

 

[Myvue]

There should be a way to set the Big 10 tournament bracket without some teams having two byes and the tournament lasting for 5 days. Waiting two days for byes probably isn't in the best interest of the higher seeds either.

Currently Lunardi has the 1-16, 3-14, 6-11 and 8-9 first seeds playing in first round games in Des Moines and not a 4 seed game. Of course what any of the experts say is often quite different from when the official bracket is released including first round games of a certain venue even in a different region.

 

[hoffmkr]

Currently Lunardi has the 1-16, 3-14, 6-11 and 8-9 first seeds playing in first round games in Des Moines and not a 4 seed game. Of course what any of the experts say is often quite different from when the official bracket is released including first round games of a certain venue even in a different region.

The 6-11 and 8-9 games are there because of the 1-16 and 3-14 games since they are the second round opponents.
Iowa will NOT play in Des Moines unless they are a top 4 seed. Selection rules state that a top 4 seed cannot have a home court disadvantage.

 

[EZ2BJZ]

Seems very arbitrary. But a 4 game skid at the end of the regular season is why Iowa is in the position they are.

 

[SDHawkDoc]

Seems very arbitrary. But a 4 game skid at the end of the regular season is why Iowa is in the position they are.

Yes. They played themselves out of Des Moines with the season ending slump. But, they only played themselves into that position in the first place with a spectacular and wholely unexpected January performance. All in all, they're going to have a better seed than I would have pegged them for before the season started.

 

[El Simbolo]

Wisconsin's conf SOS was equal to ours. We tied for strongest SOS of the top 8 teams. I'm not sure if any of he bottom six had tougher schedules. See thread about iU's schedule ranking 14th for complete breakdown of the top eight

 

[El Simbolo]

The fact our records against the top 2 teams are considered equal is bizarre. It's an accomplishment that we tied Purdue despite having to play 4 games against the top 2 compared to their two games. conf SOS needs to be slipped into the tiebreaker progression ahead of this "who beat the highest ranked team" criteria. I'd go so far as to place conf SOS above all other tiebreakers except:
1. Head to head if one team swept the other 2-0
2. Head to head if the teams played once and the road team won

Anything else rewards the team with the easier schedule.