Although they did take 4th, they beat Purdue by 24 points, so, no, they didn't tie for 4th. Still, the math actually favors PSU when it is the top 33, vs just the 14 in the B1G. Their top guys STILL almost guaranteed would have scored as much as they did at B1G's, if not more, at NCAA's. Meanwhile, the teams that finished ahead of them had guys that almost certainly drop considerably at NCAA's when they hit the entire field. That is why PSU still beat Michigan by quite a bit last year, even though they lost at B1G's. Hell, it is also why they lost to tOSU in 2017 and 2018 at B1G's but won NCAA's both years. Their best guys are almost always so good, they don't drop off in a 33 man bracket and, in fact, they almost become upset proof.
Now, with that said, they weren't catching Iowa, no way no how, but I would have bet ANYONE big money they would have finished top 4 and I still would have taken them over Nebraska or tOSU once they fill into top 33 brackets.
For example, Nebraska wrestled the tournament of their lives to take a solid 2nd at B1G's. However, that happened because guys like Thomsen(6th), Lovett(7th not the same guy when he wrestled 133 that year), Purington(3rd) and Jensen(5th) all scored substantial placement points, None of those would have been likely to win more than a match or 2, let alone place at NCAA's. After that, you had Red take 3rd(he was still only seeded 6th at NCAA's), Robb also took 3rd from the 7 seed, but was only the 13 seed at NCAA's, White took 3rd as the 4 seed, but was still the 5 seed at NCAA's in a bracket that had Wick seeded 8th, Labriola took 6th, had 10 losses that season and was only the 10 seed at NCAA's, Venz took 3rd getting Pinned by Brooks and was the 7 seed at NCAA's and Schultz was their only Finalist finishing 2nd to Moore. Who out of all those guys truly would have matched the B1G placement at NCAA's? How many of them wouldn't even have placed? They had 10 guys place, but only 1 Finalist(2nd place).
Meanwhile, PSU still had Joseph(3x Finalist, 2x Champ) take 2nd, RBY(2x Champ, 3x AA) take 2nd, Lee(2x Champ 4x AA) take 2nd, Mark Hall 3x Finalist, 1x Champ) take 1st and Aaron Brooks(2x Champ so far) take 1st. Do you really think any of those 5 would have placed outside the top 4 at NCAA's? Even then, that still doesn't account for the possible points Rasheed likely would have scored.
I know this is a bit long, but it is REALLY important, because it SHOWS CLEARLY why PSU is such a good NCAA Tournament team. They CONSISTENTLY have 5 or so guys that are almost guaranteed to score big points at NCAA's. Once the field is made up of the top 33 guys, their cream stays at the top and most of their closest competition sinks a little bit to the field...
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