Big Ten Baseball Scenarios Heading Into The Final Day of Games

The final day of the Big Ten Conference baseball season is here and there remains plenty to play for.

The conference crown is up for grabs, seeding can shift for next week's tournament, and the field for Omaha is not yet set. Before delving into all of that, here are the current standings with one day to go.

*Eliminated from playing in the Big Ten Conference Tournament

Tiebreaker for Seeding

As a number of teams will be tied by record, here are the tiebreakers for seeding from the Big Ten website.

1. If two teams are tied in the final regular season standings, the following tiebreaker shall be used to determine the automatic qualifier and/or higher seed in the conference tournament:


a. If the tied teams have not played each other as part of the conference schedule, move to the next step in the tiebreaker process. If the two teams played each other as part of the conference schedule, the winner of the game or series of

the games between the two tied teams shall automatically qualify for the tournament and/or earn the higher seed.


b. If the teams are still tied, the team with the best winning percentage against Big Ten common opponents within the conference schedule shall automatically qualify for the tournament and/or earn the higher seed.


c. If the teams are still tied, the team with the best overall RPI, per

warrennolan.com at the conclusion of NCAA Baseball competition on the Saturday prior to the start of the conference tournament, shall automatically qualify for the tournament and/or earn the higher seed.

2. If three or more teams are tied in the final regular season standings, the following tiebreaker procedure shall be implemented to determine the automatic qualifier(s)
and/or higher seed in the conference tournament:


a. If all the tied teams have not played each other as part of the conference schedule, the tie may be considered broken if a team has swept all other teams within the tie. If three or more teams are tied and they have all played each other as part of the conference schedule, the team(s) with the best winning percentage(s) in these head-to-head games shall automatically qualify for the tournament and/or earn the higher seed.


b. If three or more teams are still tied, the team(s) with the best winning percentage(s) against Big Ten common opponents within the conference schedule shall automatically qualify for the tournament and/or earn the higher seed.


c. If three or more teams are still tied, the team(s) with the best overall RPI, per warrennolan.com at the conclusion of NCAA Baseball competition on the Saturday prior to the start of the conference tournament, shall automatically qualify for the tournament and/or earn the higher seed.

Big Ten Regular-Season Crown

Iowa, Oregon, and UCLA are all in the mix for at least a share of the regular-season conference title. If UCLA beats Northwestern, the Bruins win a share of the crown with the winner of the Oregon-Iowa game.

As far as seeding for next week goes, the Ducks hold the tiebreaker over UCLA so a win gives them the 1-seed regardless of what happens in Los Angeles. If the Hawkeyes and Bruins are tied atop the standings, the tiebreaker moves to winning percentage against common Big Ten opponents. In that regard, both teams played Indiana, Nebraska, Northwestern, Oregon, and Washington, and the win percentages would be .600 for Iowa and .733 for UCLA, giving the top seed to the Bruins.

Seeding Shifts

There is a potential five-way tie at 15-15 coming today. If both Michigan and Rutgers lose and Illinois and Nebraska win, those four will be tied with Penn State for the 7 through 11 seeds. At that point, more math than I'm willing to do comes into play and we would await the Big Ten's announcement.

Elsewhere, the winner of USC-Washington earns the 4-seed, regardless of any other result. The loser of the game becomes the 5-seed, as both the Trojans and the Huskies hold the tiebreaker over the Hoosiers. Indiana would look up the 6-seed with a win over Michigan.

Last Teams In

Only one spot remains up for grabs for the field heading to Omaha next week. Currently, Northwestern holds the position at 13-16, but Michigan State is close at 12-17. The Spartans hold the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Wildcats, so a Northwestern loss to UCLA plus a Michigan State win over Minnesota would propel MSU to Omaha and send NU home early.

Below are the games on tap for the final day of play on the Big Ten regular season.

• Xavier at Penn State 12 p.m. CDT*
• Illinois at Ohio State 12 p.m. CDT
• Indiana at Michigan 12 p.m. CDT
• Rutgers at Maryland 12 p.m. CDT
• Minnesota at Michigan State 12 p.m. CDT
• Nebraska at Purdue 1 p.m. CDT
• Oregon at Iowa 1:05 p.m. CDT
• Northwestern at UCLA 3 p.m. CDT
• USC at Washington 3:05 p.m. CDT

*Penn State's final Big Ten series was last weekend

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