Four-way tie for third in B1G standings

IOWA CITY - With Michigan State's 72-66 win against Purdue on Wednesday night, there's a four-way tie for third place entering the Big Ten's final weekend.

Iowa, Purdue, Michigan State and Ohio State all boast 11-6 league records. The top two teams of the four-team group will receive double-byes for next week's Big Ten Tournament. Wisconsin and Maryland already have clinched the league's top two seeds.

But which team holds what tiebreakers among the four teams? Here's how the Big Ten determines the tiebreaker:

1. Results of head-to-head competition during the regular season.

a. When comparing records against the tied teams, the team with the higher winning percentage shall prevail, even if the number of games played against the team or group are unequal (i.e., 2-0 is better than 3-1, but 2-0 is not better than 1-0).

b. After the top team among the tied teams is determined, the second team is ranked by its record among the original tied teams, not the head-to-head record vs. the remaining team(s).

2. If the remaining teams are still tied, then each tied team's record shall be compared to the team occupying the highest position in the final regular-season standings, continuing down through the standings until one team gains an advantage.

a. When arriving at another pair of tied teams while comparing records, use each team's record against the collective tied teams as a group (prior to their own tiebreaking procedures), rather than the performance against the individual tied teams.

b. When comparing records against a single team or group of teams, the higher winning percentage shall prevail, even if the number of games played against the team or group are unequal (i.e., 2-0 is better than 3-1, but 2-0 is not better than 1-0).

3. Won-loss percentage of Division I opponents.

4. Coin toss conducted by Commissioner or designee.

Here are the teams' records against one another:

Michigan State 3-0 (One win over Iowa, Purdue, Ohio State)

Purdue 2-2 (One win over Iowa, one win over Ohio State, one loss to Ohio State, Michigan State)

Iowa 2-2 (Two wins over Ohio State, one loss to Michigan State, Purdue)

Ohio State 1-4 (One win over Purdue, two losses to Iowa, one loss to Michigan State, one loss to Purdue)

Here's who each team plays this weekend:

Michigan State

- at Indiana, 11 a.m. Saturday (ESPN)

Iowa

- vs. Northwestern, 11 a.m. Saturday (BTN)

Purdue

- vs. Illinois, 3:30 p.m. Saturday (BTN)

Ohio State

- vs. Wisconsin, 3:30 p.m. Sunday (CBS)

Here is the updated seeding order (updated):

If all four win (or lose) this weekend, Michigan State is third seed and Ohio State is seventh based on winning percentage. Purdue and Iowa remain tied and head-to-head doesn't matter. The tiebreaker goes to record against highest-seeded team, and Iowa would earn the fourth slot based on its win (and Purdue's loss) against Maryland.

Michigan State wins all tiebreakers among the teams.

Other scenarios:

Three-way tie among Michigan State, Purdue, Iowa: Michigan State (2-0) is seeded third, Purdue (1-1) fourth, Iowa (0-2) fifth

Three-way tie among Michigan State, Purdue, Ohio State: Michigan State (2-0) is third, Ohio State (1-2) fourth, Purdue (1-2) fifth, based on Ohio State's win against Maryland (or possibly Wisconsin this weekend)

Three-way tie among Michigan State, Iowa, Ohio State: Michigan State (2-0) is third, Iowa (2-1) fourth, Ohio State (0-3) fifth

Three-way tie among Purdue, Iowa, Ohio State: Iowa (2-1) is third, Purdue (2-1) is fourth, Ohio State (1-2) fifth

Two-way ties (Michigan State wins all):

Two-way tie between Iowa and Purdue: Purdue wins based on head-to-head win

Two-way tie between Iowa and Ohio State: Iowa wins based on season sweep

Two-way tie between Purdue and Ohio State: Ohio State wins based on beating Maryland (or possibly Wisconsin)

Here's the Big Ten Tournament schedule (at Chicago's United Center)

Wednesday, March 11

13 vs. 12, 3:30 p.m., ESPN2

11 vs. 14, 6 p.m., BTN

Thursday, March 12

8 vs. 9, 11 a.m., BTN

5 vs. 12/13, 1:30 p.m., BTN

10 vs. 7, 5:30 p.m., ESPN2

6 vs. 11/14, 8 p.m., ESPN2

Friday, March 13

1 vs. 8/9, 11 a.m., ESPN

4 vs. 5/12/13, 1:30 p.m., ESPN

2 vs. 7/10, 5:30 p.m., BTN

3 vs. 6/11/14, 8 p.m., BTN

Saturday, March 14

1/8/9 vs. 4/5/12/13, noon, CBS

2/7/10 vs 3/6/11/14, 2:30 p.m., CBS

Sunday, March 15

Championship game, 2:30 p.m., CBS

l Comments: (319) 339-3169; scott.dochterman@thegazette.com