Predicting how many Big Ten teams will make the NCAA Tournament

While the Nebraska Cornhuskers are looking more and more like a lock for the NCAA Tournament, it's probably time to look and see how many Big Ten teams are going to join them in the big dance.

There are a couple of course that are obviously going to make it in. The Purdue Boilermakers and the Illinois Fighting Illini seem about as "in" as teams can be. Purdue is often even talked about as the top seed overall.

Even while the Illini have struggled a bit down the stretch, they're still ranked in the top 25 and look like a team that is going to have a #2 or #3 seed. The real question is how many teams after those two, and of course, the Nebraska Cornhuskers are going to make the tournament and represent the Big Ten.

Predicting how many Big Ten teams will make the NCAA Tournament

The team that would technically be the fourth team to make the big dance is none other than the Northwestern Wildcats. There was a time when the team from Evanston was one of the worst programs in college basketball.

Suddenly, the Wildcats are going to the dance every single season. It now appears that Northwestern at 9 seeds in most people's bracket predictions. That definitely has them solidly in.

After Purdue, Illinois, Northwestern, and Nebraska, that's where things get interesting.

At the moment, the Michigan State Spartans are also considered in and usually a #9 seed. They're joined by the Wisconsin Badgers who are generally seen as #5 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, despite some losses to end the season.

At the moment, that's where the Big Ten teams stop. The Iowa Hawkeyes are finishing the season strong enough that they have gotten into the NCAA Tournament conversation. At the moment, they still seem like they're on the outside looking in.

That means the final tally of Big Ten teams making the tourney is six. That's a bit less than usual, but not to a ridiculous degree by any stretch.