Coaches Think There Could Be 7 or 8 Big Ten Teams in NCAA Tourney

I've been trying to impress upon the FanHouse readers for a little while that the Big Ten is back to being a strong conference this year, but it seems to me the coaches are getting a bit ahead of -- or maybe too proud of -- themselves for it being early January.

Illinois coach Bruce Weber said as many as seven teams will play in the tournament. Michigan State coach Tom Izzo predicted as many as eight.

Alright, guys, step away from the microphone.

In order for a conference to get eight bids, there's going to have to be a ton of unusual circumstances. First of all, the top eight teams are going to have to basically win every single game over the bottom three. With Indiana and possibly Iowa, I could see that. Northwestern, though, has enough potential to win four or five conference games. Second of all, the teams must all have built stellar non-conference resumes, and Penn State, to name one, did not.

I agree that there's a strong top eight and a bit of a fall-off after that. Michigan State, Purdue, and Wisconsin will most certainly be getting in. You'd think Michigan, Illinois, and Minnesota will continue on their early season success and be serious contenders. Ohio State needs to right the ship without David Lighty, and Penn State is going to need to win a few of those close games -- instead of just playing Wisconsin close.

I'm a huge supporter of the Big Ten, but it's more realistic to believe six teams are getting in while two good ones -- one of them being Penn State -- are headed to the NIT.