Big Ten Network analyst Mark Dixon will provide analysis for the network's coverage of the Big Ten tournament semifinals on Thursday and final on Saturday at Byrd Stadium in College Park. The former Johns Hopkins midfielder, who can be followed on Twitter at @DixonLacrosse, offered his thoughts on a number of storylines related to the conference tournament.
How many teams from the Big Ten will qualify for the NCAA tournament?
That's a good question. When you're looking at the Big Ten, is that going to be a one-bid league? Or will there be a second team that is going to have enough of a resume to get in? When you're talking about conferences like the Colonial Athletic Association, I think that's a one-bid league. So I think there's probably more pressure on those four teams going in to win the tournament versus the Big Ten where you might have two bids. Of course, the Ivy League is another one. That's a potential two-bid conference and maybe even a three-bid conference. So I think there's excitement, but it's tempered with a decent amount of pressure for most of these teams.
How would you assess the strength of Johns Hopkins' profile for at-large berth in the NCAA tournament?
I'll tell you what they can't do. They cannot lose to Penn State on Thursday. They have to at least advance to the conference final and then see where things shake out. This is where a lot of other performances come into play. Look at the Ivy League. If Yale loses in the first round to Brown, what does that do to them? They have the same quality win as Johns Hopkins does with Maryland. Hopkins' strength of schedule is much better [at No. 6] than Yale's [at No. 29], but their RPIs are very, very similar [Yale at No. 12 and Johns Hopkins at No. 13]. If Brown loses in the first round, I think they're done. I don't see Brown getting into the tournament. And then you have Cornell and Princeton. So I think Hopkins' hopes depend upon what happens in the Ivy League tournament, and I think this week, Hopkins is a huge Towson fan because of that loss to Towson, to keep that RPI up a little higher. … For Hopkins, it's win out. You've got to win out. The most advantageous thing for them would be to win the Big Ten tournament. But if they don't, they have the win over Maryland and if they get to the Big Ten championship game, they've got a fair shot. But I think they're going to feel a whole lot better and a whole lot more secure if they win the Big Ten tournament.
Can Ohio State get an at-large bid if the team loses to Maryland in the semifinals?
I think they are in trouble, but they might have their 'Get out of jail free' card with that [13-11] win over Denver in the middle of March. We've seen it before. Penn beat Duke back in February [in 2011], and that was the biggest chip that got them into the tournament on Selection Sunday. [In 2010], Hofstra didn't even qualify for the CAA tournament, but quality wins got them into the NCAA tournament. Ohio State can do themselves a huge favor by beating Maryland, but if they don't, they still hold that big Denver chip. And they're big Towson fans this week. If Towson can win the CAA, that would give them two quality wins and boost their RPI up.