The Big Ten season finale could have the Indiana men’s soccer team finishing either first or sixth for the conference tournament.
After the Northwestern match I detailed how Indiana no longer controlled its destiny to possibly win the Big Ten regular season, but now it is time to truly see the looming possibilities of where the Hoosiers could be.
The current Big Ten standings see Indiana at fourth (11 points) facing off against Rutgers on Sunday afternoon who sits at fifth (10 points) in the conference. The two other matches that have major implications are T-first Northwestern (13 points) at seventh-ranked Michigan (eight points), and T-first Penn State (13 points) at sixth-ranked Wisconsin (nine points).
A finish in the top three for Indiana requires a win from Rutgers so let’s take a look at the scenarios.
First place
Indiana will need lots of help if it wants the outright regular-season title as both Northwestern and Penn State would have to lose and Indiana would have to win. For a share of the title the Hoosiers would have to win and Penn State’s and Northwestern’s best result would have to be a tie.
Second place
A second-place finish would also require an Indiana victory over the Scarlet Knights that continues with some help. Either Northwestern or Penn State would have to lose while the other wins for the Hoosiers to overtake the losing school with a win over Rutgers.
Another scenario for second would include the Rutgers win and a win from either Penn State or Northwestern while the other draws their final match. This would force a tie for second place at 14 points.
Third place
If Indiana were to beat Rutgers and Northwestern and Penn State took down their opponents, the Hoosiers would finish in third place with 14 points behind the two winners at 16 points.
First place outright |
Share of first place |
Second place |
Second place |
Third place |
Indiana wins |
Indiana wins |
Indiana wins |
Indiana wins |
Indiana wins |
Penn State loses |
Penn State draws |
Northwestern or Penn State loses |
One of Northwestern or Penn State wins |
Northwestern wins |
Northwestern loses |
Northwestern draws |
Other of Northwestern or Penn State draws |
Penn State wins |
Fourth place
The rest of the scenarios begin to get more complicated as a win is out of the picture for Indiana to finish in fourth place or lower. The only scenario where fourth comes into play is a draw from Indiana and Rutgers as they would finish with 12 points, behind Penn State, Northwestern and Michigan State.
The other possibility of fourth place includes the draw and if Wisconsin were to win, then the Hoosiers and Badgers would tie at fourth place in the final standings.
Fifth place
Fifth place and beyond is when Indiana loses to Rutgers and sits at 11 points in the final standings. Pending a Hoosier loss, Wisconsin would have to draw or lose for Indiana to secure the fifth seed in the tournament where a tie for fifth could come from Michigan winning.
Sixth place
If Indiana were to lose to Rutgers, and Wisconsin were to beat Penn State, then Indiana would finish at sixth place in the final Big Ten standings. If Michigan were to win with this scenario then there would be a tie between the Wolverines and Hoosiers at the six spot.
Final thoughts
A lot is going to happen on Sunday afternoon for Big Ten soccer where three of the four games have major play in what the tournament seeding will be. The only game that has no factor is eighth-ranked Ohio State (seven points) taking on ninth-ranked Maryland (two points).
It is going to be a rollercoaster ride throughout the finale as the Hoosiers will only have to focus on themselves rather than the craze that surrounds them.
