Big 10 and the RPI

Well, since we are now more than halfway through the season, a lot of you may be wondering where the B10 schools rank in the current RPI index since it seems to play a big part in what teams are selected for the Big Dance.  As of this evening, the schools were ranked as follows:

     8-Michigan St., 19-Illinois, 22-Ohio St., 23-Wisconsin, 30-Minnesota, 37-Northwestern, 43-Purdue, 50-Michigan, 79-Iowa, 82-Penn St. and 181-Indiana.

Now what does all of this mean?  Well, by comparison, last year only four at-large teams ranked in the Top 40 did not make the tournament, due mainly to the fact that they had a poor strength of schedule or finished the season on a big losing streak.  The poorest ranked teams to get at-large bids were:  53-Vanderbilt, 54-St. Joseph's and 55-Kentucky.

If selections were made today, the B10 would have at least six teams in the tournament with two more on the bubble.  This is the best the conference has looked in many years with the lower echelon teams more than holding their own.  Northwestern's two quality wins this week have put them right up in the mix and they could pull off their first NCAA bid if they can continue to play the way they have.  What are your opinions of the RPI rankings, and how many B10 teams do you think can make the tournament.