Maryland basketball likely earns Big Ten No. 3 seed with win at Indiana, or by getting help

It's a special edition of the Maryland Minute for March's first Friday.

Big Ten seeding

The Maryland men's basketball team has a pretty simple outlook ahead. If the Terps beat Indiana in Bloomington on Sunday, they'll be the No. 3 seed in the Big Ten conference tournament. (And in the unlikely event Michigan State loses to Ohio State, such a scenario would bounce the Terps from their current third-place spot up to No. 2.)

If the Terps lose to Indiana, their fate hinges on other games. If Iowa beats Michigan and Purdue beats Wisconsin, the Terps would keep the No. 3 seed even with a loss. If Michigan and Purdue win, a Terps loss will drop Maryland to No. 4.

If Iowa and Wisconsin win, Maryland also drops to No. 4.

The only scenario that possibly wrenches this, which I'd initially missed and was brought to my attention in the comments, is if Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State and Wisconsin all win. That would leave Maryland in a three-way tie with two teams (Wisconsin and Michigan State) who would beat it in a round robin. Other three- and four-way ties are more amenable to the Terps' cause.

Still, for likely intents and purposes, it's simple: Win, or root for both the Wolverines and Boilermakers. (I'm ardently rooting for Maryland to finish with the No. 3 seed, because avoiding the fourth slot means an evening start time on Friday and makes traveling a lot easier.)

Play around with more seeding scenarios here.

Maryland beat Illinois on Thursday

We did a lot on this. Here goes:

On Maryland basketball's senior night, Jake Layman goes out with a bang - Testudo Times
The Terps' longest-tenured contributor got a night in the spotlight.

Maryland got the Melo Trimble it's used to against Illinois - Testudo Times
Melo Trimble stepped up his performance in the team's final home game of the season.

Maryland basketball found a shooting stroke in win vs. Illinois - Testudo Times
The advanced stats review.

Instant reaction: Jake Layman and Melo Trimble shine in Maryland's win vs. Illinois - Testudo Times
Our Facebook Live segment on Maryland's win.

DJ Durkin gets a 2017 football commit

Tight end Andrew Park commits to Maryland: Terps land first commit of 2017 football class - Testudo Times
It's that time again, after about a month of it not being that time.

Elsewhere

With new stadium name, Maryland tries to reconcile its segregationist past – VICE Sports
I did a lot of reporting on the Byrd Stadium name for a freelance assignment at VICE. I hope you'll give it a read.