Monday night’s Horizon League results guaranteed that the Green Bay Phoenix will be playing in the play-in round in Detroit to start Motor City Madness on March 2nd.
IUPUI’s 74-67 home win over Oakland improved the Jaguars conference record to 7-9 meaning that even if they lose their final two games of the season – home games against Wright State and Northern Kentucky – they can finish no worse than 7-11. Green Bay (5-11) can finish no better than 7-11 with IUPUI owning the tiebreaker due to the season sweep over the Phoenix.
The Jaguars are currently fifth while Milwaukee (7-9) is sixth. The Panthers and Phoenix split this season but Milwaukee owns the tiebreaker having swept Wright State this season while Green Bay went 0-2 against the Raiders.
If Green Bay (5-11) were to win their final two games of the regular season – at Oakland on Thursday and at Detroit Mercy on Saturday – the best they can finish is 7th since, in this scenario, they would own any tiebreaker over Youngstown State since Green Bay would have swept Oakland while the Penguins split the season series.
Cleveland State (5-12) will jump Green Bay into 8th if the Phoenix do not win both games this weekend and the Vikings beat Youngstown State since CSU owns the tiebreaker by virtue of their season split with UIC.
Green Bay can slip to 10th if they lose both games this weekend while Cleveland State beats Youngstown State and Detroit Mercy (4-12) also beats Milwaukee on Thursday in addition to the Phoenix on Saturday.
Photo: Regina H. Boone / Detroit Free Press
The Horizon League Tournament kicks off at 4:30 PM on Friday, March 2nd at Little Ceasers Arena in Detroit with the #7 seed taking on the #10 seed followed by the #8 seed against the #9 seed.
The winner of the 10 v 7 game would face the #2 seed the next night at 4:00 PM while the other winner would face the #1 seed at 6:30 PM in what are considered quarterfinal games with the winners advancing to the semifinals.
Horizon League Tournament Bracket
The other quarterfinal games (#6 vs #3, #5 vs #4) take place on Sunday, March 4 with the semifinals taking place on Monday, March 5th. The championship game is scheduled for 6:00 PM on Tuesday, March 6.
Green Bay will be worse than a 6 seed for the first time since 2012 when they were a 7 seed. It will be just the 6th time since joining the Horizon League in 1995 that the Phoenix are not a top six seed in the conference tournament.
The Phoenix reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time in twenty years as the #4 seed during the first ever Motor City Madness back in 2016. Green Bay lost in the first round to UIC last season as the #3 seed.
| Conf | Conf | Conf | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | School | W | L | W-L% |
| 1 | Wright State | 13 | 3 | .813 |
| 1 | Northern Kentucky | 13 | 3 | .813 |
| 3 | Illinois-Chicago | 12 | 4 | .750 |
| 4 | Oakland | 9 | 7 | .563 |
| 5 | Milwaukee | 7 | 9 | .438 |
| 5 | IUPUI | 7 | 9 | .438 |
| 7 | Youngstown State | 6 | 11 | .353 |
| 8 | Green Bay | 5 | 11 | .313 |
| 9 | Cleveland State | 5 | 12 | .294 |
| 10 | Detroit Mercy | 4 | 12 | .250 |
Remaining games:
2/22 – Milwaukee at Detroit Mercy
2/22 – Green Bay at Oakland
2/23 – Wright State at IUPUI
2/23 – Northern Kentucky at UIC
2/24 – Green Bay at Detroit Mercy
2/24 – Milwaukee at Oakland
2/24 – Cleveland State at Youngstown State
2/25 – Northern Kentucky at IUPUI
2/25 – Wright State at UIC
Categories: News and Notes
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