B1G Softball Tournament bracket
#16 Michigan (43-10) will head to Madison later this week for the 2018 B1G Tournament.
Michigan is the 1 seed after winning the B1G Championship outright this past weekend when they took the series against Ohio State. This was the 20th B1G Championship in program history (leading the league all-time by a mile), and the 10th B1G Championship in the last 11 seasons for Michigan Softball.
The top-12 teams in the B1G make the tournament (sorry Rutgers and Penn State). The tournament is a single elimination crapshoot with the top-4 teams receiving First Round byes.
Michigan will practice on Thursday when the First Round begins, and will face the winner of the 8 MSU vs 9 Nebraska game. Michigan swept MSU this season, outscoring them 9-0 in both games with the first being a Meghan Beabuien no-hitter. The Wolverines did not face Nebraska this season (or last).
Michigan's Quarterfinal game on Friday will be at 5:30pm. The entire tournament will be on BTN.
Nebraska doesn't outhit us....
Is there a reason not all teams participate in the tournament?
yeah, the bottom 2 teams suck and don't deserve a post season bearth
You can play 4 games a day on a field without starting or ending at a ridiculous hour. If you invite all 14 teams, you would have to add a day. I think the 12-team tourney is just to keep things simple.
Really, they should just go to an 8-team tournament. I doubt they will, but they should.
This happened I believe 2 years ago also. IIRC, #2 seed Minnesota beat us in extra innings... I remember it being at Penn State's field. They should just start it Wednesday like the SEC and have the Championship alone on Sunday. Or either reduce the field or expand it to all 14 teams and give byes.
If the keys are completely in Beaubien's hands for the remainder of the season, as I suspect they will be, no break might be better. In softball, it might be better to just keep throwing straight through rather than have a break.
Making the trip. Hoping this weekend's weather forecast changes, A LOT.