Indiana University Athletics
Big Ten Brackets Set for Hoosiers
10/31/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Oct. 31, 2005
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Indiana women's soccer team clinched the sixth seed in the 2005 Big Ten Tournament, the league office announced on Saturday. The Hoosiers take on the No. 3 seed Michigan State in the first round on Thursday, Nov. 3, at 10:30 a.m. on Varsity Field in Ann Arbor, Mich.
After an interesting weekend in Big Ten conference action, the Hoosiers clinched the sixth seed in the tournament after it tied Purdue in its final regular season match, Wisconsin (3-6-1 Big Ten) defeated Northwestern, 1-0, (2-7-1 Big Ten) and Michigan State and Michigan finished knotted at 0-0. Wisconsin earned its berth with the loss while Michigan held onto its eighth-place slot with the tie.
Indiana finished in a three-way tie (Michigan, Wisconsin) for sixth place in the Big Ten, but wins in the regular season over Michigan and Wisconsin propelled IU over both schools in the seeding process.
Penn State earned the No. 1 seed for the second consecutive season with its second straight 10-0-0 mark in Big Ten play. Other quarterfinal pairings on Thursday have No. 2 seed Purdue (7-2-1 Big Ten) meeting No. 7 seed Wisconsin at 1:30 p.m., No. 4 seed Illinois (6-3-1) matching up against No. 5 seed Minnesota (6-4-0) at 4:30 p.m. and Penn State taking on Big Ten host and No. 8 seed Michigan in the nightcap.
The semifinals will be played Friday, Nov. 4, at 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and the tournament championship game is scheduled for noon on Sunday, Nov.6. The tournament winner will receive the Big Ten's automatic bid for the 64-team NCAA Championship.
Indiana will likely have to win the Big Ten Tournament title to earn its third overall NCAA berth. In 1996, IU went on to win the championships after it entered the tournament the No. 7 seed and defeated three ranked opponents (then-No.12 Penn State, then-No. 28 Northwestern, then-No.10 Wisconsin) en route to its first title.
