The opening round of the Big Ten tournament is in the books and both Michigan and Michigan State remain in play for NCAA bids.

MSU, by all guestimations, locked up a tourney spot with Thursday's 62-57 win over Northwestern. It wasn't pretty, and ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi actually bumped MSU down a seed (to a 10) in his latest bracket, but there are no bad losses on the resume and enough other good things (a murderous schedule, plus wins over BYU, Wisconsin and Texas) to earn the Spartans an invite. Friday's quarterfinal rematch with the Badgers still is for seeding. If they lose, expect an 8, 9 or 10 seed Sunday night. If they win, a 6, 7 or 8 is more likely.

Michigan is on the outside looking in for now and needs to beat Ohio State today to have a case for inclusion. The Wolverines are clearly behind Illinois and Purdue in the pecking order, but unlike fellow bubble teams like Clemson and Missouri State still can play their way in.

It'll be interesting to see how the committee views some of Thursday's big losers. Georgia Tech and Duke fell in the ACC tournament, West Virginia lost a double-overtime nipper to Louisville, Alabama got bounced from the SEC playoffs and Syracuse lost to Notre Dame. All those teams left Michigan with a ray of hope, now it's up to the Wolverines to capitalize.