Was anyone else aware that next year's B1G tourney will be played a week earlier than usual, creating a 10+ day layoff between the B1G tourney and the NCAA tourney?
Smart schools should call a couple of the good (i.e. non-RPI destroying) mid-major teams in conferences that also finish early and see if they want a game on the Friday in between. I imagine Wichita St., Illinois St., Monmouth, etc. would jump at the chance. If I was the B1G commish, I'd try to arrange a "B1G / mid-major challenge" event on that Friday in, say, Chicago, inviting as many of the early, expected to be good mid-majors as possible. Play 4-5 games Thursday, 4-5 Friday, and even some on Saturday if you get enough takers. Your tourney locks get a chance to boost their seed, and a chance to play a non-conference team for practice, while the bubble teams get one more shot to boost their resume.