For those unfamiliar with swimming terminology, the concept of “Ups” and “Downs” is a good way to track which teams performed best at prelims. In prelims, swimmers qualify for one of three finals heats: the top 8 finishers make the A final, places 9 through 16 the B final and places 17 through 24 the C final. In finals, swimmers are locked into their respective final, meaning a swimmer in the B heat (spots 9-16) can only place as high as 9th or as low as 16th, even if they put up the fastest or slowest time of any heat in the final.
With that in mind, we’ll be tracking “Ups,” “Mids” and “Downs” after each prelims session. “Up” refers to swimmers in the A final, “Mid” to swimmers in the B final and “Down” to swimmers in the C final.
2016 Big Ten Men’s Championships
- Wednesday, February 24 – Saturday, February 27
- Boilermaker Aquatic Center, West Lafayette, IN (Eastern Time Zone)
- Prelims 11AM / Finals 6:30PM (Eastern Time)
- Defending Champion: Michigan (5x) (results)
- Live results
- Live Video ($)
- Championship Central
Indiana leads all Big Ten teams with 9 A finalists heading into the final night of action at the 2016 Big Ten Championships.
That total includes the 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast and 200 fly, with the 1650 free, platform diving and 400 free relays still to be added into tonight’s point totals.
Though that prelims performance probably won’t be enough for the Hoosiers to catch a Michigan program that put 7 up, it should help IU in its battle with Ohio State for second place.
Michigan leads by almost 150 points coming out of night 3, and with a league-high 17 scoring swims plus the top returning miler in PJ Ransford, the Wolverines should have plenty of ammunition to cap their 6th-straight title tonight.
Indiana, meanwhile, trails Ohio State by just 10.5, but hold almost double the A finalists of the Buckeyes – 9 to 5. Ohio State is set up well on depth, though, with 16 scoring swims to Indiana’s 14, setting up what should be a solid showdown tonight.
Also keep an eye on the battle for fourth, with Minnesota (9 scoring swims tonight) leading Wisconsin (10 scoring swims) and Purdue (11 scoring swims) after night 3.
Day 4 Ups/Mids/Downs
| Up | Mid | Down | |
| Indiana | 9 | 2 | 3 |
| Michigan | 7 | 8 | 2 |
| Ohio State | 5 | 7 | 4 |
| Wisconsin | 5 | 2 | 3 |
| Minnesota | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Purdue | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| Iowa | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| Northwestern | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Michigan State | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Penn State | 0 | 0 | 4 |