How has the Big Ten done in the NCAA Tournament this year? Not good…
It hasn’t been a bad NCAA Tournament for the Big Ten. It has been downright dismal for the conference.
Last season’s struggles by the Big Ten were well documented (two teams from the conference made the Sweet 16 with only one Big Ten team making the Elite Eight last year after sending nine teams to the NCAA Tournament).
This year, with eight teams in the March Madness, only one Big Ten team is making the Sweet 16. Indiana laid an egg on Sunday night against No. 5 Miami, meaning they won’t advance in the NCAA Tournament.
Michigan State is the Big Ten’s last standing team in the NCAA Tournament. They will play No. 3 Kansas State on Thursday.
Does this diminish the Big Ten, which led all conferences with eight teams in this year’s NCAA Tournament? Well, it certainly underscores that the conference doesn’t have a star program, a true blueblood, that can be the bellcow for the conference.
And while this has been a wacky tournament so far, it still isn’t a good look for the Big Ten to have just one team advance to the Sweet 16. Yes, the conference is deep but this has not been a good look for the Big Ten at all.
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A look at how the Big Ten has fared in the NCAA Tournament so far:
No. 1 Purdue (lost to No. 16 FDU in the first round)
No. 4 Indiana (beat No. 13 Kent State in the first round, lost to No. 5 Indiana in the second round)
No. 7 Michigan State (beat No. 10 USC in the first round, beat No. 2 Marquette, will play No. 3 Kansas State on March 23)
No. 7 Northwestern (beat No. 10 Boise State in the first round, lost to No. 2 UCLA in the second round)
No. 8 Iowa (lost to No. 9 Auburn in the first round)
No. 8 Maryland (beat No. West Virginia in the first round, lost to No. 1 Alabama in the second round)
No. 9 Illinois (lost to No. 8 Arkansas in the first round)
No. 10 Penn State (beat No. 7 Texas A&M in the first round, lost to No. 2 Texas in the second round)
