Numbers not only lie, but they are also a great asset when it comes to proving a point.
Last week, the Big Ten was sitting pretty much while we waited for the start of March Madness. The overrated “basketball conference” annually felt proper, as some Big Ten fans and media members felt it was a slap in the face that Michigan State was playing in the top four, which is a complete game.
The Spartans No. 11 lost to UCLA No. 11 by 86-80 in overtime. It would be a forerunner of what was to come. Because in just five days, the conference that was in charge of having half (4) of the first eight seeds of the tournament was reduced to one that was all damn good.
With Michigan’s No. 1 win by 86-78 against LSU’s No. 8 Monday night, it means they are the last team to be found after Alabama’s No. 2 defeats Maryland’s No. 10, 96 – 77, in their second-round clash.
The conference with the number 10 in its name had nine teams in the tournament and has already dropped to one. In addition to the losses for Michigan State and Maryland, this is how the rest of the conference worked:
- Ohio State No. 2 lost to No. 15 Oral Roberts by 75-72 in the first round overtime
- Purdue’s No. 4 fell to No. 13 in North Texas 78-69 in the first round
- Illinois No. 1 was strangled by No. 8 Loyola 71-58 in the second round
- Wisconsin No. 9 was sent home by No. 1 Baylor 76-63 in the second round
- Rutgers No. 10 lost to Houston No. 2 by 63-60 on Sunday
- Iowa’s No. 2 was dismantled Monday by Oregon’s No. 7- 95-80
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Bilas is wrong. The word to describe this is “pathetic.” A week ago we were wondering if this would be the year the Big Ten finally burst in, as it has already been 21 years since a conference team won the NCAA tournament when the Spartans did it in 2000. Since then, the Big Ten has made 16 appearances in the Final Four. The Wolverines are the only hope of the conference to reach the 17th.
Since 2011, the highlight of the start of the college basketball season has been the Championship Classic, an annual series that includes four of the best programs in the country in Duke (ACC), Kentucky, (SEC), Kansas, (Big 12) , and Michigan State (Big Ten) play each other in three-year rotations.
Well, since it’s supposed to be an event for the “champions,” I think it’s time to get rid of the Big Ten.