Michigan State’s Tom Izzo was the last Big Ten coach to win a men’s national championship, beating Florida nearly 25 years ago in Indianapolis.
Time flies, and Izzo’s Spartans are once again the Big Ten’s best hope at ending the conference title drought, starting as a No. 2 seed against No. 15 Bryant in the South Region.
The Big Ten sends eight teams, including conference tournament champion Michigan and Illinois, to the NCAA men’s tournament in what was a relatively down year in terms of highly-ranked schools or nationally-known talent.
Parity, in the first year of the expanded, 18-team conference, apparently took its toll.
But in a league where coaches seemingly vie to be recognized as the fiercest defender of the conference’s true power, the 70-year-old Izzo once again took top billing after losing on Saturday to Wisconsin in the conference semifinals.
“So you know what it says? There’s a lot of damn good teams in this league,” Izzo said afterward. “I get a kick out of how they talk about eight teams getting in, 13 (from) another league (the SEC). I don’t think we ever get enough respect in this league, if you ask me.
“I’m not politically trying to set a stage for the (selection committee) people. But you go through this league and travel, like we travel, some of those teams from out West — I mean, Indiana, Ohio State, they played a lot of, I guess, their Quad 1 wins, whatever the hell that means. Let’s get the analytics in. It really upset me.”
Well, it doesn’t take much to upset Izzo, which is why it’s hard to root against the old-school coach in the TikTok era. As it turned out, 14 of the 16 SEC teams were selected by the committee, so you can imagine the outrage from the Big Ten teams that were snubbed — which means you, Indiana.
But the Big Ten was inferior to the SEC during the regular season, according to conference rankings based on things like Quad 1 wins, so it’s hard to buy their argument. A brick-laying performance by Michigan and Wisconsin in Sunday’s title game didn’t help matters. It was not a great day for the Big Ten.
We’ll soon find out whether the conference’s biggest backers have a legitimate beef.
But for those trying to fill out their brackets this week, here are the Big Ten’s contenders and pretenders heading into March Madness.
Contenders
Michigan State
Freshman Jase Richardson, the 19-year-old son of Jason Richardson, and Joliet’s Jeremy Fears Jr. lead the Spartans into the tournament, hoping to bring Izzo his second national championship. If they take care of business, the Spartans figure to face Auburn, the top seed in the field, for a berth in the Final Four in San Antonio. As tough as Auburn has been, it lost in the SEC semifinals, and could be beaten if Michigan State plays up to its talent level.
Maryland
The fourth-seeded team in the West Region, the Terrapins face No. 13 Grand Canyon in the first round. They lost back-to-back games on a West Coast swing to Washington and Oregon to fall to 1-3 in the Big Ten, then went on a tear, winning 14 of 17 games until losing to Michigan in the Big Ten conference semifinals. Maryland’s last four losses were on a buzzer-beating, overtime jumper by Northwestern’s Nick Martinelli, a three-point loss to Ohio State on Bruce Thornton’s 3 with 7.4 seconds left, a three-point loss to Michigan State on Tre Holloman’s buzzer-beating half-court heave, and Saturday’s one-point loss to Michigan on Tre Donaldson’s length-of-the-court layup with .04 seconds left. As long as they don’t run into a team led by a player named Tre in the tournament, the Terrapins should be OK.
Michigan
First-year head coach Dusty May fended off rumors he would replace Mike Woodson at his alma mater, Indiana, then signed an extension on Feb. 21 for a higher salary and more NIL money. The Wolverines, coming off an 8-24 season that cost Juwan Howard his job, were ranked No. 15 until a three-game losing streak to Illinois, Maryland and Michigan State. But they rebounded in the tournament, culminating in Sunday’s win over Wisconsin. Their two big men, Vladislav Goldin and Glencoe’s Danny Wolf, a transfer from Yale, will have to step up if the Wolverines hope to make it past a probable second-round matchup against Texas A&M.
Pretenders
Illinois
When last seen in the NCAA tournament, the Illini were hanging with UConn in their Elite Eight showdown last March at TD Garden in Boston, until the Huskies scored 25 straight points to start the second half. It was part of a 30-0 run that gave eventual champion UConn a 77-52 win and sent the Illini players packing.
“Well, I think … I didn’t expect that,” coach Brad Underwood said.
Who did?
Underwood also didn’t expect the Illini to go backward in 2024-25, in spite of losing Terrence Shannon Jr. to the NBA and several other players to the transfer portal.
“Should we slip? Shame on you,” Underwood said to a reporter last March after their season-ending loss to UConn. ‘We’re not going anywhere.”
Coleman Hawkins went to Kansas State. Luke Goode stayed in the conference at Indiana. And Dain Dainja transferred to Memphis, where he helped lead the Tigers to a No. 5 seed in this year’s tourney. Underwood was back with a new crew, which included precocious freshman Kasparas Jakucionis, and sophomore big man Tomislav Ivišić.
Underwood said in late January his Illini “can be a Final Four” team if it could overcome injuries. Illinois reeled off four straight wins going into the conference quarterfinals, before being waylaid by Maryland. They still earned a No. 6 seed in the Midwest Region, and will play the winner of the Texas-Xavier game in Milwaukee, a “home court” advantage. A second-round matchup against No. 3 Kentucky in Milwaukee is doable, but this Illini team has shown it could go either way, depending on its energy level and its coaching.
Wisconsin
The East Region’s third-seeded Badgers are a hard team to figure out. They looked like the real deal in the conference semifinals, when John Tonje, who spent four years at Colorado State and one year at Missouri, scored 32 points in an upset of Michigan State. But then Tonje disappeared against Michigan, shooting 1-for-15 from the field in a 59-53 loss. Wisconsin shot 22.1% in the title game, and 17.9% (7-of-39) from 3-point range. At least the Badgers have a relatively easy bracket, and should cruise past Montana in their opener in Denver.
Purdue
Purdue finally made it to the title game last year, ending years of postseason choking, including the stunning loss to No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson in the first round of the 2023 tournament. The much-scrutinized big man, 7-4 Zach Edey, and guard Braden Smith silenced all doubters. But the Boilermakers failed to end the Big Ten title drought, losing 75-60 to UConn despite Edey’s 37 points. Smith returned in 2024-25 and was instrumental in Purdue’s continued dominance through the bulk of the conference schedule. They were 19-5 and 11-1 in the Big Ten after a Feb. 7 win over USC, looking like a top seed again. But Purdue lost four straight and six of its last nine games, including Friday’s quarterfinal drubbing by Michigan in the Big Ten tournament, to fall to a No. 4 seed. Coach Matt Painter must find a quick solution or another first-round flop against High Point of the Big South Conference is distinctly possible.
Oregon/ UCLA
The two refugees of the Pac 12 distinguished themselves in their first year of the Big Ten, but not enough to be considered championship material. No. 5 seed Oregon might cruise past No. 12 Liberty in the East Region, but beating likely second-round opponent Arizona or top-seeded Duke if they do advance is improbable. UCLA, a No. 7 seed in the Midwest, faces Utah State, but then comes the reckoning— No. 2 Tennessee in the second round. If the SEC is as good as advertised, it should be a short tournament for the Bruins.
