I gulped when they said that last night. Michigan State in 2000 was last winner and Michigan in 1989 before that. Maybe the B1G is as overrated as fans from other conferences say. I always thought it was the best or in the top 2 of basketball conferences. Maybe top to bottom it is, but not winning it all is surprising. I wonder how we rank with Final Four appearances and Power Five out of conference games. Just a bit surprised. I guess I haven’t been paying attention.
B1G hasn’t won in 24 years!
- Thread starter trotter
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(1) Results from 2002 or even 2022 are not particularly relevant to what conference is strong. It's something that changes every year.
(2) Championships are not really a good way to measure strength of a multi-team group.
(2) Championships are not really a good way to measure strength of a multi-team group.
it certainly isnt a good stat.
this has been covered a lot over the years.
the BigTen IS a very tough league - year after year it is VERY DEEP. as been very deep the last few years in particular. but very few ELITE teams.
this year is the PERFECT example of this. The Big10 was very deep with only Michigan being the 1 really bad team. Heck even we were a bubble team with before the end-year tanking.
BUT the league really only had 1 ELITE team - and that was Purdue which made it to the finals.
this has been covered a lot over the years.
the BigTen IS a very tough league - year after year it is VERY DEEP. as been very deep the last few years in particular. but very few ELITE teams.
this year is the PERFECT example of this. The Big10 was very deep with only Michigan being the 1 really bad team. Heck even we were a bubble team with before the end-year tanking.
BUT the league really only had 1 ELITE team - and that was Purdue which made it to the finals.
Illinois was a very good team that could have advanced playing any other team not named UConn.
Put it in perspective . Since 2000 the BiG 10 has put 9 teams in the championship game and lost the last 8. It is also different teams throughout the conference that have been good enough to win 5 but not 6 games in March Madness. I do not think another conference has done that. The flame outs of Purdue and Illinois in the past 2-3 years in earlier rounds has exacerbated the perception but top to bottom it has been strong. The last 2 years not as strong and just top heavy but it will cycle back. In order to win the championship you also have to get lucky and the luck has not happened.
Yes, agreed 100%.
"Strength" of a conference doesn't really have a single definition so reasonable people can disagree without even disagreeing on how good the teams within the conference are. I prefer measures that look at the entirely of the conference including the bottom; by these measures the Big Ten has been very strong in recent years. But you could reasonably prefer a more top-weighted measure; I haven't checked but I imagine the Big Ten would have fared somewhat worse using those metrics.
The real win is that the Big Ten is strong enough where it matters, i.e. prestige, popularity, and TV contracts, that none of this really matters. It's a solid power conference in both sports that matter; whether it ranks 1st or 4th or whatever in terms of actual strength of the teams in any given year is something that was more relevant to a perpetually disrespected conference like the old Big East (in football). Which, by the way, was not nearly as weak as people made it out to be and almost never ranked as the weakest power conference when looking at the full conference. But it had similar perception issues due to lack of elite teams.
Big ten teams usually don’t get tons of McDonald’s all Americans or 5 star recruits which hurts. Surprisingly we’re the school that breaking that trend.
I've made this point myself multiple times. Glass half full = we have a ridiculous amount of teams that have made the championship game. MSU, Michigan, Indiana, Purdue, Illinois, Wisconsin and Ohio State.
And MSU won the last one but Maryland (while an ACC school) won it all themselves.
And of course we have a bonafide blueblood in UCLA plus friends coming in next year.
You are correct about TV, prestige and money. Excellent point!
The Big 10 has become one of the more physical leagues. By March, that takes a toll. So teams that play more of a finesse game with great offenses tend to do better in the tournament.
It was a good point by @goru7 that the BiG 10 has put 9 teams in the championship game since 2000. It does put the drought in better perspective. But when there are only 6 power conferences, just by the law of averages, you should have four championships in that timeframe. So the current streak is no bueno.
It was a good point by @goru7 that the BiG 10 has put 9 teams in the championship game since 2000. It does put the drought in better perspective. But when there are only 6 power conferences, just by the law of averages, you should have four championships in that timeframe. So the current streak is no bueno.
Similar types of posts were written about Big football and we know who won the national championship this year. By the way with the new teams in the league that stat will probably change . Reality-- and I believe this--- being in the Big or SEC Is a bigger reward than winning the Ncaa tourney. As I said Uconn would give away their first born to be in the Big.And their viability to maintain their progrsms begs for a change.
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The best argument about the BIG being stronger than it is given credit for is besides MSU (3x championship game appearances, 1x champ) and Michigan (2x) - all the other BIG appearances since 2000 are by distinct teams.
If we can't count Maryland's championship while in the ACC, then let's throw out Louisville's (vacated) title when they were in the Big East, Butler's two appearances pre Big East, and Cuse's pre-ACC title. What's left?
Uconn 5x
Nova 2x
BEAST > 7x. 2 distinct teams.
Kentucky 2x
Florida 3x
SEC > 5x. 2 distinct teams.
Kansas 4x
Baylor 1x
Texas Tech 1x
BIG 12 > 6x. 3 distinct teams.
UNC 5x
Duke 3x
Virginia 1x
Ga Tech 1x
ACC > 10x. 4 distinct teams.
UCLA 1x
Arizona 1x
PAC > 2x. 2 distinct teams.
And then you have Gonzaga 2x, SDSU 1x, and Memphis 1x.
I'm not saying the Big Ten is the best conference it clearly isn't. But clear to me it's pretty solid throughout unlike a lot of top heavy conferences.
Since '00 the B1G is 0-6 in NCAAT title games. Not FF games, but 0-6 in the Championship game. '07 (OSU), '09 (MSU), '13 (UM), '15 (UW), '18 (UM) and now '24 (PU). All lost the Championship game. A team from the league hasn't won it all in way too long, but the B1G has come pretty darn close a few times since '00.
There are many b1g teams I’d root against…Purdue I’m neutral on…this was their window. 🤷🏻♂️
B1G teams I’d never ever root for unless they play ut-asstin or notre lame.
Osu, UM, State Penn, turtles, ill, Iowa, minny, ducks, Trojans, ucla, uw
I wish every bad athletic outcome, to all those programs
B1G teams I’d never ever root for unless they play ut-asstin or notre lame.
Osu, UM, State Penn, turtles, ill, Iowa, minny, ducks, Trojans, ucla, uw
I wish every bad athletic outcome, to all those programs
The B1G is literally the only conference I feel that isn't all Kumbaya with each other in bowl season or the CFP or March Madness like the hick southerners in the SEC or the Catholics in the BE. And honestly, I like it that way.
A big missing piece for the big ten come tournament time is guard play. Last night UConn top three guards scored 46 pts, Purdue’s top three guards had 14, There was a huge difference between the skill and offensive capability of UConn’s guards. Big ten has been a big man dominated league (4’s&5’s). Come tournament time scoring guards (multiple) are the key, and you need more than one.
Very good point !
Since we joined the conference 10 years or so, I was constantly startled that recruiting elite talent (5 stars as well as 4 stars) lagged behind in the Big 10 compared to most power conferences.
I don't know the reason for this in the past (possibly too many clean programs in the Big 10 not providing paper bags with money to recruits / conservative offenses in Big 10 /lack of Top Notch BB Elite Programs such as a Duke / UNC / Kentucky / UConn etc that entices a recruit etc).
You'd watch a HS All Star game and there were very few kids going / committed to Big 10 schools.
Whether this has an impact on winning a title is debatable - but it doesn't help.
I'm hoping / optimistic that with NIL / Transfer portal etc - it sort of evens out the playing field via eliminating the shady stuff (a la SEC etc)
Ironically this year, the Big 10 is proportionately represented well with 5 *'s / high 4*s etc - with Us / Sparty / Maryland / Illinois and Indiana all having a high recruit (s) committed.
Regardless, not winning a title in 24 years is not a good look for the league albeit in defense of the conference we have had many teams / schools make the final 4 / championship game in the past 24 years only to unfortunately fall short.
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Since 1999, Connecticut has 6 national championships and all of the Big Ten teams together only have 1, Michigan State in 2000. Not counting Maryland in 2002 because they were in the ACC.
Like someone said, not a good look for the Big Ten. Was hoping Purdue would win this year.
Now UConn has to shift their attention to their dogshit football program that went 3-9 with a Mickey Mouse schedule. We would go 10-2 if we played their schedule last year.
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