By Woodrow Carroll
Likely no event gives the sports public more fertile grounds for discussion than the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) Division I men’s basketball tournament; not even the Super Bowl, although many fans may take exception.
Sixty-eight teams were selected for the 2022 NCAA men’s tournament which runs March 15-April 4.. Our backyard Conference, the Big Ten, has nine schools in the tournament. Clearly, it was a good season for the Big Ten. All 14 teams in ended with winning won-loss records against non-conference opposition with the exception of Nebraska. The Cornhuskers were 10-22 overall and 4-16 in Conference, 6-6 against outside opposition. Nonetheless. Nebraska won its last three Conference games, two against elite Ohio State and Wisconsin.
Indiana likely was the final Big Ten team selected in the NCAA tournament field. The Hoosiers, 20-13 overall, were only 9-11 in Conference.
However, no Big Ten team has been more successful historically in the NCAA tournament than Indiana. The Hoosiers won national championships in 1940, 1953, 1976, 1981, and 1987. Other than Michigan State, which won national championships in both 1979 and 2000, no Big Ten school has laid claim to the top prize more than once.
Those one-time champions are Wisconsin (1941), Ohio State (1960), and Michigan (1989).
Maryland won the national tournament championship in 2002 prior to joining the Big Ten. Indiana lost to Maryland in the championship game.
The modern NCAA Tournament started in 1939. Northwestern played host to the final that year with Oregon taking the championship.
The Big Ten championship game Sunday, March 15 found Purdue seeded No. 3 against No. 5 Iowa. Iowa won, 75-66. Purdue ended the regular season with a won-loss record of 27-6 overall, 14-6 in Conference and unblemished 13-0 in non-conference. Big Ten champion Iowa was 25-9 overall and(12-8 in the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes’ lone non-conference defeat was 73-53 to Iowa State.
Perhaps Illinois and Wisconsin were victims of knowing that NCAA Tournament berths were theirs, regardless of what they did in the Big Ten tournament. Illinois, No. 1 seeded, and No. 2 Wisconsin were virtual tournament bid locks.
The seeding of Big Ten teams is revealing. Yes, nine Big Ten teams were selected, however,, two of those schools, Indiana and Rutgers, were in the First Four for early games They likely were among the last teams to be picked for the tournament.
Iowa and Purdue each was seeded No. 3, the highest-rated teams among the nine Big Ten schools. They have similar tournament histories:
• In 1956, Iowa reached the NCAA championship game played at Northwestern University only to fall, 83-71, to Bill Russell-led San Francisco.
• In 1969, Purdue made it to the championship game. Waiting for the Boilermakers was UCLA with Lew Alcindor, later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. UCLA won, 92-72.
Both No. 4 Illinois and No. 10 Chicago Loyola ended up in the South Region. Illinois drew No. 13 Chattanooga for its tournament opener at 5:50 p.m. Friday. Chattanooga is a member of the Southern Conference and was both regular season and Conference tournament champion. Chattanooga, known as the Mocs, short for Moccasins, will confront Illinois with a 27-4 record.
Loyola has drawn an opponent Big Ten followers are familiar with in Ohio State. The Buckeyes, 19-11 overall and 12-8 in the Big Ten, will enter Friday’s 11:15 a.m. game on a two-game losing streak. Loyola, 25-7 and 13-5, is fresh off winning the Missouri Valley Conference tournament championships.. A Loyola victory should shock nobody.
One could build a story around every team in the tournament. It is time for observers and fans to. sit back and enjoy the action!