NCAA Tournament teams by conference: Big Ten leads the way with 9 teams

The 2021 NCAA Tournament features 68 teams from 11 conferences, with the Big Ten leading the way by putting the most teams into the Big Dance.

Now that the NCAA Tournament field is set, conferences can get going bragging to each other about which one reigns supreme.

This year, the Big Ten holds a hefty advantage over the rest, with nine teams in the NCAA Tournament.

The Big Ten placed more than half of their league’s teams in this year’s field, including No. 1 seeds Illinois and Michigan.

Ohio State and Iowa were No. 2 seeds while Purdue landed a No. 4 seed. Wisconsin ended up with a No. 9-seed. Rutgers and Maryland got No. 10 seeds on opposite sides of the bracket.

Michigan State will only make it to the Round of 64 if they beat fellow No. 11-seed UCLA in the First Four.

All told, that’s 64 percent of the conference.

The Big Ten and the Big 12 are strutting into the NCAA Tournament

However, the Big Ten can’t claim the highest percent of tournament teams. The Big 12 has 70 percent of their membership heading to Indianapolis, including Baylor as a No. 1.

Big 12 Tournament victors Texas came through with as a No. 3 along with Kansas and West Virginia.

The ACC also produced seven tournament teams while the SEC is bringing six. No. 4-seed Florida State is the loftiest representative from the former. No. 2-seed Alabama is tops from the SEC.

Somewhat surprising given the state of the conference, the Pac-12 secured five representatives. That’s the most for the “Conference of Champions” since 2016.

The bell of the ball is Gonzaga, one of two teams from the West Coast Conference dancing this year. The undefeated and top-seeded Bulldogs have big expectations to live up to this year.

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