For a proud basketball conference like the Big Ten, winning the NCAA Tournament is a sign of respect that the league feels it needs to regain. Among the power conferences, the Big Ten is riding the longest active drought of producing a national champion, dating back to 2000 when Tom Izzo and the Michigan State Spartans cut down the nets.
Izzo's Spartans are the Big Ten's best shot this season after a strong regular season showcased their depth and ability to defend at an elite level. There are also other Big Ten schools with a shot at a deep run, like Purdue and Michigan, while the Big Ten Tournament showcased some high-level basketball over the past week.
How many Big Ten teams made the NCAA Tournament?
Despite the influx of four new former Pac-12 schools to increase their ranks to 18, the Big Ten has gotten just under half its teams into the field with 8. There were some close calls at the end with Indiana and Ohio State, but 13 Quad 1 losses (for the Hoosiers) and a very bad fade down the stretch (for the Buckeyes) cost those teams a March Madness ticket.
2025's bid total is a modest jump from 2024, when the Big Ten had a down year and sent only six of 14 teams dancing. Only the SEC sent more schools to the tournament than the Big Ten, which is a solid league but may not be as top-heavy in terms of title contenders as the SEC is.
NCAA Tournament breakdown for Big Ten teams
Team | Region | Seed | First Opponent | Regular Season Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Michigan State | South | 2 | Bryant | 1st |
Maryland | West | 4 | Grand Canyon | T-2nd |
Michigan | South | 5 | UC San Diego | T-2nd |
Wisconsin | East | 3 | Montana | T-4th |
UCLA | Midwest | 7 | Utah State | T-4th |
Purdue | Midwest | 4 | High Point | T-4th |
Illinois | Midwest | 6 | Texas/Xavier | T-7th |
Oregon | East | 5 | Liberty | T-7th |
After finishing the regular season with seven teams ranked in the AP Top 25 poll, its no shock that the Big Ten did well seeding wise. The resumes of Michigan State and Michigan proved to be the strongest of the bunch thanks to some quality non-conference work, earning them the best seeds of the group.
It will be interesting to see how the teams in the middle of the pack of the conference fare with relative toss-up matchups in the first round before drawing top seeds in the Round of 32. Ohio State also has to navigate a First Four matchup with X before entering the main draw, which will be a good test for a team that had its difficulties down the stretch.
Michigan State did land a 2-seed but has to contend with the potential of taking down top overall seed Auburn in the Elite Eight, but their path to the regional final is very reasonable. Winning the Big Ten tournament did no favors for Michigan, which drew one of the most difficult 12-seeds in the draw with UC San Diego, a 30-win outfit that has six career 1,000-point scorers on its roster.
Maryland also received a rough draw as the 4-seed in the West, potentially having to navigate a tough Grand Canyon team as a 13-seed, Memphis as a 5-seed and the hottest team in the country as their 1-seed in Florida. Purdue could be an early upset victim against 13-seed High Point while Wisconsin drew a 3-seed in the East that will set them up with a very difficult matchup in the Round of 32 against either BYU or VCU.
Players to watch in March Madness
The Big Ten Player of the Year is Purdue's Braden Smith, who was second on the Boilermakers in points (16.3 per game) and rebounds (4.7 per game) while finishing second in the country with 8.8 assists per game. Smith has been one of Purdue's go-to-guys after Zach Edey, the reigning National Player of the Year, went pro and will now try to carry the Boilermakers on his shoulders in March.
While depth may be the calling card of Michigan State, they do have a legacy player in Jase Richardson, the son of former Spartans great and NBA star Jason Richardson. The younger Richardson averaged 11.6 points per game as a true freshman and has been a big source of energy whenever Izzo chooses to put him on the floor.
Maryland big man Derik Queen is a throwback big man who has put up 13 double-doubles during the season and was named the league's Freshman of the Year. Michigan also brings some familiar faces to the March Madness stage in big man Vlad Goldin, who followed his head coach Dusty May over from Florida Atlantic, and Danny Wolf, who helped Yale upset Auburn last March before transferring to Ann Arbor.
Illinois also has some significant star power in the international category with guard Kasparas Jakucionis, who has pro upside and has proven to be a difference maker for the Fighting Illini. Jakucionis is a well-rounded player who can score at will, attack the glass and distribute the basketball, giving him a chance to steal a game for Illinois if he's clicking on all cylinders.
How Has The Big Ten Performed Recently In The NCAA Tournament?
In summation, not great Bob. Despite having plenty of their teams reach the field, Big Ten teams have notoriously underachieved in March Madness, with their tournament champion having failed to get out of the first weekend in each of the past three editions of the NCAA Tournament. There have been some notable deep runs out of Big Ten teams, like Edey's Boilermakers falling to UCONN in the national championship game last year, but few schools have actually made significant noise over the past few years.
UCLA's 2021 Final Four run doesn't really count here since the Bruins were a Pac-12 member at that point. Izzo's Spartans made the Final Four in 2015 (where they fell to eventual champion Duke) and 2019 (where they lost to Texas Tech) while Wisconsin (to Duke in 2015) and Michigan (to Villanova in 2018) also lost in the championship game. For the sheer number of bids that the Big Ten has gotten over the past decade, their overall performance has been underwhelming.
Can a Big Ten team win the NCAA Tournament?
The Big Ten team with the best shot to win it all is Michigan State, whose ability to roll 10-deep can make them a difficult challenge for opponents to overcome. Izzo is also notorious for his ability to bring the best out of his guys in March, although their inconsistency from the 3-point line could leave them vulnerable to being picked off if they run into a team that is nailing their perimeter shots.
Purdue did beat Alabama earlier this season, so the potential is there if Smith and Trey Kaufman-Renn are cooking, but their slump to end the season raises questions about if there is more than second-weekend upside with this group. The Big Ten's sleeper threat may be Illinois, which has battled injuries but can look as good as anybody if they are on their A-game.