Griffiths: This is the year for Big Ten to make Big Noise in the Big Dance
By DOUG GRIFFITHS
ISL Assistant Editor
After being the nation’s proverbial punching bag during the college football season, the Big Ten really has a chance to flex its muscles in the NCAA Tournament and enjoy the last laugh if its seven participating teams make plenty of noise.
Indiana, the Big Ten’s regular-season champion, received one of the four No. 1 seeds and will play in the East Region.
The Hoosiers, who are picked by many pundits to make the Final Four, will begin play in Dayton, Ohio in the second round against the LIU-Brooklyn/James Madison First Four winner at 4:10 p.m. Friday.
No No. 1 seed has ever lost to a 16 seed, so IU should advance and meet the winner of the 8-9 game, which pits North Carolina State against Temple, on Sunday.
Tom Crean’s 2012-13 Hoosiers received just the school’s third No. 1 seed ever in the NCAA Tournament.
“To think about where we were 24 months ago, whether it was four or five wins from even being eligible for the NIT, to be where we are right now with a No. 1 seed is an amazing accomplishment,” Crean said.
“It’s been a long, hard process to get a program back that’s considered one of the best in the country. The program for decades has been considered one of the best in the country, but now to have this team and program back there and have that seeding behind it is fantastic.”
This is the Hoosiers’ 37th trip to the NCAA Tournament and second straight. They have a 62-31 record in the Big Dance, have appeared in eight Final Fours and won five NCAA Titles (1940, 1953, 1976, 1981 and 1987).
Joining IU in Dayton in the opening rounds will be Ohio State, the Big Ten Tournament champions. The Buckeyes earned a No. 2 seed in the West Region and drew No. 15-seed Iona (which tips at 7:15 p.m.). The winner of that game will meet the winner of the No. 7 Notre Dame vs. No. 10 Iowa State game (which tips at 9:45 p.m.).
“I’m not a big traveler, so I love,” being so close to Columbus,” Buckeyes coach Thad Matta said.
Guard Aaron Craft added, “Playing in Dayton, you can’t have anything better. Buckeye Nation travels very well, especially when it’s an hour down the road.”
Ohio State is 40-22 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and has made nine trips to the Final Four, including a national title in 1960.
Indiana and Ohio State aren’t the only Big Ten teams that get to play close to home.
Both Michigan State and Michigan will enjoy the luxury of playing in Auburn Hills, Mich.
The third-seeded Spartans will take on No. 14 Valparaiso at 12:15 p.m. Thursday. If MSU gets by the Crusaders, it will clash with the winner of the No. 6 Memphis vs. Middle Tennessee State/Saint Mary’s First Four winner on Saturday.
If Michigan State gets out of the first weekend, it could get a date with No. 1 seed Louisville in Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium.
“It is hard to look ahead to any of that,” Spartan coach Tom Izzo said. “In coach speak, you never do any of that. But in human being speak, you do do that. Here’s who you’ve got to play to get there and here’s what you’ve got to do. I love Indy. If we get past the first weekend, I think that would be great.”
This will be Michigan State’s 27th NCAA appearance and 15th straight. The Spartans have a 54-25 record with eight trips to the Final Four and a pair of national championships (1979 and 2000).
Michigan is the No. 4 seed in the South Region and gets a date with No. 13-seed South Dakota State at 7:15 p.m. Thursday with the winner facing the No. 5 VCU-No. 12 Akron victor on Saturday.
The Wolverines (36-19 all-time in the NCAAs with Final Four appearances and a 1989 national title under their belt) will be making their 20th trip to the tourney and third straight.
Unlike the aforementioned Big Ten teams, Wisconsin won’t get to play close to home. Instead, the Badgers will call Kansas City, Mo., home where they’ll be the No. 5 seed in the West Region and square off against No. 12-seed Ole Miss, the SEC Tournament champions at 12:40 p.m. Friday.
If Wisconsin gets out of the second round, it will face the winners of the No. 4 Kansas State vs. Boise State/LaSalle First Four winner on Sunday.
For the Badgers this will be their 19th trip to the Big Dance and 15th in a row. They are 25-17 all-time in the event, have two Final Four appearances and won it all in 1941.
Illinois is headed to the Lone Star State as a No. 7 seed in the East Region where it will play No. 10 Colorado at 4:40 p.m. Friday in Austin, Texas.
A victory for the Fighting Illini will get them a crack at the No. 2 Miami (Fla.) vs. No. 15 Pacific winner on Sunday.
Illinois is making its 30th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and first since 2011. It has a 39-30 record in the tourney and has advanced to five Final Fours.
Minnesota is the seventh Big Ten team in the NCAA field this season. Tubby Smith’s Gophers earned an 11th seed in the South Region and will meet No. 6-seed UCLA at 9:57 p.m. Friday with an opportunity to play the No. 3 Florida-No. 14 Northwestern State winner on Sunday.
This is the Gophers’ first NCAA appearance since 2010 and eighth overall.
If there’s a year the Big Ten is going to end its NCAA basketball championship drought, which stands at 13 years, it’s going to be this year.
Indiana, Michigan State, Ohio State, Michigan and possibly even Wisconsin have a shot at getting to the Final Four or least that’s what some prognosticators think.
ESPN’s Dick Vitale believes the Final Four in Atlanta will have a big time Big Ten flavor.
He thinks Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan and Louisville will be in the Final Four with IU and the Cardinals meeting in the national championship game with Rick Pitino’s club cutting down the nets.
Izzo’s program was the last Big Ten school to win a national championship. He thinks the league has a better chance this year than it has recently.
“We’ve got a number of teams, not just one or two,” Izzo said. “Who wants to play Wisconsin or Minnesota early? You want to go play them? Good luck All the other teams have been ranked in the top five, including us, Ohio State, Michgian and Indiana, and two of them have been ranked one. The good thing for us, we played them, Miami, we played Kansas, all the teams that are 1 or 2 seeds except one or two. At least we know we can play with those teams.”
Wolverine coach John Beilein agrees with Izzo in that a Big Ten team has a great chance in winning the national championship this year.
“We have some really good representatives that will be there,” he said. “If any Big Ten team can get it going, anything can happen, because we have some excellent coaches in this league. We have a high level of talent and, with many teams, the experience factor is going to be important, as well.”
At the Big Ten Tournament this past weekend, Izzo echoed the sentiments of many of his coaching brethren in the conference, saying he was eagerly awaiting the NCAA Tournament, especially since his team wouldn’t have to face a Big Ten team at least until the Final Four.
“I am really looking forward to playing somebody else, and I think all the Big Ten teams are, and deservedly so,” Izzo said. “We’ve beaten the hell out of each other, and we really, really, really have, and I think it’s going to help all of us in the end.
“Yeah, I’m looking forward to playing anybody. I’d play the Lakers tomorrow instead of some of the teams we’ve played recently.”
