March Madness Chaos: Breaking Down All the Action From the First Weekend of the “Big Dance”

The Big Ten’s Rough Weekend

The Big Ten, the best conference in the Nation this season, sent nine teams to the NCAA tournament, the most out of any conference this year. Out of those nine teams, only one, Michigan remains in the field.

Top seeded Illinois fell to Sister Jean’s Loyola-Chicago squad, Luka Garza’a Iowa Hawkeyes lost to the Oregon Ducks, the Ohio State Buckeyes left the tourney earlier than expected, losing to Oral Roberts. Michigan State, Rutgers, Purdue, Wisconsin, and Maryland have all been bounced from the Big Dance.

According to Scott Gleeson of USA Today Sports, The Big Ten finished the second round with an 1-5 record (0-3 on Sunday and 1-2 on Monday) which could be considered “one of the worst in history since the men’s NCAA Tournament expanded in 1985.”

With that being said, there is a bright side for Big Ten faithfuls.

The top seeded Michigan Wolverines out of the East region advanced to the Sweet 16 by beating the LSU Tigers. However, that hope might not last long for Big Ten fans because a lot of college basketball experts and fans are picking against the Wolverines in their Sweet 16 matchup against the Florida State Seminoles. In fact, many people were surprised that Michigan beat LSU because on of Michigan’s top players, Isaiah Liver, is out for the tournament.