Paul Sullivan: After Big Ten’s big weekend, can the conference send multiple teams to the Final Four?

CHICAGO — The first weekend of March Madness had a little bit of everything, including a Big Ten rager for the ages.

There were buzzer beaters, bracket busters and more annoying commercials than ever, most of which featured Charles Barkley.

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All in all, it was four days that lived up to the hype with made-for-March moments that transcend sports.

“March is for the dreamers,” Iowa’s Alvaro Fogueiras said after his 3-pointer with 4.5 seconds left toppled defending champion Florida. “And there are no better dreamers than us.”

The big news was six of the nine Big Ten teams made it to the Sweet 16, including the ninth-seeded Hawkeyes, who finished ninth in the conference at 10-10. The Big Ten walked the walk, which bodes well for the possibility of the conference’s first men’s basketball national championship since Michigan State in 2000.

There’s even an outside chance of having an all-Big Ten Final Four. At least one team remains in all four regions, including three in the South. Aside from Nebraska, the other five are all legacy programs from the days when the Big Ten actually consisted of 10 schools.

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Imagine that.

“I think it speaks volumes about our conference when you look at it in general for the winter, for this whole year,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said Monday, pointing to the Big Ten’s success in men’s and women’s basketball as well as four conference schools among the 16 qualifiers for the NCAA men’s hockey tournament. “I’d say the Big Ten is flexing its muscles in that respect, and I’m a Big Ten fan for all the teams that are playing right now.”

Big Ten basketball coaches traditionally have been the conference’s biggest boosters, though it hasn’t really meant much by the end of the NCAA Tournament. But the six remaining men’s teams this year have shown resilience and confidence, with many having overcome a history of March Madness failures to get to this point.

Top-seeded Michigan, which lost to Auburn…

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Publish date : 2026-03-25 09:30:00

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