And Then There Were Two: The Big Ten's Tournament Hopes Hinge On Michigan And Maryland

After sending a record nine teams into the NCAA tournament, the Big Ten has struggled mightily to live up to its title as college basketball’s toughest conference. In addition to nine participants, the Big Ten was also responsible for the No. 1 or the No. 2 team in each division - including No. 1 Michigan (east region), No. 1 Illinois (midwest region), No. 2 Ohio State (south region) and No. 2 Iowa (west region).

As we all know, they call it March Madness for a reason - and the tournament has certainly lived up to it's name so far. With day two of the second round underway, only two of the initial nine Big Ten teams remain in the tournmant.

“We had confidence going in. That’s the key in this tournament.” @RamblersMBB head coach Porter Moser spoke with @TheAndyKatz after upsetting (1) Illinois to advance to the #Sweet16. #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/J6dd6TXYIg
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 22, 2021

With that, here’s who’s out, who’s left and what’s at stake.

Who’s out

No. 11 Michigan State Spartans

Round: First-Four
Opponent: No. 11 UCLA
Result: L, 86-80 (OT)

No. 4 Purdue Boilermakers

Round: First
Opponent: No. 13 North Texas
Result: L, 78-69 (OT)

No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes

Round: First
Opponent: No. 15 Oral Roberts
Result: L, 75-72 (OT)

No. 1 Illinois Fighting Illini

Round: Second
Opponent: No.8 Loyola Chicago
Result: L, 71-58

No. 9 Wisconsin Badgers

Round: Second
Opponent: No. 1 Baylor
Result: L, 76-63

No. 10 Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Round: Second
Opponent: No. 2 Houston
Result: L, 63-60

No. 2 Iowa Hawkeyes

Round: Second
Opponent: No. 7 Oregon
Result: L, 95-80

Who’s in

No. 1 Michigan Wolverines

Round: Second
Opponent: No. 8 LSU
When: Monday, March 22 at 7:10 pm EST on CBS
Destination: Sweet Sixteen

No. 10 Maryland

Round: Second
Opponent: No. 2 Alabama
When: Monday, March 22 at 8:45 pm EST on TNT
Destination: Sweet Sixteen

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