A Jersey Guy: Showtime for Big 10?

Some numbers should bring a smile to supporters of the Big 10.

Eight their members earning an NCAA tournament bid, one more than Big 12 for the most invitations to the dance known as the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

A No. 1 seeded team in Purdue, which again brings hope that an NCAA championship drought that is now 23 years and counting.

If you go back further, it is 2 national titles in the past 34 years. That's a Grapes of Wrath (Google it) drought.

Hell, 5 schools, Florida, Duke, North Carolina, UConn and Villanova have won multiple championships in the past 15 years.

Yet, when the first round begins with a full set of opening games on Thursday afternoon, the Big Ten will tell, Purdue (1), Iowa (8), Indiana (4), Illinois (9), Maryland (8), Michigan State (7) and Northwestern (7) to chase the bouncing ball to Houston and the Final Four.

Which begs a larger issue. Is success over the sustained period of a regular season more deserving than a 3 week 6-game jamboree in March and April?.

Certainly the Big 12 can claim credit on both counts, with back to back titles the past two NCAA tournaments. Kansas beat North Carolina last season and Baylor beat Gonzaga in the pre-covid 2020 season.

The Big 12 has at least three legitimate contenders in Kansas (No. 1 West), Baylor (No. 3 South) and Texas (No. 2 Midwest).

There really is no legitimate excuse for Big Ten flops in March, other than the cliche of being worn down by the competitive nature of the regular season, which was evidenced this season.

After Purdue at No. 1 and Indiana at No 4, everyone else is in the No. 7 to No. 10 no man's land of seeding teams who are pretty much equal. By Sunday, evening, how many Big Ten teams advancing will determine the first part of their grade for this tournament