Heading into the 2025 NCAA Tournament, the SEC was widely regarded as the best basketball conference in the country, with 14 teams making it into the big dance. But after the Round of 64, it is quite clear that perhaps the Big Ten holds a claim to that distinction over the SEC at this point.
Eight teams representing the Big Ten made it to the NCAA Tournament this year, a list of teams that includes Michigan State, Wisconsin, Maryland, Michigan, Purdue, UCLA, Illinois, and Oregon.
All eight of these teams came into the tournament as favorites in their Round of 64 game. And miraculously, all eight teams took care of business and advanced to the Round of 32 games on Saturday and Sunday. This marks the record for the most teams to win in an opening round of any NCAA Tournament ever in one respective conference without any losses.
Interestingly, despite the SEC coming into the NCAA Tournament with the most buzz of any conference, the SEC also advanced eight teams into the Round of 32, which is obviously far less impressive considering they came into the tournament with 14 teams.
There are obviously plenty of games left for other conferences to rise to the occasion and make deep runs in the tournament. But undoubtedly, it seems like the Big Ten was quite clearly a bit disrespected comparatively to the SEC and perhaps even the Big 12.
It will be interesting to monitor whether the Big Ten can carry this momentum forward throughout the weekend. On Saturday, we will see four teams, including Purdue, Michigan, Wisconsin, and UCLA, that will take the court and look to further represent the Big Ten in a positive light.
