The 15-seed Saint Peter’s Peacocks shocked 3-seed Purdue 67-64 in the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 on Friday night.
"THIS MIRACLE RUN CONTINUES FOR SAINT PETER'S! THE PEACOCKS… MAKE HISTORY! THE FIRST 15-SEED TO THE ELITE EIGHT IN NCAA TOURNAMENT LORE!"- Ian Eagle #MarchMadness https://t.co/SyLuv0xKtk
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 26, 2022
With the Boilermakers eliminated, that means there are zero remaining Big Ten teams in the 2022 NCAA Tournament- despite having nine teams selected to the field of 68 (three more teams selected than any other conference). The Big Ten becomes the first conference to send nine teams to the tournament and have zero go to the Elite Eight.
There were also nine Big Ten teams in the 2021 NCAA Tournament, and only one team made the Sweet 16 (Michigan was eliminated in the Elite Eight).
It’s now certain that the Big Ten won’t win the 2022 national championship, which extends a lengthy drought. The Big Ten last won a national title in 2000, when the Michigan State Spartans were champions (the Maryland Terrapins won the national title in 2002, but while members of the ACC).
The Big Ten is the first conference ever to get at least 9 teams in a single tournament and have none of them advance to the Elite 8. https://t.co/qJugLGHIj1
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) March 26, 2022
The Pac-12 doesn’t look any better on this front.
The 8-seed North Carolina Tar Heels took down the 4-seed UCLA Bruins 73-66 in the Sweet 16 on Friday night.
North Carolina to the Elite Eight! Roy Williams is loving it. #MarchMadness
(The final score was 73-66 after a couple of free throws were added) pic.twitter.com/IrwNuD8ucL
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) March 26, 2022
And with that, there are zero Pac-12 teams remaining in the tournament. The Pac-12 only had three teams selected to the NCAA Tournament, fewer than even the Mountain West (four teams). 1-seed Arizona — the No. 2 overall seed in the tournament — lost by 12 points to 5-seed Houston on Thursday night.
The Pac-12 hasn’t won the national championship since Arizona did so in 1997 (and has only two titles since 1976).
NCAA titles since 2000:
ACC – 8
Big East – 6
SEC – 3
Big 12 – 2
Big Ten – 1
Pac-12 -0 https://t.co/hauYxH4KLT— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) March 5, 2022
Meanwhile, the ACC — eight national titles since 2001 — has three teams in the Elite Eight, including two surprises in 8-seed North Carolina and 10-seed Miami (2-seed Duke is also still alive).
Miami is going to the Elite Eight for the first time in program history! #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/pdiH9OxPZq
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) March 26, 2022
Elite Eight teams …
ACC: 3
SEC, MAAC, AAC, Big East, Big 12: 1
Big Ten, Pac-12, everyone else: 0
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) March 26, 2022
While there’s certainly some luck and randomness in the NCAA Tournament, the championship droughts from the Big Ten (and its recent results in general) and Pac-12 are pretty alarming regardless.
