It’s that time of year again. The regular season has ended with a flurry of upsets, conference tournaments are on the horizon and the madness is about to begin.
All eyes will be on the nation’s capital this weekend as the ACC auditions for a third No. 1 seed. But don’t let the talking heads fool you; there will be plenty to play for in Chicago. Let’s take a look at a few of the storylines that will play out at this year’s Big Ten tournament.
Life after defeat: For the first time in weeks, Illinois has something to prove. Sure, they’ve been on a crusade of late to prove they deserve the No. 1 ranking even though they play in the supposedly watered-down Big Ten conference, but the critics were starting to come around on that one.
Yeah, they were chasing history, but no one’s going to put them down for failing to do something that hasn’t been done since 1976. The truth is, Illinois hasn’t had anything to prove for a while.
All that changed Sunday in Columbus, as the unheralded Buckeyes handed the Illini their first loss of the year on the final day of the regular season. After Matt Sylvester’s 3-pointer ended the Illini’s perfect season, the boys from Champaign have a whole new outlook heading into Chicago.
Pundits around the nation were patting themselves on the back Sunday. The ‘I told you so’s’ were deafening. All the talk now is about how the Illini were exposed by an inferior team from an inferior conference.
They can’t survive an off day from their backcourt; they can’t control a talented big man. From the sound of it, you’d think Paul Davis and Mike Wilkinson were towel boys.
It’s hard to find a talking head left who thinks the Illini can win the national title. If they weren’t a true No. 1 before, they certainly aren’t now.
Suddenly, the top team in the nation has to prove it deserves to be mentioned alongside three-loss North Carolina and four-loss Wake Forest. Nothing short of a tournament title will do.
With the Illini looking to make a statement, expect some lopsided results in the early going. Illinois will get either Northwestern or Michigan in the second round. Should be fun.
Matta’s squad the ultimate spoiler: Perhaps the most intriguing tale involves the team on the other end of Sunday’s shocker. The Ohio State Buckeyes enter the tournament as the ultimate spoiler. Banned from post-season play by their own university prior to the season, Thad Matta’s squad has literally no other role to play.
Even Penn State, who limps into the tournament as the No. 11 seed with a 1-15 conference record, has more on the line than the Buckeyes. The Nittany Lions are just four miraculous upsets away from an automatic bid to the Big Dance. The Buckeyes, on the other hand, can take down the top three teams in the conference in three days and still be forced to watch the madness from their living rooms.
Matta and his trusty white board have grown accustomed to the spoiler role. It was a Matta-led Xavier squad that ended St. Joseph’s undefeated season in last year’s A-10 tournament.
But Matta’s past spoilers have not embraced the role as fully as his current band of bracket-busters. After slaying the last remaining A-10 unbeaten in last season’s conference tourney, Matta told reporters he didn’t head to Dayton hoping to end the Hawks’ bid for perfection. He wanted to win the tournament, and improve his stock for the Big Dance.
This time around, Matta and the Buckeyes have only one thing on their mind. There will be no thoughts of seeds, bubbles or impending madness. The Buckeyes have nothing to lose and nothing to gain.
The way the bracket has worked out, Matta’s squad is in ideal position to play the role of spoiler. After taking down the nation’s top team in the last game of the regular season, the Buckeyes could see No. 3-seeded Wisconsin in the second round, No. 2-seeded Michigan State in round two and a potential rematch with No. 1 Illinois in the title game. Let the madness begin.
Farewell to a legend: Legendary Purdue head coach Gene Keady will coach his final game at the Big Ten tournament. After 25 years at the helm, the conference icon will hang it up after this season.
At 7-20 overall, the Boilermakers are a long way from the bubble. Barring a truly miraculous tournament run, Purdue won’t be doing any dancing this year. As a result, every game Keady coaches may be his last.
The farewell tour begins Thursday against Iowa. Even without Pierre Pierce, the Hawkeyes have three scorers capable of torching the Big Ten’s 10th-ranked defense. The Boilermakers have almost no firepower of their own with Carl Landry on the sidelines.
Unless Keady has a few miracles in store, Thursday afternoon may be the final opportunity to watch the six-time National Coach of the Year in action. Suffice it to say, Purdue’s first-round meeting with Iowa will be a bit more significant than the average 7/10 matchup.
