(Editor’s note: This article is part of the Bracket Central series, an inside look at the run-up to the men’s & women’s NCAA Tournaments, along with analysis and picks during the tournaments.)
“In the year 2000 …”
It’s a legendary Conan O’Brien segment and an annual college basketball refrain — well, more like several times a year, a reminder (usually from fans of schools in other leagues) that the Big Ten hasn’t won a national championship since the last year of the 20th Century.
There’s been little reason to believe the 2024-25 season would end up changing that. Even today, though the Big Ten has nine teams getting bids in this week’s projected bracket, there’s no one on the top two lines. But there are some teams that have raised the question: How much higher are these ceilings than we originally thought? Michigan State, Illinois, Oregon and Michigan, in particular, have outgrown their preseason profiles. Purdue, which had higher expectations than all of them, is starting to take on a scary look.
Forced to pick one team among the bunch to emerge, it would be Illinois, which lost 80-78 on Sunday at Michigan State with freshman phenom Kasparas Jakucionis fouling out in just nine minutes of action. He looked like he could have gone for about 20 points and 12 assists in a full day’s work. This team’s length and skill can be overwhelming, and Jakucionis ties it all together.
Tom Izzo’s Spartans are much better than expected, but good enough to match what Izzo’s 1999-2000 Spartans did as the last Big Ten team to cut down the nets? MSU needs to start hitting 3-pointers and find late-game clarity — though Jeremy Fears piloting and Jaden Akins taking big shots has potential as a consistent answer. The player most fun to watch in the league might be Michigan’s Danny Wolf, the Yale transfer and 7-footer who picks teams apart after calling for ball screens from 7-1 teammate Vladislav Goldin.
It’s wild. So is the idea, still, of any of these teams having enough to win two games in San Antonio in April. But seeing one of them in the Final Four wouldn’t be such a shock at this point.
| First four out | Next four out | Last four byes | Last four in |
|---|---|---|---|
|
UCF |
Arkansas |
Cincinnati |
New Mexico |
|
Iowa |
Arizona State |
Nebraska |
Creighton |
|
Indiana |
Penn State |
Saint Mary’s |
Texas |
|
Ohio State |
Wake Forest |
San Diego State |
North Carolina |
Multi-bid conferences
|
SEC |
13 |
|
Big Ten |
9 |
|
Big 12 |
8 |
|
ACC |
5 |
|
Big East |
4 |
|
Mountain West |
3 |
|
West Coast |
2 |
The Bracket Central series is part of a partnership with E*TRADE. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.
(Photo of Kasparas Jakucionis: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
