The Big Ten has suffered some major losses in the first two rounds of this year’s NCAA tournament.
The conference was considered the toughest in 2021, with Illinois (No. 2), Michigan (No. 4), Ohio State (No. 7), Iowa (No. 8), ranked inside the top 10 at the latest. AP Top 25 Poll. So it was shocking to see most of them losing in the first and second rounds of March Madness.
No loss was more shocking than Ohio State; The Buckeyes, seeded sixth overall in the tournament, lost a stunner to 15-seed Oral Roberts in Round 1, becoming just the ninth team to fall victim to such profanity. But they were not alone. 4-seed Purdue also lost to 13-seed North Texas, and 11-seed Michigan State lost its first four matchups to UCLA.
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Then, on Sunday, Illinois became the first 1 seed to lose in the NCAA tournament, being handled by the 8-seeded Loyola Chicago team, which, in retrospect, was probably way too short. After the loss to the Illini, only 1-seed Michigan, 2-seed Iowa, 9-seed Wisconsin and 10-seed Maryland and the Rutgers remained in contention.
Junior guard Ayo Dosumu of Illinois – a first-team Sporting News All-America selection – and sophomore center Kofi Cockburn – a second-team selection – were less than skilled in their outings. Dosunmu scored just nine points in 10 of 4 shooting, while Cockburn scored 21 points and nine rebounds.
But Twitter is often not the place for rational dialogue. The hysterical public saw another Big Ten team lose and they accelerated the conference after their top-rated team was dismissed early.
More: Ohio State, Purdue is more proof that teams wear down deep leagues
Sister Jean’s open letter to Loyla Fenbase announcing that Loyola is truly the Big Ten champion.
– Nicole Auerbach March 21, 2021
The Big Ten had five of the top 16 seeds in the 2021 NCAA tournament. Two are left: Michigan and Iowa.
– John Rothstein (@JonRothstein) March 21, 2021
The state of Illinois runner-up is not as impressive as the Big Ten runner-up, but at least the banners will match.
– Chris Balas (@Balas_Wolverine) March 21, 2021
Illinois has now failed to reach the Sweet 16 for the 15th consecutive season. But congratulations on your fake Big Ten regular season title and your strongly written letters. 4
– Wolverine Corner (@WolverineCorner) March 21, 2021
The media allowed the Big Ten teams to remain in the high ranks after beating each other for exposing them by the Mid Majors in March…
– Pinto (@ pinto479) March 21, 2021
If Illinois were not too obnoxious to make Michigan’s Big Ten legality completely unpleasant, I would take no joy in this loss. But they did … pic.twitter.com/xh46hugu7Y
– Michael Speth (@MichaelSpathITH) March 21, 2021
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