Twitter crushes Big Ten after series of early upsets

The Big Ten’s reputation as the best conference in college basketball this season took a serious beating in the first 24 hours of the NCAA Tournament.

No. 2 seed Ohio State and No. 4 Purdue both suffered stunning losses on Friday to Oral Roberts and North Texas, respectively. Add Michigan State’s loss to UCLA in the First Four on Thursday and the Big Ten is just 1-3 so far in NCAA Tournament action, with ninth-seeded Wisconsin providing the league’s only win. Remarkably, all three of the defeats came in overtime, making things all the more heartbreaking.

For much of the season, the Big Ten was lauded for its depth and high-end talent. Nine of the league’s members made the tournament, and four of those teams were among the top eight seeds in the entire field. Now, with one of those top eight seeds out and two other members of the conference going home with them, the internet had a field day trashing the league’s status.