Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo talks to guard Jase Richardson (11) at a timeout against Bryant during the second half of the First Round of NCAA Tournament at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio on Friday, March 21, 2025. Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Big Ten Conference makes history to start NCAA Tournament

By Steve DelVecchio | Last updated Mar 22, 2025 10:45 AM ET

It has been 25 years since a Big Ten team won a men's college basketball national championship, but the conference is in prime position to change that after the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Big Ten teams were absolutely dominant in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday and Friday. The conference went a combined 8-0, which is the best first-round record for any conference in the history of the NCAA Tournament.

The Big Ten is 8-0 through the first round of the NCAAT. That's the best record for any league in history in the first round.

The SEC and Big Ten will comprise 16 of the 32 teams left in the tournament — the highest percentage by two leagues in the second round in history.
— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) March 22, 2025

Wisconsin, Purdue, UCLA and Michigan all won their games on Thursday. With the exception of No. 12-seed Michigan's 68-65 thriller against UC San Diego, none of the games were particularly close.

Maryland, Oregon, Michigan State and Illinois all won in convincing fashion on Friday.

The Big Ten is known for coming up short in March. Michigan State was the last Big Ten team to win a national championship, and that title came in 2000.

Of course, there is still a long way to go for all of the aforementioned programs. Very few people have picked any of them to cut down the nets next month.

Michigan State, a No. 2 seed, is viewed as having the best chance of the bunch to win it all, but it has hardly been a popular choice among analysts. The Spartans have to get by a scrappy New Mexico State team on Sunday.

Either way, the Big Ten has already exceeded expectations. No one expected Big Ten teams to come out as hot as they have in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

Steve DelVecchio

Steve is a veteran writer who has covered a variety of sports and pop culture topics for more than 15 years. In addition to Yardbarker, his work has been featured on prominent digital publications including Larry Brown Sports, MSN and FOX Sports. The UConn graduate has published more than 40,000 stories and is one of the most experienced trending news writers in the country

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