Conference pride is not something athletes think about much when they’re all fighting for the same goal of a national championship.
But the amazing run of the Big Ten teams in the NCAA Tournament might be a game-changer, at least for one brief moment in time.
After Michigan became the fourth team in the conference to advance to the Elite Eight with a 90-77 win over Alabama on Friday in their Sweet 16 matchup at the United Center, joining Illinois, Purdue and Iowa, I asked a few Wolverines players about rooting for their rivals to get to the Final Four in Indianapolis and make it Big Ten party for the ages.
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Would it even be possible?
“It’s not impossible,” Michigan guard Nimari Burnett replied. “I’ve found myself rooting for the Big Ten, especially since we felt like we did such a good job in the regular season and had a chance to go 20-0. Seeing the success they’ve had shows the Big Ten is really elite.”
Could they even root for archrival Michigan State, which was playing UConn on Friday night while the Michigan players were celebrating their win?
Well, maybe not.
“Uh, that’s one I can’t,” Burnett said.
Star forward Yaxel Lendeborg agreed.
“I’m new to the rivalry, man, but no, I don’t think I can,” the Big Ten Player of the Year said. “I’ve got a lot of hate for those guys, so just get them out of here.”
Michigan State bowed out against UConn 67-63 an hour or so later, ending any hopes of a fifth Elite Eight team.
In truth, Michigan didn’t have to worry about anyone but themselves after pulling away from Alabama with a dominant second half spurred by Lendeborg. The 6-foot-9 forward had 23 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists against the Crimson Tide, hitting 4 of 5 3-pointers and getting the predominantly maize-and-blue-clad crowd into a frenzy with one ankle-breaking 3 that he posed for afterward.
The top-seeded Wolverines (34-3) shook off a slow start to advance to the Midwest Region final at 1:15 p.m. Sunday against No. 6 seed Tennessee, which beat No. 2 seed Iowa State 76-62 in the second game.
Michigan shot 50% from the field and 48% from 3-point range, limiting the Crimson Tide (25-10) to 30% shooting (14 of 47) from beyond the arc. Labaron Philon Jr. led Alabama with 35 points but was shut down for much of the second half.
Michigan on Sunday makes its first Elite Eight appearance since 2021, when the Wolverines lost to UCLA. Their last trip to the Final Four was in 2018, when they beat Loyola and then lost to Villanova in the championship game.
In a wildly entertaining first half, Michigan trailed by nine less than four minutes in, only to wake up and trade blows the rest of the way. They held a 47-41 lead with 2:30 left in the half, but the Crimson Tide went on an 8-0 run to go into the locker room with a 49-47 lead.
“We completely butched the last two minutes,” coach Dusty May said.
Philon scored 19 first-half points, including the final eight on a layup and 6-for-6 shooting from the line. It was reminiscent of the end of Alabama’s early-November win over Illinois at the UC, when Philon scored nine straight points in a 98-second span to lead the Crimson Tide.
But Michigan quickly regrouped. Lendeborg canned a 3 to start the second half and give the Wolverines a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. They went on a 23-8 run to pull away, and Alabama’s 3-point shooting went in the tank.
“I think we’re the best conference in the country,” Landeborg said. “It was pretty much a dogfight every night. It definitely helped us out, and when Big Ten teams play other teams, we’re a lot more physical than most conferences, so just being able to muck the game up, it definitely helps us out and let’s us play to our advantage.”
May said college basketball “has been cyclical forever” and suggested this cycle belongs to the Big Ten.
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“Hopefully this is a long cycle for us in the conference,” he said. “I think now the playing field has been leveled out as far as finances and things like that. But the environments in the Big Ten are second to none, and the brands. Now I think we’re developing a different type of basketball identity with the West Coast schools joining us.
“I think some of the newer coaches have brought a different flavor. At times it seems like the Big Ten is cut-and-paste. You turn on one game and it looks pretty much like the other three on at the exact same time. We’re just wearing different colored jerseys. I know our league is incredibly tough, and the coaches are off the charts, but I want to give the administrations some credit. There are some well-run athletic departments in the Big Ten.”
The Big Ten, of course, hasn’t had a national champion since Michigan State in 2000, so it might be too early to make any judgments. The Big 12 got most of the media hype this season, but perhaps beating up on each other helped the Big Ten get ready for March Madness.
“It’s definitely the best league in America, and it’s showing,” point guard Elliott Cadeau said. “A team that finished (ninth) in the league (Iowa) is in the Elite Eight, so that shows how good we are. And if social media wants to crown the Big 12 as the best league, we really don’t care about that. We know every game in the Big Ten was difficult.”
Is it easier playing a non-Big Ten team, knowing you won’t get pounded on the entire game?
“I feel like in the Big Ten you’re allowed to foul way more than in the other conferences,” Lendeborg said. “I don’t know if that’s true, but today I thought the game was much more free-flowing.”
After playing three games in the Big Ten Tournament at the UC, where they lost to Purdue in the title game, the Wolverines are starting to feel like Chicago is their kind of town. They’ve now won as many games in March on the West Side as the Bulls, with one more chance Sunday.
“There’s definitely a comfort level for sure,” Cadeau said. “We feel like Chicago is pretty close to Michigan and it’s a home game, and it definitely plays a part in us winning. It’s just great to have a place we’re comfortable with and we’ve played on. It makes a big difference for us.”