Positively speaking, Big Ten's season a hit
DETROIT -- As we were leaving press row after Michigan State's victory over Connecticut on Saturday, Big Ten Network anchor Dave Revsine and I were pondering what the Spartans' Final Four run means for the reputation of the Big Ten, which has been taking its lumps from several national television analysts.
''It proves they have one good team,'' one of my crusty old East Coast writer friends said. ''The Big East put four teams in the Elite Eight and two teams in the Final Four. And if this game had been played in New York instead of Detroit, it would have been a different story.''
Revsine did not want to hear it.
''How about the two Big Ten teams that went to the NIT?'' he said, referring to NIT champion Penn State and Northwestern. ''They both won at Michigan State.''
Revsine and the Big East writer both had points to make. And I have some of my own. But first, this disclaimer: Debates about which conference is the best and which ones are down don't interest me much. They tend to resemble ''my daddy can beat up your daddy'' playground arguments.
The key is defining the terms. By most of the quantifiable measures -- including NCAA tournament teams, conference RPI and quality wins -- this has been a good year for the Big Ten.
The conference landed seven NCAA tournament bids for the first time since 2001. It earned them in November and December, when Big Ten teams built their resumes against national competition. The fact that only two teams, Michigan State and Purdue, reached the Sweet 16 doesn't diminish that.
That said, I don't buy ranking the Big East third behind the ACC and Big Ten, as the RPI had it. Louisville and Pittsburgh might have been better teams than the Final Four pair of Villanova and UConn. Syracuse and Marquette also had excellent seasons.
What's positive for the Big Ten is that it's in the arguments with the Big East, ACC and Big 12 for the first time in a while. It just depends on how you define your terms. Do you want to go top to bottom, most quality teams at the end of the season, most consistent beginning-to-end success? The list could go on and on.
Here are some important things to take away from the season:
If the national commentators want to rip the Big Ten for aesthetics, the conference is a little vulnerable. Penn State's 38-33 peach-basket win at Illinois is hard to live down, and the Big Ten tends to play a lot of low-scoring games. Big Ten teams tend to defend well and take care of the ball. The problem is, while defensive struggles sometimes are celebrated in football, basketball prefers scoring.
The most important sign is one of promise for the future. A bunch of sophomores had fine seasons -- all five members of the All-Big Ten first team were sophomores -- and they ought to make the conference even more competitive as they mature.
More importantly, with one or two exceptions, every program either had a good season or has good reason to believe it's headed in the right direction. I include Indiana, which will be back soon, in the latter group. Iowa and Wisconsin have recruiting issues, but the coaching in the conference is the best it ever has been.
Where the Big Ten ranks nationally this season is a little harder to say. But you certainly can argue it was in the top three, maybe even the top two -- if you're feeling argumentative.