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Mar. 28, 2005 Throughout the entire college basketball season, the Big Ten Conference has been much criticized for its weak schedules and its poor performance in preseason play. Dick Vitale and his constituents couldn’t debase the conference enough. How many Big Ten teams are in the Final Four? Two. How many were in the Elite Eight? Three. It could have been three in the Big Dance if Wisconsin would have made a couple of three-pointers. Illinois, having lost only one game all season still aren’t riding the favorites list. When will commentators and so- called experts get it through their thick heads that the Big Ten is for real? Duke University, Mr. Vitale’s favorite team on the planet, looked sickly and out of sync. They weren’t prepared to play a talented team like Michigan State. They lost by ten points. That is not a typo, ten points. The number one seed in the Austin Regional showed no muscle. In fact, there are only two, number one seeds left in the Final Four. Illinois (#1 seed in Chicago) barely squeaked pass Arizona in overtime, North Carolina Tar-heels were lucky to come out of their regional with their shoes on, Louisville had to win it in overtime, and Kentucky forgot to put on their game faces against Michigan State. A double overtime victory for the Spartans should cast some fate into the wind. The Cinderella team has arrived. Indiana University (Big Ten Conference) was denied entrance to the Big Dance. They ended their Big Ten season with ten victories, not enough for the Dance according to tournament coordinators. They are the first Big Ten team to have won ten games in conference play and denied entrance into the Dance. Indiana is one of the most improved college teams in the country…heck they have four freshmen playing and one Junior, give them a break. We are talking about a young team that beat the likes of Michigan State, stayed close to Illinois, and won all of their conference home games in Bloomington. You say they looked bad in losing their first game in the NIT Tournament. They’re young and the wind was taken from their sails.
Wait until next year.
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