The Big Ten is arguably (in my opinion) the best conference in college basketball. The conference has always been a powerhouse with historic teams such as Indiana and Michigan. The Big Ten expanded to the West Coast this season with the addition of four new teams: Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington. This year, the Big Ten was full of fierce competition and strong competitors. The stars of this conference battled it out this past week at the Big Ten Conference Tournament.
The Big Ten Tournament was held at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Due to the addition of teams, only the top fifteen squads qualified to compete in the tournament. This meant that four teams were left out of the competition. These teams excluded were Rutgers, Nebraska, Washington, and Penn State. The remaining teams were all eligible to compete with Michigan State as the number one seed. The first round of competition began Wednesday afternoon with a battle between Northwestern and Minnesota. Northwestern came out victorious by a score of 72-64. After this season-ending loss, Minnesota fired their head coach, Ben Johnson, after four seasons. In the following game, Iowa and Ohio State fought hard with Iowa coming out on top by seven points. University of Southern California (USC) and Rutgers finished out day one with a double overtime thriller where USC claimed victory. (NCAA)
Day two of the competition began with a contest between Indiana and Oregon. Oregon ended Indiana’s season with a 72-59 Oregon victory. In the following game, Northwestern fell short to the Badgers of Wisconsin led by their rising freshman star, John Tonje. Illinois and Purdue reigned supreme later in the day as they defeated their opponents of Iowa and USC. On the third day of the tournament, the top four seeds finally made their first appearance thus far in the competition. The day started with a high-paced game between the Oregon Ducks and the number-one-ranked Michigan State Spartans. The Spartans secured their spot in the semifinals the following day with a 10-point victory. The remaining three games for the day were all decided by more than 10 points. Wisconsin was still rolling as they cruised past UCLA. The number 2 seed, Maryland, started their first day of competition off by crushing Illinois by a score of 88-65. The quarterfinals ended with a dominant Michigan victory over the Purdue Boilermakers. (NCAA)
The semifinals were next and it was a fantastic day of competition. The day featured two outstanding games of basketball. The day kicked off with a wild game between the number one-seeded Michigan State Spartans and the number five-seeded Wisconsin Badgers. This contest featured the incredible athleticism of the Spartans and the exceptional competitiveness of Wisconsin. These two squads were neck and neck for almost the entirety of the game. However, with the game time expiring, the Spartans found themselves down by three. Michigan State’s point guard, Jeremy Fears Jr., took his shot at being the hero by shooting a deep three to tie the game and head into overtime. However, Wisconsin superstar, John Tonje, poked the ball out of his Fears’ hand to send the Badgers to the Big Ten Tournament Championship.
The following game was just as thrilling as the first. This game was a contest between the Michigan Wolverines and the Maryland Terrapins. It was a brawl of the bigs as Michigan’s dynamic duo of Danny Wolf and Vlad Goldin took on Maryland’s freshman sensation, Derik Queen. It came down to the final play of the game as Michigan was down one point with 5.3 seconds on the clock. The Wolverines had 5 seconds to take the ball down the court and score. Michigan point guard, Tre Donaldson, took this upon himself. Donaldson dribbled all the way down the court and scored a contested layup to leave 0.4 seconds on the clock. Maryland did not have time to get any more points on the board. Donaldson had just won the Wolverines a date with the Badgers in the championship game.
The championship game took place on Sunday, March 16 at 3:30 pm. This matchup was a competition between two outstanding teams. The game was close and exciting for the entire 40 minutes. In the first half, the Michigan Wolverines defense held Wisconsin’s John Tonje to zero points. However, Wisconsin’s John Blackwell stepped up and scored big for the Badgers. The score remained fairly even for most of the game. The game took a turn in favor of the Wolverines as Tre Donaldson delivered yet another clutch play. He hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 1:54 seconds left. The Badgers never shot back and the Wolverines became the 2025 Big Ten Tournament Champions. ESPN.com stated that Donaldson said, “I know who I am, I knew who my team is. “It was just the desire to win. I want to win. It’s just me bringing that energy; I feel that was a big thing. I brought the energy.”
The Wolverines were looking to be seeded fairly high for the NCAA tournament after their victory. However, they were only seeded as a 5 seed behind the Wisconsin Badgers. CBS Sports.com’s Kyle Boone said, “The Wolverines beat Wisconsin twice — yet were seeded two spots below the Badgers and five total spots lower on the seeds list. They had double the Quad 1 wins than St. John’s – yet the Johnnies earned a No. 2 seed.” The Selection Committee seemed to have a few questionable decisions on Selection Sunday, including this one.
Overall, this year’s Big Ten Tournament was one to remember. With multiple photo finishes and countless exceptional plays, the tournament was one for the books. Eight Big Ten teams’ seasons remain alive as they were selected to play in the NCAA tournament this month. Be sure to check out the performances and root your favorite teams on to victory!
From the sidelines to the headlines, this is Lauren, signing out.
