The Big Ten Conference was the last power conference to get on the conference tournament bandwagon in men’s basketball. The inaugural Big Ten Tournament took place in 1998 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois and it was won by the Michigan Wolverines. From 1998-2016, the Big Ten Tournament alternated between Chicago and Indianapolis which gave it that classic Midwestern vibe. But recently the Big Ten decided to extend its brand by adding three schools in the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Maryland Terrapins, and Rutgers Scarlet Knights to become a 14-school conference as they’ve expanded to the Eastern Region of the United States with the addition of Maryland and Rutgers. To accommodate this, Big Ten Conference commissioner Jim Delany decided to have this year’s conference tournament at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C., while next year it will be at Madison Square Garden in New York City. And although that there is money in both of these cities for the Big Ten, it might be time from them to rethink this.
Aside from Michigan’s improbable run to the Big Ten Tournament Title, this year’s edition of the tourney lacked a spark due to the fact that the fan bases for the majority of these schools were not out in full force as there were some empty seats at the Verizon Center. Although that Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis would theoretically pose an advantage for the Indiana Hoosiers and Purdue Boilermakers, it’s always common to see the folks who support the Michigan State Spartans and Ohio State Spartans make the trek to Indy. The same can be said for the United Center which would pose an advantage for the Illinois Fighting Illini and Northwestern Wildcats, but the people who support Michigan and the Iowa Hawkeyes will always be out in full force in the Windy City. And with Rutgers and the Penn State Nittany Lions losing in the second round of this year’s edition of the Big Ten Tournament, while local favorite Maryland was knocked out in the quarterfinals, the bubble for Delany had burst.
These mega conferences have thrown out the tried and true normalcy of conferences being a regional thing as it more about capitalizing on big media markets in order to secure larger television deals. And I understand that conference commissioners are attempting to make it as fair as possible for all of their members, but at some point you are simply stretching yourself too far.
Maryland and Rutgers knew what they were getting into when school administrators at these respective institutions prostituted themselves to get more money for their universities, and more importantly themselves. Rutgers has always been that school in Northern New Jersey that could never cut it in the Big East Conference as they always struggled to keep local high school talent to remain in the Garden State. Maryland was always the little brother of the North Carolina Tar Heels and Duke Blue Devils in the Atlantic Coast Conference, but they knew how to hang in there and compete.
Maryland has had success on the hardwood in the Big Ten as they’ve made the NCAA Tournament in each year that they have been affiliated with the conference. But why should the Big Ten have to accommodate Maryland for the conference tournament when they are going out of their way to make the majority of their road trips during the season as a few night during the month of March in Chicago or Indianapolis won’t hurt them, while the same can be said about Rutgers.
When you think of the Big Ten, the Midwest region comes to mind. And although that the Big Ten was late to the conference tournament party, they’ve gone on to produce one of the best which is due to the energy that is involved.
Hopefully after next year’s trip to the Big Apple for the Big Ten Tournament, Delany and the school presidents within the conference will sit back and decide to go back to their Midwestern routes as opposed to chasing the almighty dollar. However recent years have shown what college athletics are all about the money more than ever. And since that is the case, I wouldn’t be surprised to one day see the Big Ten have its conference tournament in Los Angeles.
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