Another bored, OT post here. I have been sick on the couch the last two days, and I was looking up MLB history from before I was old enough to really remember it, and it got me thinking how much I HATE our current culture of acting like anything short of a national title of some kind is somehow not elite. I specifically thought of this in regard to how many people crap all over Oregon for "zero natties" even though they have been a very impressive program in the modern era, but it was the 1990s Atlanta Braves that really caught my attention. Like, half of the trolls on social media these days would reduce what was ABSOLUTELY an amazing dynasty throughout the decade to "all that just for one World Series." It's infuriatingly stupid.
So, in the spirit of celebrating things that are objectively worth celebrating but fall short of "winning it all," I give you the most Big Ten Tournament Semifinals appearances by school. This is often cited as a benchmark for "success" whenever the BTT rolls around (i.e., "making it to Saturday"), so I thought it would be interesting to look at the all-time list! First, here is the list in chronological order, and then the total appearances by school NOT counting vacated appearances.
1998 - Michigan*, Purdue, Illinois, Minnesota*
1999 - Michigan State, Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio State*
2000 - Michigan State, Illinois, Wisconsin, Penn State
2001 - Iowa, Indiana, Penn State, Illinois
2002 - Ohio State*, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana
2003 - Illinois, Ohio State, Indiana, Michigan State
2004 - Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan State, Michigan
2005 - Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa
2006 - Iowa, Ohio State, Michigan State, Indiana
2007 - Ohio State, Wisconsin, Purdue, Illinois
2008 - Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan State, Minnesota
2009 - Purdue, Ohio State, Illinois, Michigan State
2010 - Ohio State, Minnesota, Illinois, Purdue
2011 - Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State
2012 - Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Michigan
2013 - Ohio State, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Indiana
2014 - Michigan State, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio State
2015 - Wisconsin, Michigan State, Purdue, Maryland
2016 - Michigan State, Purdue, Maryland, Michigan
2017 - Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Northwestern
2018 - Michigan, Purdue, Michigan State, Penn State
2019 - Michigan State, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota
2020 - N/A
2021 - Illinois, Ohio State, Iowa, Michigan
2022 - Iowa, Purdue, Indiana, Michigan State
2023 - Purdue, Penn State, Ohio State, Indiana
2024 - Illinois, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Purdue
2025 - Michigan, Wisconsin, Maryland, Michigan State
2026 - Purdue, Michigan, UCLA, Wisconsin
Semifinals Appearances by School
Michigan State - 17
Wisconsin - 15
Illinois - 14
Ohio State - 11*
Purdue - 11
Michigan - 10*
Indiana - 7
Iowa - 6
Minnesota - 5*
Penn State - 5
Maryland - 3
Nebraska - 1
Northwestern - 1
UCLA - 1
Oregon - 0
Rutgers - 0
USC - 0
Washington - 0
Pretty crazy that we have 14 (third most all-time), but we made ZERO semifinals from 2011 to 2019, lol. In the first 8 BTTs, we made the semifinals all 8 years, the championship in 5 of 8 years and secured 2 BTT titles.
