Yep, the PERCEPTION of the conference being down unfortunately is the reality. While the Big Ten didn't do much in March Madness in either season, look at the opportunities we had against ranked foes in 2021 and 2022 during conference play, for comparison:
2021: 8-2 Record --> #1 seed in NCAAT
L at #19 Rutgers
L vs. #21 Ohio State
W vs. #7 Iowa
W vs. #19 Wisconsin
W at #23 Wisconsin
W at #2 Michigan
W at #7 Ohio State
W vs. #5 Iowa (BTT)
W vs. #9 Ohio State (BTT)
2022: 4-3 Record --> #4 Seed in NCAAT
L vs. #4 Purdue
W vs. #10 Michigan State
W vs. #11 Wisconsin
L at #3 Purdue
W at #19 Michigan State
L vs. #22 Ohio State
W vs. #24 Iowa
2024: 0-2 Record --> Projected #4 Seed in NCAAT
L at #1 Purdue
L vs. #3 Purdue
[Only opportunity in BTT is championship game vs. #3 Purdue...]
So that is a decrease from 10 opportunities in 2021 to 7 in 2022 to just 2 in 2024. While we do appear to be on track for the same seed we got in 2022, a stronger Big Ten likely has our current resume as a comfortable #3 seed and hoping/still playing for a #2 seed.
