Jon Joseph

Dan Mullen, where are you? In Las Vegas, but next season in Lincoln, perhaps? No surprise that The Athletic rates Mullen the top coach in the G6.

Poor-Doo is pasted in San Jose. But hats off to making it to the Elite 8. Arizona 76 - Purdue 61 Next up for the U of A is the winner of tomorrow's game between Michigan and Tennessee. Yet again, Arizona looks like the most complete team in this season's Tournament.

Getting Horny in Houston - In a game delayed for seven minutes when a game horn refused to shut up, Illinois defeats Iowa 71-59 and moves on to the Final 4 in Indianapolis vs. the winner of Duke vs. UConn. Illinois windexed the boards, but poor 3-point shooting by the Illini kept the game close. Another low-scoring game on the court in Houston. Bad sight lines? Hats off to 9-seed Iowa for defeating a number 8, 1, and 2 seed on the way to the Elite 8.

Chicago dropped football in 1939 because the game was becoming too professional. 🤑 I don't expect we'll see Phil the Phoenix, the University of Chicago mascot so named after Chicago recovered from the Great Fire of 1871, on the Maroons football sideline anytime soon. In 1898, Michigan's 12-11 victory over Chicago, which won the conference title for the Wolverines, led to Michigan music student Louis Elbel composing 'The Victors,' praising Michigan for being the Victors Valiant, the Conquering Heroes, and the Champions of the West. Chicago, under coach Amos Alonzo Stagg, was a national power in football. In 41 seasons at Chicago (1892-1932), the Yale All-American went 244-211-27. Referred to as 'the father of modern football,' Stagg's innovations included the huddle, man-in-motion, and numbers on the jersey. Stagg is behind only Kirk Ferentz and Woody Hayes in the number of career wins, 314 wins over 57 years of coaching. When college football was king, and the pros a barnstorming afterthought, the University of Chicago was one of the top programs in the sport. No matter how successful a modern program may be, including Nick Saban's terrific run at Bama, you cannot match this kind of tradition and the influence that echoes into today.

I'm not surprised. It was SC that called a lot of the shots in the Pac-8, 10, and 12. One example was when the conference added Utah and CU, so Larry could save face after Texas told him to take a hike, and SC insisted on the Cali scheduling model so their fans wouldn't miss the annual trip to San Francisco. (Scott adding CU and Utah and taking away SC's preferred revenue share led the way to the cratering of the Conference of Champions.) Ohio State and Michigan have called the shots in the Big Ten since its inception. Other teams on occasion made their mark on the field, including Indiana, which went to the Rose Bowl in 1967, and garnered well-deserved publicity over the last two seasons, but the rivalry game between the Buckeyes and the Wolverines is called The Game for a reason; it is the most-watched Big Ten game year after year. The two programs with the most wins in CFB history: 1 Michigan, 2 Ohio State. When the general public thinks of Big Ten football, it's the games played in the Big House and the Horseshoe that are on the public's mind. Oregon's 2024 conference title and Indiana's conference and national championships in 2025 have not changed the overall perception. While fierce rivals, the two programs have been in unison on almost all B1G things. Michigan's holding out on the private capital deal was the exception. USC joining Michigan in its objection to Petitti's fundraising, if noted at all, was treated like an afterthought. If CFB goes to a 32-team CFB Super Conference, you can bet that the B1G Two will have more influence than OBD and USC. Even when the Patriots were on their Brady roll, Jerry Jones and not Robert Kraft was the media's NFL go-to guy. When the Pac-12 legacy schools win national titles in football and men's basketball, they may move up in the pecking order, but they will not surpass Michigan and Ohio State in the Big Ten's pecking order, even if the titles are won by the Ducks. All animals are equal, except for Wolverines (and Buckeyes 🤔) that are more equal.

A more concise presentation of the SP+ Big Ten rankings - Big Ten football 2026 SP+ rankings are here

Today, it's B1G in the USA - But will the conference seal the deal? Winners and losers of March Madness Sweet 16: Big Ten puts 4 teams in Elite 8

The Elite 8 is set with Tennessee's 76-62 victory over Iowa State. Setting a Big Ten record, four Big Ten teams have advanced to the Elite 8. 🤑🤑🤑🤑 Saturday - Houston, Texas - Illinois vs Iowa - 6 PM/ 3 PM - TBS - One B1G Final 4 team, at least. San Jose, California - Purdue vs Arizona - 8:30 PM/ 5:30 PM TBS - Tough test for the Boilermakers as Arizona has played the best ball through the Sweet 16. Arizona is the last B12 team still standing. Sunday - Chicago, Illinois - Michigan vs Tennessee - 2 PM/ 11 AM - CBS - The Volunteers represent the SEC's final chance at a title. Michigan opens -8.5. Washington, DC - Duke vs UConn - 5 PM/ 2 PM - CBS - Both schools won close games to advance. Duke is the last ACC school still standing. UConn and Bobby Hurley will be a very tough out. The Final Four will be played in Indianapolis - Hopefully, 3 B1G teams will be playing for it all in Indianapolis. Illinois/Iowa - Michigan - Purdue! Keep On Keepin' It B1G!

Down 21-6, Michigan State fought back before losing to UConn 67-63. UConn plays Duke on Sunday to determine which team moves on to the Final 4. Looks like Michigan might have to defeat a second SEC team to reach the Final 4. Tennessee is up by ten points over Iowa State with nine minutes left in the game.

Michigan moves on to the Elite 8 with a 90 - 77 victory over Alabama. Next up for Michigan will be the winner of the Tennessee-Iowa State game. Duke defeats St. John's and will meet the winner of UConn vs Michigan State. UConn is up early. With Iowa playing Illinois tomorrow, at least one B1G team will be in the Final 4, with Purdue having a shot tomorrow to advance to the Final 4, playing against a very tough opponent in Arizona. GO B1G!

Two Too Many Ducks on this List - (and counting 🤬) On3NCAA Transfer Portal: Top 10 college basketball players c...The NCAA Transfer Portal doesn't open for another two weeks, but players across the country are making their intentions to enter known.

Costing too Dam much Pac-10 money to kick this loser to the curb. I sure hope Barnes' hiring of another football coach with no head coaching experience will work out. 🤪

Using the rankings, here's a hypothetical field for a B1G vs SEC Football Challenge - First, IMO, 11 SEC teams in the Top 25 is Same SEC, Different Day. Again, we see the middle of the SEC ranked higher than the middle of the Big Ten. This has not played out on the field for the last two seasons. This 'stuff' is why a hypothetical second Big Ten loss by Oregon last season could supposedly have kept Oregon out of the Playoff. The Ducks went 2-1, including shutting out the B12 champion in Miami. B1G No. 17 Northwestern would play B1G 18 Purdue. Games involving at least one Top 25 team. 1 Ohio State vs 4 Georgia 2 Oregon vs 6 Texas 5 Indiana vs 9 Texas A&M 13 USC vs 10 LSU 14 Michigan vs 11 Alabama 17 Penn State vs 12 Oklahoma 21 UW vs 15 Tennessee 22 Iowa vs 16 Ole Miss 33 Illinois vs 19 Florida 37 Nebraska vs 20 Missouri 45 Minnesota vs 24 South Carolina Matchups without a Top 25 team: 46 UCLA vs 26 Auburn/ 49 Northwestern vs 31 Vanderbilt/ 55 Maryland vs 47 Arkansas/ 61 Wisconsin vs 52 Mississippi State/ 62 Rutgers vs 53 Kentucky Regardless of my complaints about the rankings, this out-of-conference inventory would be media gold.

Pre-spring practice rankings from Bill Connolly's SP+ computer programming for teams ranked 1 through 138 - ESPN.com2026 college football SP+ rankings for all 138 FBS teamsThe first SP+ rankings, plus strength of schedule and résumé SP+, for the 2026 season. Eight Big Ten teams in the Top 25 - 1 Ohio State/ 2 Oregon/ 5 Indiana/ 13 USC/ 14 Michigan/ 17 Penn State/ 21 UW/ 22 Iowa

Get Your Madness On! https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/1108363/march-madness-2026-the-best-and-worst-from-thursdays-sweet-16