BYU ends Big Ten’s historic March Madness run with upset over Wisconsin
The Big Ten is undefeated in March Madness no more.
On Saturday, the No. 3 seed Wisconsin Badgers were ousted from the 2025 men’s NCAA Tournament by the No. 6 seed BYU Cougars 91-89.
That meant the conference’s 10-0 start to the competition, an NCAA record, came to an end.
The No. 7 seed UCLA Bruins later fell to the No. 2 seed Tennessee Volunteers, leaving the league with a 10-2 record entering Sunday.
The Big Ten saw eight teams qualify for the tournament, the second-most in the sport behind the SEC which saw a record 14 members admitted to the 68-team field.
After Saturday’s results, seven squads remain from the SEC and just six from the Big Ten.
The SEC arguably has the higher-quality seeds remaining (two No. 1 seeds, two No. 2 seeds, a No. 3 seed, a No. 6 seed and a No. 10 seed).
The Big Ten, on the other hand, only has No. 2 seed Michigan State and No. 4 seed Purdue as its highest remaining representatives. The rest, including conference tournament champion Michigan, are No. 5 seeds or lower.
Sunday will feature one game where an SEC team will face a Big Ten team: No. 6 seed Illinois vs. No. 3 seed Kentucky.
BYU made history of its own with the victory. It will be playing in the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2011 when program legend Jimmer Fredette was a Cougar.
As some experts have noted, the program could’ve ended that 14-year drought earlier, but the 2020 tournament was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Big 12 Conference is now 9-1 at this year’s tournament, actually owning the best win percentage by any league so far.
BYU departed the Mountain West for the power conference in 2023, now seemingly proving realignment proponents right in the argument over whether national competitions like March Madness might actually become more competitive as a result.
