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The Big Ten has 4 Elite 8 teams. A look at conference's March Madness dominance
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- The Big Ten has 4 Elite 8 teams. A look at conference's March Madness dominance
The Big Ten entered the 2026 Men's NCAA Tournament riding a 26-year drought since the conference last produced a national champion.
Nearly halfway through the event, the league is doing just about everything it can to make sure that skid comes to a long-awaited end.
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What was arguably the best conference in the sport during the regular season has continued to show its strength during March Madness . Many of the conference's best teams, like Michigan , have looked dominant thus far during the Big Dance, while others, like Iowa , have pulled off a handful of upsets to advance deeper than many predicted they would.
Armour: My apologies, Big Ten. I was wrong to doubt you
REQUIRED READING: March Madness finds a Cinderella. Iowa basketball, the slipper is yours
On Thursday night, on the first day of the Sweet 16 , that dominance was on display. Illinois stymied Houston 65-55 to earn its second Elite Eight appearance in the past three years under coach Brad Underwood. Purdue got a buzzer-beating tip-in from Trey Kaufman-Renn to edge Texas 79-77. And in an intra-conference matchup, Iowa continued its unexpectedly lengthy run in the tournament with a 77-71 victory over fellow corn enthusiast Nebraska .
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Four tickets were punched to the Elite Eight on Thursday, with three of those belonging to a single league. And now, with Michigan's win over Alabama on Friday , the Big Ten will now account for at least half the teams in the national quarterfinals.
Just how good has the Big Ten been in the 2026 NCAA Tournament? Here's a look:
How many Big Ten teams are in Elite 8?
After the first night of Sweet 16 games on Thursday, March 26, the Big Ten has three teams in the Elite Eight: Purdue, Iowa and Illinois. Michigan's win against Alabama on Friday increased that count to four.
REQUIRED READING: Who's in Elite 8? Updated March Madness bracket, NCAA Tournament schedule
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What's the record for most Big Ten teams in Elite 8?
After Michigan's win against Alabama, the Big Ten added a fourth team in the Elite Eight, setting a new conference record. It toppled the previous record of three, which had been reached in 2000, 2005 and 2019.
REQUIRED READING: Inside the game-winning play that advanced Purdue to Elite 8
Record for most Elite 8 teams from one conference
The record for most Elite Eight teams from one conference is four, a mark that has been reached three times since the NCAA tournament field expanded to 64 in 1985.
That figure was achieved by the Big East in 2009 ( UConn , Pitt, Louisville and Villanova), the ACC in 2016 ( North Carolina , Notre Dame, Syracuse and Virginia ) and the SEC in 2025 ( Florida , Auburn, Tennessee and Alabama) — and, now, the Big Ten in 2026.
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When's the last time a Big Ten team won March Madness?
Despite the success of its teams this season, the Big Ten hasn't had a member win the national championship in men's basketball since Michigan State all the way back in 2000. Maryland , a current Big Ten member, won it all in 2002, but the Terrapins were in the ACC at that time.
Big Ten NCAA tournament record
The nine Big Ten teams that made it into the field for the 2026 NCAA Tournament have combined to go 17-5.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The Big Ten has 4 Elite 8 teams in a record-setting 2026 NCAA Tournament
