The tale of winning a Big Ten Championship is written in the margins.
Basketball, a game of star-struck wonder, is both, as a construct, heavily reliant on talent and, in reality, at the mercy of blind dumb luck.
It makes processing games, plays, seasons, and championships difficult. This years Boilermaker basketball team are Big Ten champions. They share that crown with a Michigan St. team that they split with, one win each at their home venue. They both lost four conference games.
Last year’s Boilermaker’s team lost just 3 conferences games, and did not win the Big Ten conference.