The highest ranked Big Ten men’s basketball team in the AP Top 25 as of Monday was Purdue at No. 13. The next highest was Wisconsin at No. 24 followed by Maryland at No. 25.
Three Big Ten teams in the Top 25. Three.
And how does the Big Ten respond to that? Well, it says the conference was “competitive”. And they back it up with TV ratings. This from BTN:
After an extraordinarily competitive 2016-2017 season, BTN’s men’s basketball live game coverage drew an 11% increase in overall household delivery over last season, fueled by a 22% growth in Super Wednesday doubleheaders*.