Is It Better To Be The Big Ten Tournament Champion Or Regular Season Champ?

It's been a topic on local radio, on our message board and probably has come up this week between Michigan and Michigan State fans — is it better to win the Big Ten Tournament title or be the Big Ten regular season champions?

It can vary year-to-year, especially with the unbalanced schedules the Big Ten has now. Some people prefer the momentum that many believe comes with winning the conference tournament, while others prefer to see the success over a long stretch of time.

We examined how the Big Ten Tournament winner and regular season champ did in the NCAA Tournament dating back to 1998 — the first year of the conference tournament — to see which is typically more indicative of big dance success.

Big Ten Tournament vs. Regular Season Champions

Year	Big Ten Tournament Champion	NCAA Tournament Result	Big Ten Regular Season Champion	NCAA Tournament Result

1998	Michigan	2nd Round	• Illinois • Michigan State	• 2nd Round • Sweet 16
1999	Michigan State	Final Four	Michigan State	Final Four
2000	Michigan State	National Champion	Michigan State	National Champion
2001	Iowa	2nd Round	• Illinois • Michigan State	• Elite Eight • Final Four
2002	Ohio State	2nd Round	• Ohio State • Illinois • Indiana • Wisconsin	• 2nd Round • Sweet 16 • National Runner Up • 2nd Round
2003	Illinois	2nd Round	Wisconsin	Sweet 16
2004	Wisconsin	2nd Round	Illinois	Sweet 16
2005	Illinois	National Runner Up	Illinois	National Runner Up
2006	Iowa	1st Round	Ohio State	2nd Round
2007	Ohio State	National Runner Up	Ohio State	National Runner Up
2008	Wisconsin	Sweet 16	Wisconsin	Sweet 16
2009	Purdue	Sweet 16	Michigan State	National Runner Up
2010	Ohio State	Sweet 16	Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue	• Final Four • Sweet 16 • Sweet 16
2011	Ohio State	Sweet 16	Ohio State	Sweet 16
2012	Michigan State	Sweet 16	• Michigan • Michigan State • Ohio State	• 1st Round • Sweet 16 • Final Four
2013	Ohio State	Elite Eight	Indiana	Sweet 16
2014	Michigan State	Elite Eight	Michigan	Elite Eight
2015	Wisconsin	National Runner Up	Wisconsin	National Runner Up
2016	Michigan State	1st Round	Indiana	Sweet 16
2017	Michigan	Sweet 16	Purdue	Sweet 16
2018	Michigan	TBD	Michigan State	TBD

Observations

Out of the 20 seasons, seven times the regular season champion and Big Ten Tournament champion were the same team. Three other times, a team that shared the regular season title also won the conference tournament.

That leaves 10 times that the regular season champ and the tournament champ were different. Seven of those 10 times, the regular season champion went deeper into the NCAA Tournament and two of those 10 times the two schools went the same distance. Only one time — in 2013 — did the Big Ten Tournament champion go further than the regular season champion.

---

• Talk about this article inside The Fort

• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes

• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolverine

• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolverineMag, @BSB_Wolverine, @JB_ Wolverine, @AustinFox42, @AndrewVcourt, @Balas_Wolverine and @EvanPetzold.

• Like us on Facebook