Big Ten Basketball: Why the MSG conference tournament has worked
There were rumblings that hosting the Big Ten Tournament at Madison Square Garden would fail. Then, MSG came alive in the dog days of the year.
Two hot button issues threatened to derail the Big Ten Tournament this season. First, the decision to move up the tournament a week, separating it from the other major conferences, was controversial. The reason for that decision? To play at Madison Square Garden, the mecca of basketball.
Except the Big Ten is more of a Midwest conference. People clamored for the tournament to be held in Chicago, Detroit, or Indianapolis. There was only one geographic tie drawing them to New York City: the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.
Yes, the team that finished in last place in the conference is the reason the conference decided to go to New York in the first place. Once Rutgers faltered in the opening round of the tournament, many reasoned, the games would lose regional appeal.
A funny thing happened, though. Rutgers won. Then, they won again. They even led No. 3 seed Purdue at the half on Thursday night before ultimately succumbing to the better opponent in the conference quarterfinals.
The result hardly mattered. If Wednesday’s win against Minnesota didn’t show it, Thursday’s upset victory over Indiana certainly did. MSG came alive with a fervor not seen since Jeremy Lin balled out for the New York Knicks on the same court exactly six years ago.
You could feel it through your screen. Every time the Scarlet Knights drained a dramatic shot, or jumped sky high to snag an offensive rebound (which was a lot), MSG’s energy exploded. Corey Sanders won the heart of New York’s basketball faithful, while the hardworking big men connected to the blue collar workers that keep the city running.
Along the way, New York City became a Rutgers town. In turn, New York turned into a Big Ten state.
.@RutgersMBB continues to feed off the #B1GTourney atmosphere at @thegarden. #B1GatMSG pic.twitter.com/0g8vSPAuaz
— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) March 2, 2018
Whether or not people credit Jim Delany for having the foresight to see this week through isn’t all that important; the MSG experiment worked.
The Big Ten Tournament will return to Chicago in 2019. There, fans should expect to see New York and New Jersey residents, repping the Rutgers Scarlet Knights as they forge forward once more.