EAST LANSING, Mich. — The NCAA Tournament marches on this week and, once again, the Big Ten is the convenient punching bag for fans and national media alike.
As No. 7 seed Michigan State prepares to face No. 3 Kansas State on Thursday in the Sweet 16 of the East Region, the Spartans do so as the only Big Ten team remaining in the field, another in a line of several lackluster showings from the conference.
Eight Big Ten teams made the NCAA Tournament field, including No. 1 seed Purdue and No. 4 Indiana, but only the Spartans made it out of the first weekend. And with No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson's epic upset over the Boilermakers, the shots at the Big Ten have been ramped up this spring.
