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ESPN’s Stanford Steve says 4 Big Ten teams have a chance to win NCAA Tournament

Keith Farner

By Keith Farner

Published:

Now that the NCAA Tournament bracket is set, the path to a championship is known for Big Ten teams, and ESPN’s Stanford Steve has laid out how many conference teams have a legitimate chance to cut down the nets.

On Feb. 1, Stanford Steve said he had 21 teams with a chance to win, and recently narrowed it to 14 teams, but 4 from the Big Ten: Iowa, Purdue, Illinois and Indiana. Stanford Steve made an appearance on “McElroy and Cubelic In the morning” on WJOX out of Birmingham, Alabama.

“I had to keep Indiana on there because they may be the best half-court defensive team in the country, and lost to Iowa on a banked 3,” he said.

The Hoosiers play on Tuesday night in a First Four game against Wyoming.

To his point, Hoosiers star Trayce Jackson-Davis shared why he is optimistic about their position.

“I think we’ve proven not only to the Big Ten but to the country, we’re a team that can compete with anyone,” Jackson-Davis said after Saturday’s conference tourney semifinal loss to Iowa, via the Associated Press. “So it took a last-second 3-pointer to beat us, the hottest team in the Big Ten right now. It stings, but at the same time I feel like we’ve got a lot of ball left.”

Keith Farner

Keith Farner has written about college football for newspapers and web sites since 2005.