It’s conference tournament season in college basketball and with most of the mid-major tournaments either already over or wrapping up soon, this weekend is about the major conferences. The ACC, Big Ten, SEC, Big 12, and, I guess, Pac-12 tournaments all have begun or are beginning soon.
Conference tournaments are great. Just like the NCAA Tournament, determining a champion in a single-elimination tournament probably isn’t the best way to find out who is best, but it’s certainly more exciting, fun, and random than playing lengthy series. In Chicago, the Big Ten Tournament tips off on Tuesday with Northwestern facing Illinois and Nebraska playing Rutgers in the first round.
Those aren’t very good games, but Thursday and Friday, the top teams in the conference will get involved and excitement will build in Chicago. To get the people pumped for Big Ten basketball, the conference decided to toss a generic B1G jersey on the statue of noted Big Ten legend Michael Jordan that sits out front of the United Center.
Shout out to the Big Ten dressing up Michael Jordan to make MJ rep the B1G. Lololol pic.twitter.com/cm2juhiEBN
— Michael Felder (@InTheBleachers) March 13, 2019
Ah, yes, I remember when Michael Jordan led the University of North Carolina to the Big Ten Tournament title in 1984, a true triumph and a momentous occasion in the conference’s history.
The only thing that would have made this better is if they put an actual team’s jersey on him instead of a conference jersey — which I don’t know if they sell B1G jerseys, but they should, because if they don’t, the SEC for sure will with football jerseys. Imagine Jordan donning a Rutgers jersey (the birthplace of college football)? It’d be beautiful. They could at least throw a Michigan jersey on him since, you know, they’re actually sponsored by Jordan Brand.
