The Hyball: 6 Reasons The BTT Title Means More Than The Regular Season

The Hyball is a weekly basketball column.


It's tourney time, baby.

Well, not that tourney. Not the Big Dance. The one right before it. The Slightly Smaller Dance.

That's right -- it's conference tournament time, people!

I've long loved the ridiculous auto-bid conference title winners get combined with the blitzkrieg of games and contact high to daytime basketball. These tourneys really do have everything.

But how much do I love them, really?

I think I'm comfortable saying I prefer them to regular season titles (if my team wins, at least). At their peak, I think they even rival the NCAA tournament. That's pure heresy to speak, but have you ever been? They're fantastic. In our Big Ten case, fans from all over the region descend into Minneapolis, Chicago, or Indy, and it almost feels like a college football Saturday, spread out just a little bit longer.

A few days go by, and the herd thins a little bit, but the people still there? They're prouder than ever; their chests puff out and their goals hone into focus.

Even though regular season conference championships are more comprehensive and obviously a much better top-to-bottom determiner of the best team... I'm still taking the conference tournament probably nine times out of ten (the tenth being when my team loses early, of course).

So without further ado, six reasons why the Big Ten tournament title > the regular season championship.

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1. Taste of single elimination ball

From the first bounce, the games just feel different. Even great teams can get blown out once or twice in the regular season and shrug it off, but in a "lose and you go home" situation, everyone is forced to lock the hell in. For bubble teams, they're scraping and clawing for their tournament lives. For upper tier teams, they're trying to maintain the level of excellence that got them the bye(s) in the first place. It's a really intriguing confluence of moving parts.

2. 'Momentum' going into the Big Dance

If your team wins the conference tournament (or at least acquit yourself well with a few stacked, solid wins), it's a lot easier to envision a deep run in the Big Dance. I'm not sure if the stats actually back that up or not, but I can't tell you the amount of times I've picked a conference tourney winner to win the NCAA tournament because of the simple reason that I just saw them win a different tournament. Tate Frazier used to say, "great teams win tournaments," and I've always admired the elegant simplicity of that quote.

3. Captures your recency bias

Going undefeated in the regular season is cool, but crashing out of the conference tournament in the first game? Woof. Dare I say that's worse than a standard mediocre season? That might be overly dramatic, but it leaves a particularly bad taste in your mouth. Winning the thing? The exact opposite feeling, and it's the last Big Ten thing that happened. It's psychology, people.

4. Final redemption for your team... with no chance at redemption for the other team

It's my belief these conference tourney teams can get a touch chippier because these teams are (probably) done seeing each other once they head into the general population of the NCAA tournament. In other words, if you took one on the chin in Bloomington, this is your chance to come up, flip the table, and talk shit on your way out. What is your rival gonna do? Nothing, that's what. They have to wait a full offseason, and by then, it's two different teams with a score that may or may not need to be settled. It's now or never, baby.

5. So many games in so many days

Being a college basketball fan is definitely an exercise in patience. After wading into low-stakes tourney waters in the regular season — usually some tropical enticement to get these kids to play during holiday breaks — that all disappears once full-fledged conference play begins. No back-to-backs; occasionally, you have to wait a full week between games. This... is the opposite of that.

6. The diversity of possibility

In 2023, I went to Minneapolis to cover the Iowa women in the Big Ten tournament. It, you know, whipped. But going in, you don't know it's going to whip. You have to anchor down and hope. Driving up from Chicago, my plan was to stay with a high school friend for the night. If Iowa lost? Ho-hum, head right home. If they won? "Hey, dude -- can I stay another night?"

If they won again? Hotel time, right? Yeah, houseguests are like fish: they stink after three days. So that's what I did. That Sunday, Iowa lit up Ohio State in the final, and it was confetti and snow angels.

After? No time to linger. Gotta get the hell outta dodge! I drove home as snowfall descended on Minny, smile on my face the entire way. Felt like I'd been in the city for two weeks. That 'ownership' comes from your team having a sustained, earned run through the best in their conference. Ahhh, it was just the best.

Miss u, Mon.

“If the pressure of winning is too much, wait until you get the bill for regret.”

3/3 - No. 6 Iowa 93, No. 2 Ohio State 83: Many things to discuss following this game.

- "MOLLY NOOOOOOOOOOO...oh, OK?"

- The Captain

- Tearing up for the seniors... before remembering it's not actually the last home game

Still, it did have some conclusive feel, didn't it?

- As for the game itself? Never once got uneasy Iowa would lose — and this was against the No. 2 team in the country; maybe it speaks to how preordained it all felt; these Hawks have such a greatness about them

- Lastly, our beloved CC. In a game where she broke Pistol Pete's all-time collegiate scoring record, it somehow still felt like a comedown from Kelsey Plum a few weeks ago. That, or just saying goodbye. Or the billboard. Probably the billboard.

3/8 - Iowa (2-seed) vs. Penn State/Wisconsin: Feels dumb to preview a game when I don't know the opponent, so let's look ahead a little bit. If the Hawkeyes win and the bracket goes chalk, they'll have Indiana in the semis, with an either out or hobbled Mackenzie Holmes (Hyball fav). A win there sets up a finals rematch from last year vs. Ohio State, who would need to beat -- /checks notes -- Michigan State (?) to join Iowa.

Getcha popcorn ready.

Gotta love a Twitter interaction where both sides land powerful body blows.

Went to my first ever country concert last night at the United Center. Twitter thread here:

That Zach Bryan puts on a helluva show. He closed with a live version of "Revival," where the entire band takes turns at playing solos between playing the fantastic chorus over and over and over again. They did it at Red Rocks in 2022 as well (1:25:44 mark).

Baptize me in a bottle of Beam / Put Johnny on the vinyl

Just two more measly tournaments to be played until we can welcome Mr. Walton to the Big Ten!

I'd be in for, like, 83 bucks.

In a perfect world, everyone gets to be great.

Bobby Loesch is a weekly contributor to Go Iowa Awesome. Find him on Twitter @bobbystompy, Instagram @bobbystompy, or email at bobbyloesch@gmail.com.