The B1G Runner-Up Streak, By the Numbers
Last week, I remarked on the sheer basketball ineptitude that our beloved Midwestern conference has displayed for a quarter-century and counting.
“Well, we did it. The streak remains alive. It wasn’t even that close. 25 years ago today, Michigan State won the last basketball title that the Big Ten can reasonably claim (no, Maryland in 2002 doesn’t count. Stop it.) There have been 24 Final Fours since then; 11 had zero Big Ten representation at all. But hey, at least we made eight different title games! Do you realize how hard it is to lose eight consecutively? Imagine calling a coin flip incorrectly eight times in a row. The chances are 1 in 256. Sometimes, the market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent.”
Some of you noted that the coin flip notion was unfair, as the games weren’t all even odds. In fact, we were underdogs in nearly all of them. Well, I did the math for you, dear reader.
Pregame Odds:
- 2002: Maryland -2 (-132 ML) over Indiana
- 2005: UNC (spits) -2.5 (-142 ML) over Illinois
- 2007: Florida -3 (-153 ML) over OSU
- 2009: UNC -7.5 (-325 ML) over MSU
- 2013: LVHL -5 (-208 ML) over Michigan
- 2015 Wisconsin -1 over Duke (-105 ML) (the only game the B1G was favored in. good god.)
- 2018: Villanova -6.5 (-268 ML) over Michigan
- 2024: UConn -6 (-244 ML) over Purdue
If you had put $10 on this as a parlay, or if you had taken your winnings each year and rolled it into the next bet over the past 22 season, you would have won $352.54.
And yet, here we are. Remember: the market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent. Invest carefully. (this is not financial advice.)