Analysis: Was Big Ten disrespected with NCAA seedings?

So what did we learn Sunday night when the brackets were revealed on CBS’s marathon Selection Sunday Show?

We learned that the Big Ten was not taken very seriously by the committee.

Michigan State was a 2. Indiana, Purdue and Maryland were all 5 seeds. Iowa and Wisconsin were all on the 7 lines. Michigan is in a play-in game and playing for an 11 spot.

I think Tom Crean was a little taken aback by it when Indiana appeared on the screen as a No. 5 seed despite having won the Big Ten outright title by two full games.

When we got to speak to Crean and a few players Sunday night in the press room at Assembly Hall, I asked the Indiana coach if he was surprised where the Hoosiers were seeded?

I think his read-between-the-lines answer was pretty clear.

“The only thing I’m really excited about is I was smart enough to bring our Big Ten Championship trophy down to the room into the team room,’’ Crean said. “I’m glad it was down there because we needed a quick visual reminder that we were a Big Ten champion.

“So I’ll leave that for other people to talk about.’’

Crean said he is proud of what this team has accomplished. He said there was no question about that. But he believed what Indiana had done within the context of conference play should have amounted to more in the end. At least that’s what his read-between-the-lines answer seemed to indicate.

“Villanova went 8-1 on the road in their league,’’ Crean said. “Ourselves, Michigan State, Kansas, people like that, we went 6-3 on the road in our leagues. We’ve gone through a tough league and I’m proud of the way these guys earned their championship.’’

I think Crean was expecting a little bit more to be given to the outright Big Ten champs.

“In the last couple of years I know we were a 1 seed after we won it,’’ Crean said. “I know Michigan was a 2 seed after they won it. I know Wisconsin was a 1 seed after they won it. I don’t have much more to add other than that. I saw John Calipari’s interview with ESPN and he said you’ve got to play the games. He’s exactly right, so here we go.’’

I asked Nick Zeisloft if he felt like the Big Ten would head into the NCAA Tournament with a bit of a chip on its shoulder after the way the seeding turned out.

“I mean, seeding-wise it might look like that, but it’s such a great conference anyways,’’ Zeisloft said. “We know it’s a battle-tested conference. It’s a great one and teams are going to see that in the conference.’’

NOTE: BtownBanners will have extensive coverage of the Hoosiers this week beginning Monday with a look at Chattanooga.

I will be in on site in Des Moines to bring Btown Banners multiple articles and analysis during the week.