Big Ten thrives at NCAA tournament — while ACC flops

The Atlantic Coast Conference started the NCAA tournament as the most rewarded league by the selection committee with nine teams in the field.

It was no surprise as the conference was frequently called the best in the nation this season.

But one by one, ACC teams have been plucked out of the tournament. From Wake Forest’s loss to Kansas State in the First Four to No. 2 seeds Louisville and Duke exiting in the second round Sunday. Louisville was upset by seventh-seeded Michigan, and the Blue Devils — a team many argued should have been a No. 1 seed — lost in a stunner to South Carolina.

Only No. 1 seed North Carolina is left to represent the ACC. The Tar Heels winning a national championship might take some of the sting out of the ACC’s flop, but it’s hard to imagine Duke fans getting over this.

The Blue Devils blew a 10-point second half lead and lost to the No. 7 Gamecocks, who had never reached a Sweet 16 before.

The fashion in which other ACC teams fell is also notable.

No. 5 seed Virginia couldn’t get to 40 on the scoreboard in a 26-point, second-round loss to No. 4 Florida. Third-seeded Florida State was embarrassed in a 25-point second-round loss to No. 11 Xavier. Eighth-seeded Miami was knocked out in a 20-point loss to Michigan State in the first round.

Fifth-seeded Notre Dame was nearly bumped off in the first round by Princeton but managed to survive only to get booted in the second round by No. 4 West Virginia. No. 9 Virginia Tech was dismissed in the first round by a blistering No. 8 Wisconsin.

That brings us to the Big Ten. The anti-ACC, if you will.

After being derided for much of the season, as its parity was equated with weakness, the league has found its rhythm in March.

With no dominant team and rosters filled with youth, the Big Ten went into the tournament No. 4 in conference RPI behind the ACC, Big 12 and Big East. No Big Ten team was seeded higher than No. 4 Purdue, yet three of the conference’s seven tournament teams advanced to the Sweet 16, matching last year’s total.

The Boilermakers knocked off No. 13 Vermont and No. 5 Iowa State, a popular pick to advance. Wisconsin stunned the top-seeded defending national champion, Villanova, in the second round. No. 7 Michigan took down second-seeded Louisville on Sunday.

Michigan coach John Beilein wasn’t entirely surprised. And he said he saw this March emergence coming.

“We’re all going to be judged a lot on what happens in November, December,” he said. “We had a tremendous league last year with a lot of turnover, guys going pro, great seniors in the league. We had some injuries to some players as well. So you get judged by that. I thought we had a pretty good record, actually, as a league, but it didn’t measure up. There’s always going to be a lot of hype about what teams are getting most hype early, and it just doesn’t go away. And so as a result, I told everybody, ‘Just wait.’ “

Michigan has won seven straight games to rewrite its season — and it’s helping the Big Ten do the same.

“The level of coaching in this league, the resources in this league, the level of talent in this league, it will come to the top at the end of the year,” Beilein said.

The real question is which league will be at the top on April 3 in Phoenix?