There is no doubt that the Big Ten absolutely dominated the NCAA Tournament this college basketball season. Two teams made it to the Final Four, four made it to the Elite Eight, and six made it to the Sweet 16.
There is no conference that played better in the March Madness than the Big Ten, and now Michigan will represent the conference in the National Championship as the Big Ten hopes to win in both football and basketball this athletic year.
It could have been a matchup of the Big Ten in the National Championship had Illinois not fallen to UConn in the Final Four. It was a hard-fought game, and there is no reason the Fighting Illini should hang their head, but everyone has an opinion on how things went down.
Barstool president Dave Portnoy, also a famously known Michigan fan, gave Illinois their flowers in his latest social media post, but he also mixed it with quite a few insults, mainly stating Illinois was just a "happy to be there" team and fans only had a short one-night stay in Indianapolis.
Let me be the 1st to congratulate Illinois on a great season. They should be very proud. Just making it this far is a huge accomplishment for them. No reason to hang their heads. A true happy to be here team. Now it’s up to Michigan to finish the job for the Big 10 as we…
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) April 5, 2026
Dave Portnoy makes it hard for Illinois to root for the Big Ten in the National Championship
There is no problem with Portnoy being a Michigan fan; everyone has their own fandoms, but the way he makes it seem like the Wolverines are this team that has had all this success forever just seems a bit laughable. Michigan hasn't won a National Championship in basketball since 1989, and they are getting ready to face a UConn team that has been in the title game three of the last four years.
Portnoy, feeling the need to take little digs at all the teams in the Big Ten that have had sustainable success for years, even without a national title win, is jsut down right pathetic. When one team goes out, it makes sense to root for the conference, and in that cause, it would be Michigan for Big Ten fans.
It is really hard to even want to cheer for Michigan when Portnoy acts like this, and now UConn might have gained a few more fans with this stunt by the Barstool president.