5 Big Ten blowouts in single round make March Madness history

The Big Ten might have just proved that it is the best basketball conference in March Madness. The conference took a big step in that direction after five schools — Michigan, Purdue, Illinois, Michigan State and Nebraska — each won their first-round matchups by more than 20 points, setting a new college basketball record.

No conference has ever had as many teams win by 20 or more points in a single round of March Madness, per Big Ten social media.

First time a conference has had 5⃣ wins by 20+ points in a single round of #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/SbLXEQ0Ktl

— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) March 21, 2026

Nebraska began the trend when it beat Troy by 29 points in one of the tournament’s first games. The Cornhuskers collected their first-ever NCAA Tournament win in the process of rebounding from a blowout loss in the Big Ten Tournament.

Michigan and Illinois also won big on Thursday before Michigan State and Purdue set the record on Friday. All five teams used dominant second-half performances to secure the lopsided victories.

Ironically, Michigan, the only No. 1-seeded team in the Big Ten, had the smallest margin of victory of the five teams, beating Howard by 21. Illinois had the conference’s biggest win of the day with a 35-point trouncing of a shorthanded Penn team.

The Big Ten also has Iowa and UCLA advancing to the Round of 32, though their wins were not as convincing. Despite dominating most of their matchups, the Hawkeyes and Bruins both allowed late surges, making the final score much closer than the game actually was.

The five record-setting teams made up for Wisconsin and Ohio State, which each suffered last-second losses. The Badgers were on the wrong side of one of the biggest first-round upsets, losing to High Point on a last-second layup from fan-favorite three-point specialist Chase Johnston.

The post 5 Big Ten blowouts in single round make March Madness history appeared first on ClutchPoints.