The Big Ten Tournament in New York City was a success

It turns out Big Ten basketball and New York City are more compatible than we thought.

Thanks to strong fan turnout, the aura of an unrivaled venue, and a conveniently high number of competitive games, commissioner Jim Delany’s oft-criticized decision to bring the conference tournament to the Big Apple has become a lot more defensible after watching the action unfold. Even the most adamant critics of the event’s location would have to concede that the past four days at Madison Square Garden have been a fantastic spectacle of college hoops.

Throughout the year, media members and fans alike took to social media to express their seemingly universal disapproval of the venue. They had some valid points.

The Garden hosts the Big East Tournament on the traditional weekend leading into Selection Sunday, so the Big Ten had to slide its tourney up a full week. That led to a condensed league schedule in which every team had to play two games in three days at least once. That wasn’t good for anyone. Delany recently admitted as much, saying the schedule “wasn’t healthy” and that they won’t do it again.

The other recurring complaint was from people who want the conference’s signature event to always be in conference’s traditional region, the Midwest. A Big Ten Network sign on the street displaying the distance of each of the campuses from NYC was cited by many as an example of the irrationality of the tourney’s location.

Then the games began. And inside the fabled walls of the Garden, the Big Ten’s players, coaches, and fans put on a show that exceeded everyone’s expectations.

Anyone in the building for Saturday’s first semifinal matchup between Michigan State and Michigan would have a hard time claiming the Big Ten doesn’t have a presence in New York.

A sellout crowd of over 19,000 showed up to watch a heated, physical game between in-state rivals who happen to be two of the hottest teams in the country. Early on, fans of both teams roared when the players had to be separated from each other. As the Wolverines pulled away for their eighth straight victory, deafening chants of “Go Blue” filled the arena.

It was an electric college basketball environment, exceeding anything the Big Ten Tournament has seen in recent years.

Afterwards, both coaches acknowledged the difficulty of the condensed conference schedule, but said the experience of playing at MSG made it all worthwhile.

“Once you got to Madison Square Garden, the thrill of playing in an arena like this was special,” said MSU’s Tom Izzo. “The memory of playing here will be important to our guys as they go through life.”

Throughout the week, players from every team expressed their appreciation and excitement for the chance to compete at an arena they grew up watching some of the sport’s biggest games take place in. But if you didn’t take their word for it, you could see it on their faces whenever a big play was made. The passion and energy level were through the roof in every round, with big dunks or clutch threes leading to flexes and yells of emotion.

What gave the players and games that extra level of intensity wasn’t just the building itself. It was also the fans, who came in droves and made the Garden come alive as they supported their school.

The most compelling story of the early rounds was the play of the Big Ten’s worst team.

Rutgers, which has finished dead last in each of the four seasons since it joined the conference, finally got its spotlight moment. Roughly 30 miles away from its campus in New Brunswick, NJ, the Scarlet Knights rallied behind their fans to make a run to the quarterfinals – and nearly kept going.

Led by Corey Sanders, the tournament’s leading scorer, they took down Minnesota and Indiana before almost stunning Purdue, a legitimate Final Four contender. All three nights, Rutgers was playing in front of what felt like a home crowd. The atmosphere was goosebump-inducing. Every time Sanders would break down his man for a big bucket, he’d gesture to the stands, imploring them to get even louder.

Given their futility in both revenue sports, there has been understandable bashing of the Big Ten’s addition of Rutgers. At MSG, at least for a few days, it made sense. Having a team in the country’s biggest media market is good for the conference, especially if Rutgers can escape its laughingstock status. The display put on by a young team this week – Steve Pikiell has RU heading in the right direction – was a positive sign that it can.

It was an inspiring run that would never have happened in Indianapolis or Chicago.

The other benefit of playing early was exposure. The Big Ten was the only of the six major conferences to have its tournament this week, so it received additional attention from the college basketball world. Of course, Big Ten alumni in New York City got a chance to cheer for their teams in person.

Everyone who followed along got treated to a thrilling tournament. Heading into the final on Sunday, 9 of the 12 games had been decided by single digits, and many of those went right down to the wire.

It’s been declared a down year for the conference, which might only get four teams in the NCAA Tournament. This event offered a reminder of its competitiveness.

The NYC experiment saw a boost in attendance and a new market witnessing a full slate of intense games. Add in the special feel created by Madison Square Garden, and you’ve got a Big Ten Tournament that was a smashing success.