Penn State coach Mike Rhoades has expressed strong opposition to the Big Ten’s new decision to limit participation in the conference basketball tournament to only 15 of the 18 teams.
Historically, conference tournaments have been an opportunity for all teams to vie for a spot in the NCAA Tournament, with teams like NC State last season proving how a strong tournament performance could turn their season around. NC State, despite struggling in the regular season, made a remarkable run to the Final Four after winning the ACC Tournament.
However, with the Big Ten expanding to 18 teams in 2024-25 due to the addition of UCLA, USC, Oregon, and Washington, the format for the Big Ten Tournament has changed. Now, only the top 15 teams in the conference will compete in the 2025 tournament in Indianapolis, leaving three teams out.
After a loss to Indiana, Penn State’s chances of making the tournament diminished, with the Nittany Lions sitting at 15-14 overall and 5-13 in Big Ten play. With a strong finish, they could still make a push, but Coach Rhoades is vehemently against the new format, regardless of where his team stands.
“I think that’s nonsense, to be honest,” Rhoades said. “We talk about supporting the student-athlete experience, and yet the Big Ten is excluding three teams? You saw how we played today. We’ve had a rough stretch, and a tough schedule, but I don’t think you should take away experiences from the student-athletes. It’s absurd. It’s unprofessional. The leaders need to rethink this. Last year, we went to the tournament and beat a team, and if we had made one more box out, we’d have beaten Indiana and won two games. We could do that this year if we had the chance. It’s hypocritical—college athletics claims to prioritize the student-athlete experience, but the Big Ten is shutting out teams. We didn’t even do that in Division III when I was at Randolph-Macon. I’m not a fan of it, even if I were at the top of the league. You should never deny young people opportunities, and as adults, we should be making that happen. I’ll probably get in trouble for saying this.”
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