There are few accomplishments that top winning the Big Ten title. Obviously making a Final Four and winning a national title would top that, but for Tom Izzo, winning the Big Ten is special.
Izzo just won his 11th Big Ten title in 2024-25, topping the conference by a whopping three games — something that just doesn’t happen these days. The deepest Big Ten field in conference history was won by the Spartans and by three whole games. That’s something that Izzo is proud of and he worked hard for.
So when a reporter comes along and tries to diminish that title by saying the winner of the Big Ten Tournament “won the Big Ten”, you know Izzo is going to check them.
And he did just that at Big Ten Media Days.
A reporter apparently said that Michigan “won the Big Ten” last season and Izzo took exception to it, corrected it, and now everyone’s better for it.
Highlight of talking to Tom Izzo (among many things) was a reporter slipping in a "Michigan won the Big Ten" comment. Izzo was absolutely not going to let that go unchecked: "Michigan won the Big Ten Tournament. They did not win the Big Ten."
— Isaac Trotter (@Isaac__Trotter) October 9, 2025
Dude remains the best.
”Michigan won the Big Ten Tournament. They did not win the Big Ten.”
Izzo is all of us this offseason. How many times have we had to correct Michigan fans who tried to tell us that the Wolverines won the Big Ten? Infinity times. Michigan State won the regular season which is more than just a weekend-long tournament, and Michigan won the conference tournament. Both are impressive, but there’s also very different accomplishments.
Good for Izzo for standing up for his Big Ten title that was earned through an entire regular season’s worth of good coaching, proper execution, and hard work.