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 CHICAGO (AP) - Excuse the Big Ten if it gloats a bit these days. Dissed and dismissed all year as being weaker than the other power conferences, the Big Ten is showing its mettle when it counts. After putting three teams in the regional finals of the NCAA tournament, the Big Ten is sending Illinois and Michigan State to the Final Four this weekend.
For those keeping score, that's one more Final Four team than the vaunted ACC. And two more than either the Big East or the Big 12.
"We're proud of our teams and our players," Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said Monday. "You don't take it too seriously. You'd like people to say nice things instead of not-so-nice things. But I think the criticism, to the extent there was some, I don't think it was justified."
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