Syracuse's Jim Boeheim Rips Big Ten Basketball: 'They Sucked in the Tournament'

Syracuse men's basketball head coach Jim Boeheim had some choice words for the Big Ten's performance last year in light of the conference's lackluster NCAA tournament outing.

"At the end of the day, you play for the [NCAA] tournament," Boeheim said during Syracuse's media day on Friday, per ESPN's Myron Medcalf.

"You can say what you want about the Big Ten. They sucked in the tournament. To me, that's what they did. All of their wins were in their league. If you can't play in the [NCAA] tournament, then you're not good."

The Big Ten notably sent nine teams to the NCAA tournament, more than any other conference. Four of those teams (Illinois, Purdue, Wisconsin and Iowa) earned top-five seeds in the tournament.

However, only two teams (No. 11 Michigan and No. 3 Purdue) made it to the Sweet 16, and none made it to the Elite Eight.

The Big Ten notably hasn't featured a national champion since 2000 (Michigan State), although Indiana (2002), Illinois (2005), Ohio State (2007), MSU (2009), Michigan (2013, 2018) and Wisconsin (2015) have all made the national title since then.

As far as 2022 goes, the ACC sent just five teams, but three of them went to the Elite Eight (Duke, UNC, Miami). UNC beat Duke in the Final Four before losing to Kansas in the championship.

Syracuse was among the ACC teams that did not make the tournament. It was a tough year for the Orange, who went just 16-17 and missed March Madness for the first time since 2017.

Still, Syracuse went through a gauntlet in the ACC, a league that Boeheim continued to tout during his presser.

"Kansas was the best team [last year]," Boeheim said. "But the best league? What league won 14 games and only lost five [in the NCAA tournament]? The ACC. To me, that's the best league."

We'll see how the two conferences fare early on in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, which the Big Ten hasn't lost since 2017. Syracuse is matched up at Illinois on Nov. 29.