The Big Ten has crowned a tournament champion in women's basketball since 1995 and in men's basketball since 1998. The conference's tourney history isn't filled with tales of underdogs defying the odds to earn its automatic NCAA Tournament berth.
However, the lowest-seeded teams to win the postseason competition certainly had miracle runs to remember.
What Is the Lowest Seed to Win the Big Ten Men's Tournament?
In 2017, eighth-seeded Michigan became the lowest seed to win the Big Ten men's tournament, topping sixth-seeded Iowa's tourney title run in 2001.
The Wolverines' end-of-season success wasn't completely surprising. They were ranked 25th in the Associated Press poll in late November after a 4-0 start to John Beilein's 10th season in Ann Arbor. Michigan completed Big Ten play as one of four teams with a 10-8 record and entered the conference tournament as the No. 8 seed with a 20-11 overall mark.
How Michigan Pulled Off Its Big Ten Tournament Run
At the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., the Wolverines won four games in four nights to capture their first conference tourney championship since their 1998 title, which was later vacated by the Ed Martin scandal.
They defeated Illinois (75-55), Purdue (74-70 in overtime), Minnesota (84-77) and Wisconsin (71-56). Senior guard Derrick Walton Jr. averaged 20.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 6.3 assists to earn Big Ten tournament MVP honors.
Biggest Upsets During Michigan's Championship Run
After beating the Illini in the first round, Michigan advanced to the quarterfinals, where it faced top-seeded Purdue. The Wolverines defeated the Boilermakers 82-70 at home just two weeks earlier, but the challenge against the Big Ten regular-season champions was still daunting.
Michigan knocked off the nation's No. 13 team behind the heroics of junior forward D.J. Wilson, who scored a game-high 26 points, including the tying layup with four seconds left. He also blocked Purdue's potential winning 3-point attempt to send the game to overtime.
In the extra period, senior guard Zak Irvin scored twice on drives to the basket, and Walton and junior forward Duncan Robinson each sank two free throws to clinch the four-point victory and a trip to the semifinals against Minnesota.
Walton's 29 points, five rebounds and nine assists against the Gophers powered Michigan into the tourney final against second-seeded Wisconsin. That's when Irvin and Walton took it upon themselves to "leave a legacy."
In a blowout victory against the Badgers, Walton scored a game-high 22 points with six rebounds and seven assists, and Irvin tallied 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Irvin told reporters afterward he and Walton had wanted to "do something that's never been done."
"We won a Big Ten championship our freshman year," said Irvin, who was named to the All-Big Ten Tournament team with Walton. "We played a key role in that, but to really be able to do this with Derrick and I leading these guys is a great feeling for us."
"A lot of things we can't explain that happen happen," Walton said. "We just bonded together as a family."
What Is the Lowest Seed to Win the Big Ten Women's Tournament?
The Big Ten Women's Tournament has not been a friendly environment for lower-seeded squads.
Since the conference's first women's tourney in 1995, a dozen No. 1 seeds and nine No. 2 seeds have been crowned postseason champions.
Only one team that finished fifth in the regular season with a .500 record has overcome long odds to earn the Big Ten's automatic NCAA Tournament berth — fifth-seeded Indiana in 2002.
How Indiana Pulled Off Its Big Ten Tournament Run
The Hoosiers closed the regular season with three straight victories to take a 14-13 overall record into the Big Ten tourney at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Kathi Bennett's squad outlasted fourth-seeded Iowa 78-76 in overtime and then upset top-seeded and No. 7-ranked Purdue 55-41 to reach the championship game against Penn State, the No. 2 seed and 23rd-ranked team in the country.
IU, which lost 67-59 to the Nittany Lions a month earlier in Bloomington, avenged the defeat with a stunning 75-72 triumph. The Hoosiers defense — led by Tara Jones — stifled Penn State's Kelly Mazzante, the nation's leading scorer at nearly 25 points per game, to record its third consecutive upset win.
Indiana led 73-64 with 34 seconds left before the Nittany Lions rallied with a late flurry of 3-pointers. Jill Chapman's free throws secured the Hoosiers' first Big Ten Tournament crown.
“I have never been more proud of a team in my whole life," Bennett told reporters. "To do what they have done, to win three games in four days, is something very special. It is almost indescribable, what they have accomplished. They sought greatness and went out and got it.”
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Lowest Seeds to Win the Big Ten Tournament, Men's and Women's.