i didn't know you got a banner/trophy and cut down the nets for having the best conference record. i guess it's somewhat of an accomplishment, but in the grand scheme of things, a regular season conference championship and 50 cents will get you a phone call. as opposed to what? winning the Big Ten tourney? if you win the regular season title of a major conference you're going to be a top seed in the ncaa tournament anyway... or are you saying only winning the ncaa tournament matters? this isn't like pro sports where there is one winner out of 30 or so teams. i guess my point is that, when the conference has an end-of-season tourney, nobody really remembers who won the regular season. alabama had the best regular-season record in SEC football this year, but if you ask someone who won the SEC in football, i don't think anyone except for alabama fans would answer anything other than "florida" I understand that - I just think basketball is different. I mean Northwestern could finish below .500 in the conference schedule and go on a run and win the Big Ten tournament, they did beat Michigan State at home. Ole Miss beat Florida in the regular season and it's not unthinkable that they could have beaten them again in a playoff scenario, but they never got a chance.