A few years ago, my friend and I kicked around an idea. What if there was a championship belt, like in boxing or wrestling, for college basketball? You maintain the belt until you were defeated. Ultimately, because of conference tournaments, the belt would always go to the winner of the Big Dance anyway, but it would be interesting to see who held it along the way. This year, so far, it is definitely taking some interesting journeys.
It started with last year's champions, the Virginia Cavaliers. UVA started strong, going undefeated until the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. They drew the team they defeated to reach the Final Four last year, the Purdue Boilermakers. Purdue won the game and the belt, the first time I can remember them having it.
You might think that's why I am resurrecting this bit. Alas, it is not. In fact, in embarrassing fashion, the Boilermakers lost the Belt very soon thereafter, losing their first conference road game to Nebraska, and successfully defending the Belt one time, against Northwestern.
As if it wasn't strange enough that the Belt was in Lincoln, Nebraska, it was just as strange that the Big Ten set their schedule the way they did. There
Yes, the Belt went from Virginia to North Dakota. As you might imagine, UND wasn't done with their non-con schedule either, and they didn't successfully defend their title for even one game, giving it up to Oregon State the very next game. Also not a place anyone would expect the Belt to go, but it's already reached the nadir.
The Beavers didn't keep the Belt in their first defense, either, but they did ensure that it would stay in the Pac 12 for the rest of the regular season. Utah holds the belt now, and it looks like it is on
