Last week, after Michigan became one of four Big Ten teams to reach the men’s Elite Eight, coach Dusty May was asked how recent rule changes around compensation in college athletics had helped league teams have such success.

“You’d have to catch me off the record to answer that question,” May said with a smile.

The implication was clear: Now that every school can pay players — either through direct revenue share or via name, image and likeness dollars — Big Ten schools are no longer disadvantaged in recruiting by everything from booster bag men to shoe company AAU connections.

This narrative, of course, ignores many past scandals in the league, let alone that the Big Ten has produced plenty of contenders through the years. It just hasn’t won it all since Michigan State in 2000.

The overall sentiment is somewhat fair, however. While violations certainly occurred in the Big Ten, they generally weren’t as extreme as in other places.

Now though, it’s an open game and an open checkbook. That means game on.

Big Ten schools have already won the past three national titles in football (Michigan, Ohio State and Indiana), and with two teams in the men’s Final Four — Illinois joins Michigan — it has a chance to break that 26-year hoops title drought.

“I think now that the playing field has been leveled out as far as finances and things like that, the environments in the Big Ten are second to none,” May said.

It’s more than just legalized cheating, if you will.

The money allows Big Ten programs to take different strategies to construct rosters.

For decades, league schools seemed to battle each other over many of the same Midwestern recruits — effectively kneecapping each other over a point guard from Flint or a swingman from Indiana. In the end, many of the very best went to other conferences, anyway: Anthony Davis, Derrick Rose, Shane Battier, Antoine Walker, Jalen Brunson, Dwyane Wade and so on.

Last year, the two best high school recruits with Midwestern hometowns were Darryn Peterson (Canton, Ohio) and Darius Acuff Jr. (Detroit). They chose Kansas and Arkansas, respectively.

No matter. May, for example, has constructed arguably the best team in Michigan history without a roster full of area high school stars.

Instead, armed with exceptional scouting and plenty of money, he hit the transfer portal and brought in Yaxel Lendeborg (UAB), Aday Mara (UCLA), Morez Johnson Jr. (Illinois) and Elliot Cadeau (North Carolina).

Those four alone make up 65% of the Wolverines’ scoring, 66.2% of their rebounding and 74.2% of their assists. U of M is 35-3 and won each of its tournament games by double digits.

Then there is Illinois coach Brad Underwood, whose program, based on proximity to Chicago, St. Louis and Indianapolis, should be a historic powerhouse. Yet the Illini have only occasionally gotten the best local recruits.

That’s one reason Underwood has put an emphasis on targeting European talent by using newly legal money to sign players who would have otherwise chosen to play professionally over there.

Illinois is powered by David Mirkovic of Montenegro, twin brothers Tomislav and Zvonimir Ivisic of Croatia, and Andrej Stojakovic, who spent part of his childhood in Thessaloniki, Greece, before moving to California where his father, Peja, played in the NBA.

Add in some Americans, including unheralded-recruit-turned-superstar Keaton Wagler, and the Illini are making their first Final Four appearance since 2005.

“NIL has opened it up so we can actually get the really, really good [European players],” Underwood said. “Dribble, pass, shoot guys. They’ve been extremely well coached. They are fundamentally very sound.

“We’ve had ones before, but maybe not the top-quality guys,” he continued.

Maybe under the old rules, May is two years into building a program and still trying to make recruiting connections while Illinois is stuck in its good but rarely great history.

Not anymore. The entire league is awash with talent, with six teams reaching the Sweet 16. And while Nebraska basketball couldn’t do the impossible that Indiana football pulled off, the Cornhuskers’ first ever NCAA tournament victory (and then a second) is proof enough that a new day is here.

Even a title this weekend wouldn’t give the Big Ten basketball dominance to go with the football variety, but here in the new era of college sports, it would suggest another step in its revival, if not arrival, as a true behemoth.

• Sahibzada Farhan declared Player of the Match.
• Kingsmen post 225/5, with Sadaqat’s 62 and Sharjeel’s 51.
• Multan Sultans will now face Lahore Qalandars on April 3.
  

Sahibzada Farhan’s brilliant century powered Multan Sultans to a successful 226-run chase against Hyderabad Kingsmen in the eighth match of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 11 at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, on Wednesday.

Set to chase a daunting 226-run target, the 2021 champions knocked the winning runs for the loss of four wickets and eight balls to spare, courtesy of Farhan.

The right-handed opener oversaw the Sultans’ pursuit with an unbeaten century and top-scored with 106 off just 57 deliveries, studded with eight sixes and seven fours.

Farhan received ample support from his opening partner, Steve Smith, and vice-captain Shan Masood, who made 46 and 29, respectively, before knitting an unbeaten 37-run partnership with Arafat Minhas, who chipped in with a brisk 26 off 11 deliveries.

Saim Ayub was the pick of the bowlers for the Kingsmen, taking two wickets for 43 runs in his four overs, while Maheesh Theekshana and Hassan Khan could pick up one apiece.

Farhan was declared Player of the Match.

Kingsmen captain Marnus Labuschagne’s decision to bat first paid dividends as the tournament debutants piled up 225/5 in their 20 overs.

The Kingsmen got off to a spirited start to their innings as their opening pair of Saim Ayub and Maaz put together 59 runs in five overs until the former was caught and bowled by Peter Siddle and consequently walked back after scoring a 20-ball 27, laced with three fours and a six.

Maaz was then involved in brief partnerships with captain Labuschagne and wicketkeeper batter Usman Khan until eventually falling victim to Mohammad Nawaz in the 10th over.

The 20-year-old remained the top-scorer for the Kingsmen with a 26-ball 62, studded with five sixes and as many fours.

Usman followed suit 10 balls later as he was caught at the deep fine leg by Shehzad Gull of Mohammad Wasim Jr, resulting in the Kingsmen slipping to 127/4 in 11.2 overs.

Following the flurry of wickets, experienced Sharjeel Khan took the reins of Kingsmen’s batting charge and smashed an unbeaten half-century, making 51 off 26 deliveries with the help of four sixes and three fours.

Sharjeel shared crucial partnerships with Syed Saad Ali and Muhammad Irfan Khan at the backend, who contributed with handy cameos of 23 and 22 not out, respectively.

Mohammad Wasim Jr was the standout bowler for the Sultans, taking two wickets for 37 runs in his four overs, while Nawaz, Siddle and captain Ashton Turner made one scalp apiece.

ATLANTA — On the day before the United States men’s national team’s 2-0 loss to Portugal, head coach Mauricio Pochettino mentioned that he might elect to make some tactical tweaks to help star attacker Christian Pulisic end a long scoring drought and build back some lost confidence.

“Maybe we help a little bit to [get him] a little bit more closer to the goal,” he said.

The coach was speaking literally. Pulisic started up front as a center forward on Tuesday and found familiar cohorts in Weston McKennie and Tim Weah feeding him the ball. He received more passes than any other U.S. attacker in the first half and attempted seven ground duels, the most on the team. But he won only one of those duels, and although he forced a couple of saves from Portugal keeper José Sá, he was indeed held scoreless once again.

– Player ratings: Pulisic 3/10 in USMNT’s loss to Portugal
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– O’Hanlon: Will USMNT’s depth be World Cup game-changer?

It was Pulisic’s eighth consecutive national team match without a goal, the longest drought of his career, and by the time he gets another opportunity, at least 18 months will have gone by since his last U.S. goal. Increasingly frustrated as the first half went on, the AC Milan star committed a couple of fouls and received a yellow card before halftime. He was subbed out after 45 minutes.

“We were able to create chances, which if I finish chances, which I know I’m going to, then things are going to be a bit different,” Pulisic said after the game.

Pulisic’s struggles — plus a 37th-minute Portugal goal after a turnover by McKennie and a perfect passing sequence from Vitinha to Bruno Fernandes to Francisco Trincão — overshadowed another solid first-half performance in which the U.S. attempted eight shots to Portugal’s three and generated 0.45 xG to Portugal’s 0.26. The U.S. had seen more touches in the box, too.

Neither team had started its entire first-choice lineup, but in the second half Portugal’s extreme depth advantage showed. While Patrick Agyemang (Derby County), Tanner Tessmann (Lyon) and Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew) subbed on for the U.S., Portugal coach Roberto Martinez was able to bring in Nuno Mendes (Paris Saint-Germain), Matheus Nunes (Manchester City), João Félix (Al Nassr), and Francisco Conceição (Juventus), among others.

Mendes, one of the best left backs in the world, was quickly able to test Alex Freeman down the Americans’ right side and, after Freeman conceded a corner, a wide-open João Félix slammed in Portugal’s second goal — both assisted by Fernandes — in the 59th minute. At that point, the match was effectively over.

The March international window before a World Cup is a particularly odd one. The U.S. scheduled a couple of heavyweights in Belgium and Portugal, knowing that the results would hold massive weight on perceptions and narratives heading into the summer. It’s safe to say that two losses by a combined 7-2 will certainly define discussions over the next few weeks.

At the same time, there’s a reason Portugal boss Martinez called team assessments in March “worthless” earlier in the week. With a number of prospective World Cup starters still out with minor injuries and a number of roster spots still up for grabs, however, Pochettino needed further impressions from a lot of the 24 players who saw the field over the two matches. What did he see?

• Malik Tillman created five chances in 138 minutes while splitting time in a central attacking midfield role (against Belgium) and on the left wing (against Portugal). He created only two shot attempts for himself, however, putting one on goal.

• McKennie scored from a set piece against Belgium and found another great chance early against Portugal, sending it wide. He wasn’t as sharp in the second match, and his turnover near midfield sent Portugal off toward their first goal.

• Defender Auston Trusty played almost the entire match against Portugal and won five of seven duels. He was mostly stable out of possession, though you could make the case that he dropped back far too low on Portugal’s first goal, giving Trincão space to fire off an open shot.

• After struggling at right back against Jérémy Doku and Belgium, Weah was the team’s most dangerous attacker against Portugal, making six progressive carries (the most on the team) and sending in a pair of dangerous crosses.

• Aidan Morris and Sebastian Berhalter were given massive opportunities, starting against a dynamite Portuguese midfield. Morris, one of the best duel winners in the player pool, won a pair of duels and made seven defensive interventions, and each player completed four progressive passes.

• Freeman played 79 minutes on Tuesday and won four of seven duels, though he very much had his hands full with Nunes in the second half.

• Agyemang was mostly quiet against Portugal but was a lone bright spot against Belgium, scoring late.

For now, however, the biggest impression comes from Pulisic. The 27-year-old has now gone 14 matches for club and country without a goal, his longest drought since 2022.

“Physically I feel really good, feel really sharp and I’m doing a lot of good things,” Pulisic said. “I have to help my team to create assists and score goals and create chances. Obviously when I don’t do that it’s frustrating, but I feel like I’m close and I feel good things are coming.”

He will now return to Milan as they attempt to push up from second place in Serie A.

That’s two teams counting on his return to form.