Illinois men’s and women’s basketball teams didn’t make the NCAA Tournament, so the Daily Illini sports staff is approaching March Madness in a different way.

We’re going to vote to determine who is the greatest Big Ten athlete of all time.

The staff decided on 32 candidates from all 14 current Big Ten schools. We ignored the fact that Rutgers, Maryland and Nebraska haven’t been in the conference when their respective athletes competed.

With each successive round of the NCAA tournament, our staff will do another round of voting in our bracket. You can weigh in on dailyillini.com and on social media using the #DIBracket hashtag. Tell us if you agree or disagree with our picks. We want your feedback.

The winner will be announced in our April 4 print and online edition, coinciding with the date of the national championship game. We hope you enjoy following along with our picks.