Chris Collins accuses Big Ten of treating Northwestern differently after issue with team hotel

Northwestern coach Chris Collins came after the Big Ten to start off his postgame press conference at the league tournament Wednesday. Fresh off a 72-64 victory against Minnesota in the first round, he called out the conference for the accomodations it provided his team for its stay in Indianapolis.

Collins complained that the hotel they stayed had no air conditioning and that temperatures reach 85 degrees while the team was trying to sleep Tuesday evening. He also seemed to insinuate that this isn’t the first time the conference has treated the school unfairly.

“They’ve had a lot thrown at them. Even last night, they put us in a hotel, the rooms were a thousand degrees,” Collins said. There was no AC in the hotel, and our guys’ rooms were 85 degrees, and that’s where the league puts you. …We’re used to being treated like this by the league.”

Ty Berry and Nick Martinelli were also sitting alongside Collins in the press conference and confirmed that it was hot in the rooms the night before. Berry said he slept on top of the covers and was tossing and turning throughout the evening.

“It was super hot this morning,” Martinelli said. “I don’t think they’ve changed anything, but yeah, we’re just going to go back there and sleep in 80 degrees again.”

Later on in the press conference, Chris Collins went into more detail about what happened when the team arrived to find the hotel’s conditions. He said athletic director Derrick Gragg was also there with the team and spoke with hotel staff, who said they had been having issues with the air conditioners in some rooms for the past 10 days.

“You just hate it for the guys,” he continued. “I have seniors that they’re playing for their lives, and they come down and said, ‘Coach, I have to have an ice bucket next to my bed. It’s steaming hot.’ Even this morning after we did our walk-through, our guys had to sit in the lobby or sit in our team room. They couldn’t even go to their rooms.

“You guys know, the worst thing you want to do before a game is sit in a sauna for two hours. You guys know how it makes you feel. I’m frustrated about it. I don’t know what can be done. That’s just me being a coach and wanting the best for my guys.”

Regardless, Northwestern overcome the tough conditions the night before on its way to victory. It will now live to fight another day as it advances to face No. 5 seed Wisconsin on Thursday.