Big Ten Hopes NCAA Title Drought Ends In A Few Weeks

The Big Ten is one of the premier conferences in the land. Always has been and always will be.

Its men’s basketball season is grueling, highly competitive, features the greatest venues in the country with some of the very best players and coaches you will find.

With that said, March has not been kind to the Big Ten. In fact, it has been downright cruel.

The NCAA Tournament has seen one Big Ten disappointment after another since Tom Izzo’s Michigan State Spartans won it all in 2000.

That’s 22 years and counting without a championship – 21 if you eliminate the year COVID won the national title.

The Big Ten hopes its national championship drought in men’s basketball comes to an end Monday April 3 in Houston, the site of this year’s Final Four and national championship game.

Purdue enters this year’s Big Dance as one of the four No. 1 seeds. The Boilermakers have been one of the best teams in college basketball this season yet few are picking Purdue to advance past the Sweet 16 and many have Matt Painter’s bunch not surviving the first weekend in Columbus.

“We’ve got to do our job,” Painter admitted. “You can talk in theory all you want.”

The Boilermakers will have a ton of pressure on them in the field of 68.

Only Purdue at No. 3 and Indiana at No. 21 were ranked in the final Associated Press top 25 poll on Monday, and only the Boilermakers and Hoosiers received a top 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament (IU is a No. 4 in the Midwest).

A total of eight Big Ten teams will participate in the Big Dance. Three others are in the NIT – Rutgers, Michigan and Wisconsin – but Rutgers already lost at home to Hofstra (yes, Hofstra).

Hopefully the Scarlet Knights’ loss isn’t a sign of things to come for the Big Ten, but it is cause for concern. Big Ten teams had trouble scoring against Rutgers’ defense this season, but Hofstra did not as it hung 88 points in overtime on the Scarlet Knights.

Purdue is making its eighth straight NCAA Tournament appearance, which is the fourth-longest streak in the country behind Kansas (33), Michigan State (25) and Gonzaga (24).

The Boilermakers have advanced to the Sweet 16 in four of their last five appearances, including last season before they were ousted by Cinderella St. Peter’s, who also knocked off Kentucky.

Purdue hasn’t advanced to the Final Four since 1980, suffering heartbreak after heartbreak this time of year.

Since IU played for the national championship in 2002, the Hoosiers are 10-9 in NCAA Tournament games and have not advanced to the Sweet 16 since 2016.

IU has won five NCAA championships, the last coming in 1987.

Like the Hoosiers, Michigan State has a rich tradition in the NCAA Tournament boasting the sixth most all-time Final Four appearances with 10, including one in 2019. The Spartan program also have the ninth all-time winning percentage in the NCAA Tournament (.673).

Following is a look at all the Big Ten teams playing in this year’s NCAA Tournament.

NO. 1 SEED PURDUE: The Boilermakers are the Big Ten’s most surprising team this season. After starting the season unranked, they have lived in the top five and have the consensus national player of the year in 7-foot-4 Zach Edey, who has proven to be virtually unstoppable. Purdue is undefeated on neutral floors so far this season (8-0), but must get consistent guard play and outside shooting if it is to make it to their fifth Sweet 16 appearance in their last six trips to the Dance, let alone if it wants to end its Final Four drought.

NO. 4 INDIANA: The Hoosiers are more than capable of making a run to the Final Four. After all, they have one of the best players in America with Trayce Jackson-Davis, and Jalen Hood-Schifino, who will be playing in the NBA next season. If the IU team that beat Purdue in Mackey Arena shows up in the NCAA Tournament, the Hoosiers will make their first Final Four appearance in a couple of decades. However, if the IU team that got swept by Penn State rears its ugly head, than the Hoosiers won’t make it past this weekend.

NO. 7 MICHIGAN STATE: The dean of Big Ten coaches – Tom Izzo – has a team that got a favorable drawn. You could definitely make a good case for the Spartans possibly advancing to the Elite Eight and, on the contrary, see how they could be one-and-done. Guard Tyson Walker needs to be really good and MSU needs Joey Hauser to shoot it well from the perimeter if it is to make noise.

NO. 7 NORTHWESTERN: The darling of the Big Ten faded down the stretch, losing four of their last five games. The ‘Cats are making just their second ever NCAA Tournament appearance and have a good shot at beating Boise State. Expect talented guards Boo Buie and Chase Audige to get Northwestern a date with No. 2 seed UCLA.

NO. 8 MARYLAND: The Terps have a very difficult first-round matchup today against Bob Huggins’ West Virginia Mountaineers. Maryland has won 14 of its last 15 first-round games. If you fate is dependent on guards as they say it is in this tournament, Maryland should be in good shape with Jahmir Young at the point. The problem is if the Terps survive West Virginia, top seed Alabama will be waiting.

NO. 8 IOWA: The Hawkeyes can score with the best of them and feature a soon-to-be NBA first round pick in Kris Murray. Fran McCaffery’s Hawks might have to play their best game of the year to get by an ultra-athletic Auburn team that should’ve beaten Bama late in the season in Tuscaloosa. Houston would be waiting in Round Two.

NO. 9 ILLINOIS: Good luck trying to figure out Brad Underwood’s team. Some days the Illini look like they can beat anyone and on other days they look like they can be beaten by anyone. Illinois, which hasn’t advanced to a Final Four since 2005, is talented with future NBA first-round picks Terrence Shannon Jr. and Coleman Hawkins. However, this team has been one of the nation’s most disappointing and underachieving. They better be locked in right away or Arkansas will end their season. A date with No. 1 seed Kansas awaits if the Illini win their opening game.

NO. 10 PENN STATE: The Nittany Lions are more than dangerous given their outside shooting prowess. Last weekend in the Big Ten Tournament Penn State showed good they can be. All-American guard Jalen Pickett leads a veteran team and Micah Shrewsberry is one heck of a coach. If the Lions get by Texas A&M, expect them to give Texas all it can handle.

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