ROSEMONT, Ill. — I was talking to Purdue coach Matt Painter on Thursday, here at Big Ten Media Day, when the conversation turned to that not-so-great streak most college basketball fans are familiar with.
TRIVIA TIME!
Question: When’s the last time a Big Ten school won the national title in men’s college basketball?
Answer: 2000.
You knew that, didn’t you? Painter did. And I really do think all Big Ten coaches, and most Big Ten fans, know that as well. But the not-so-great streak gets more interesting, and confusing, when context is added.
We’re not talking about Conference USA here. (No offense, CUSA!). This is the Big Ten — a league that has basically, on average, rated as a top-three conference in the country in the 24 years since a Big Ten school last won the NCAA Tournament. The league has been consistently good — and even literally the best in four of the past 24 seasons, according to KenPom.com. And it’s not like various league members haven’t threatened to snap the not-so-great streak year after year after year.
That’s the craziest part.
The craziest part is not that the Big Ten hasn’t won a national championship since Tom Izzo and Michigan State won it in 2000. The craziest part is that the Big Ten has actually been just one victory away from snapping the not-so-great streak eight different times and failed in all eight opportunities.
“I’ve never heard that stat,” Painter said.
Truthfully, I hadn’t either (or, at least, I had forgotten about it) until I looked it up the other day — but it’s true. A Big Ten member has appeared in the title game of the NCAA Tournament eight different times since Michigan State won the national championship in 2000. The league’s record in those games is 0-8.
Here’s a breakdown of those title-game appearances:
“I didn’t know it was that many times being in a championship game, which is a positive and a negative, right?” Painter said. “You’re getting there. It’s like I always talk about winning a Big Ten championship — you gotta put yourself in position to win it before you can win it.”
Undeniably, the Big Ten is doing that — actually as well or better than every conference other than the ACC, which has placed 11 teams in one of the 23 championship games since Michigan State won it in 2000. (The ACC is 8-3 in those games.) The only other conference that has at least eight title-game appearances since 2000 like the Big Ten is the Big East. Incredibly, the Big East is 8-0 in those games, which is something hardcore Big East fans are apparently keenly aware of and ready to remind Big Ten fans whenever a debate unfolds online.
If you’re looking for a deep explanation for how the Big Ten can rank on average as a top-three league for a 24-year span, place eight teams within one victory of a national championship in that span, have, in some cases, either current Naismith Memorial Hall of Famers or future Naismith Memorial Hall of Famers coaching in those games, and still walk away with an 0-8 record, I’m sorry, but I don’t have one.
I don’t think anybody has one.
You can’t sensibly argue no Big Ten team has been good enough, if only because the 2015 Wisconsin Badgers existed, and if the 2015 Wisconsin Badgers were good enough to beat Kentucky in the national semifinals, then the 2015 Wisconsin Badgers were also good enough to beat Duke in the national title game.
They just didn’t do it.
(Wisconsin was actually a one-point favorite in that game.)
“I don’t think [the streak of seasons without a national championship for the Big Ten] is because of the conference, you know?” Izzo said. “People try to say ‘Well the conference is different’ and this and that and it’s more physical. [But] those days are gone. So I don’t think it’s any reason.”
I don’t either.
The most sensible way to describe the entire situation is to accurately point out that the only conference that has placed more teams than the Big Ten in the national title game in the past 23 NCAA Tournaments is the ACC, and that all eight times a Big Ten team has advanced to the title game in that span, the opponent waiting for them was a No. 1 seed, which is to say, another clearly capable and worthy champion. As a result, the Big Ten has often been underdogs on that final Monday of the season and rarely favorites since Mateen Cleaves and Michigan State cut nets in April 2000. So the perception of the not-so-great streak is likely worse than the reality of the not-so-great streak.
It just isn’t as bad as it seems or probably feels.
That said, it’s still not great! And, needless to say, it’ll remain a big bullet point connected to the Big Ten until Purdue or Ohio State or Michigan State or Michigan or UCLA or somebody snaps it someday.
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