Is This Finally the Year the Big Ten Ends Its College Basketball Title Drought?

It’s been more than a quarter-century since it happened. President George W. Bush was not yet in office the last time a Big Ten Conference team won the men’s basketball national title.

So is it actually a fool’s errand to bet on the conference to quash that drought this spring? Or maybe… they’re just due?

Famously, the Big Ten’s last champion in men’s hoops was the 1999–2000 Michigan State Spartans, with Mateen Cleaves at the controls and Tom Izzo the ripe old age of 45. The Big Ten has had moments since then where it’s looked like the best league in the sport, but it’s failed to deliver another champ partly due to the unpredictability of the NCAA Tournament.

If there were ever a year to bet on that drought going by the wayside, it’s this one.

The Big Ten has five legitimate national title contenders in Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, Illinois and Purdue. It may not be the best conference altogether — Penn State, Northwestern, Maryland and Oregon really drag down the bottom — but there’s no debating which league is strongest at the top.

To wit: The quintet mentioned above are ranked Nos. 3, 5, 7, 9 and 12 in this week’s AP poll. The highest-ranked SEC team, Arkansas, is No. 15. In KenPom’s net efficiency ratings, Big Ten teams check in at Nos. 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 before you hit your first SEC team.

Other than Purdue, which has stumbled into a three-game losing streak, the other four Big Ten teams we’re discussing have a 9–1 or 8–1 league record — a true tussle at the top. The SEC contenders, none of whom besides Vanderbilt (!) looked especially great during nonconference play, have taken one another down a peg lately. At 6–1 in the league, the SEC leader — any guesses? — is Texas A&M, NET ranking 40.

It’s a refreshing change of pace after the SEC put 14 of its 16 teams in the 2025 tournament field. I remember writing last year that the SEC warranted at least 12, controversial at the time if you don’t live in the South (and I don’t — for example, I know how to handle a snowstorm). But four of their schools made the Elite Eight and Florida won the title, so the SEC hype was partially warranted.

No longer. When Texas A&M and Vandy and John Calipari’s Razorbacks are your best hopes, you’ve lost your throne. I’d listen to arguments that the Big 12 is up there with the Big Ten, with its crew of Arizona, Houston, Iowa State and Texas Tech, and I’d rather bet on the ACC to produce the national champ than the SEC just for Duke alone.

But my mind returns to the Big Ten.

We got to see one of the best games of the year Tuesday when Michigan trailed most of the way before pulling out the last six points to finish a 75–72 comeback and hand a short-handed Nebraska its first loss. Both teams deserved to win that game; they both shot a touch lower than 50% and each excelled in their own areas of strength. To overuse a cliché, it was a heavyweight fight.

Guess what? It’s a full card of heavyweight fights in the next week and a half.

• Friday: No. 3 Michigan at No. 7 Michigan State
• Sunday: No. 9 Illinois at No. 5 Nebraska
• Saturday, Feb. 7: No. 9 Illinois at No. 7 Michigan State

Each team has its own identity, from the Cornhuskers’ collection of underrecruited, less athletic dudes — six of whom are from Nebraska, as well as guys from the Netherlands and Turkey — to Michigan’s high-powered machine led by a coach who took FAU to a Final Four, to Illinois’ merry band of Balkan brothers.

If you’re into this stuff, it’s a thrill to watch. And I’m confident that one of them will be cutting down the nets in April.