With Michigan State's 70-64 loss to Auburn on Sunday in the Elite Eight, there are officially no Big Ten basketball teams remaining in this year's NCAA Tournament. That means the title drought for the conference has officially hit 25 years -- or 24 tournaments when taking into account the tournament getting cancelled in 2020.
Of course, the last title for the Big Ten came back in 2000 when Tom Izzo and senior point guard Mateen Cleaves cut down the nets in Indianapolis. Izzo was in just his fifth year as head coach for the Spartans at the time, and the title was to be the first in what many expected to be more trophies to come.
Unfortunately, Izzo nor any Big Ten coach has been able to end the season on top.
Since 2000, seven different Big Ten programs have made it to the title game, including the Spartans again in 2009. Michigan is the only program to have reached the national championship game twice during this span, losing to Louisville in 2013 (since vacated) and Villanova in 2018.
Just two years after the Michigan State title, Indiana made an unexpected run to the championship game in 2002 as a 5-seed, upsetting No. 1 Duke in the Sweet 16 along the way. The Hoosiers eventually fell to now-Big Ten member Maryland.
The 2005 Illinois squad, who many believe to be one of the best teams not to have won a title, began the season 29-0 before losing the last game of the regular season at Ohio State by a point. The Illini needed to squeak out a 1-point overtime victory over Arizona to reach the Final Four, before eventually falling to North Carolina by five.
Ohio State entered the 2007 title game on a 22-game winning streak, but fell to the Florida Gators who accomplished the last back-to-back championships before UConn's most recent titles in 2023 and 2024.
Early in the 2008-09 season, Michigan State hosted North Carolina in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge at Ford Field in Detroit, the site of that season's Final Four. The Tar Heels cruised to a 35-point win over the Spartans in that game. Almost exactly four months later, those two teams faced off again in the same building with a title on the line. The rematch ended much the same as the previous encounter, with the final score ending up a more respectable 89-72.
John Beilein came to Michigan in 2007 and revived a struggling program, getting the Wolverines to the national title games in 2013 and 2018. The loss in 2013 especially stings for Michigan fans, as Louisville later had to vacate the title.
Between Michigan's two title game appearances, Wisconsin made it to the title game in 2015 after knocking off previously unbeaten Kentucky in the Final Four, before falling to Duke 68-63.
Last season, Purdue brushed off their recent history of early tournament exit but making it all the way to the title game. Ultimately, Zach Edey's 37 points were not enough as the Boilermakers fell to UConn.
Clearly, the Big Ten has had the talent in a number of years to break this streak, but for one reason or another the conference's best teams continue to fall when it matters most. With the landscape in college basketball being what it is right now, it's almost impossible to look ahead to next season to see if any of the Big Ten schools will have a shot. But with three of the next four Final Fours being hosted in Big Ten country (Indianapolis 2026 and 2029, Detroit 2027), those seasons would be as good a time as any to break through and win the conference's first title since 2000.