Year in and year out, the Big Ten Conference produces some of the nation’s best basketball teams. Last season, the Big Ten’s Wisconsin Badgers played for the national championship after upsetting the previously unbeaten Kentucky Wildcats in the national semifinals. But Wisconsin could not close the deal, as the Badgers lost to the Duke Blue Devils in the NCAA Tournament championship game.
With the loss, the Big Ten continued a streak that it would rather not have. The conference has not won an NCAA Tournament title since Tom Izzo led the Michigan State Spartans to the title in 2000. The Big Ten has had outstanding teams over the last 15 years, but none have won the title. The Indiana Hoosiers were runners-up in 2002. The Illinois Fighting Illini were runners-up in 2005. The same goes for the Ohio State Buckeyes, who lost in the title game in 2007, as did Michigan State in 2009 and the Michigan Wolverines, who came up just short in 2013.
During that 15-year span, the Big Ten has seen its contemporaries fare very well. The Atlantic Coast Conference has won six titles in the last 15 years. The Big East has won four, while the Southeastern Conference has won three. The Big 12 and the American Athletic Conference have each won once.
There does not seem to be a reason why the Big Ten teams continue to come up short. Sometimes, they are simply overmatched. But other times, the ball just hasn’t bounced the Big Ten’s way.
This streak is simply too long for a conference as talented as the Big Ten. The conference needs to find a way to get over the hump and end this streak.
Tim Letcher is a Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @TimLetcher , on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.