Couch: In every way but one, the Big Ten is as good as any major conference in college basketball

As we grew deeper into the NCAA men’s basketball tournament and it became more apparent that this season’s national champion was, again, unlikely to come from the Big Ten, you could hear the usual chorus. Not as loud as some years, but unmistakably there.

It was perhaps best summed up by this post on X from ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg after Michigan State’s loss to Auburn in the Elite Eight knocked the Big Ten out entirely:

“Michigan State’s loss extends B1G national title drought to 25 years. Yes, B1G has made Final Fours/title games, but no one who followed the league this year will be surprised with this tourney result. I maintain that B1G would be served by a wholesale examination of hoops.”

Rittenberg is a smart guy and not at all anti-Big Ten. And it’s been a while since the league won a national championship — 25 or 23 years, depending how you look at it. Every other power conference has won at least three titles since MSU cut down the nets in 2000 or Maryland did in 2002. It’s a tad embarrassing at this point. And also telling of a league that hasn’t often enough had the team that looked like it was the best in the sport that particular year.

However, that 25/23-year title drought is not reflective of the overall quality and depth of basketball in the Big Ten. A better gauge for that is the number of Final Fours a conference has made and, even more significantly, the number of different teams from a conference to make a Final Four. That shows the health and strength of a league more than having a single program or two that’s repeatedly at the top. Like, why should Wake Forest get credit for Duke? And by this more thoughtful metric, the Big Ten is as good as any major conference there is and a touch better than most — both over the past 25 years and the past 10 Final Fours.

If we’re judging leagues by what they are in present times, then we should judge their recent history based on who’s in the league today. In other words, when looking at data from the last 10 seasons and 25 years, the Big 12 gets credit for not just Houston this season, but also 2021, and Arizona in 2001, but also, we’re not counting Oklahoma and Texas’ Final Fours for the Big 12 over that span anymore. Those go on the SEC’s tab. Because we’re measuring what a league is today and the potential and strength of its current programs.

So the Big Ten picks up an additional seven Final Fours over 25 years — four from UCLA, two from Maryland, one from Oregon — and two extra over the last 10 Final Fours.

In all, current Big Ten teams have 22 Final Fours on their tab over the past 25 years and seven Final Fours in the last 10 NCAA tournaments played. More telling, 10 different Big Ten schools have played in Final Fours in the last 25 years (24 Final Fours), including six different programs in the last 10 that were played.

That’s pretty healthy. Frankly, you could say the same about the rest of the leagues, too. No league is really falling behind, now that the old Pac-12 is defunct.

Like the Big Ten, 22 ACC teams have played in Final Fours since 2001, with 10 in the last 10 Final Fours. That’s eight different teams over 25 years and six different teams in the last 10. Just about dead even with the Big Ten.

The heavily touted SEC, which has put energy and resources into basketball in recent years, has had 16 teams reach Final Fours over 25 years, seven in the last 10, with eight different teams since 2001 and six different teams since 2015. Again, when you look at the more recent data, pretty even.

The Big 12 has 13 Final Four teams over 25 years, six in the last 10 Final Fours played. That’s with seven different teams since 2001 and four different teams since 2015.

The Big East can also claim 13 Final Fours over 25 years, five in the last 10 seasons, with five different teams over the last quarter-century and two different teams in the last 10 Final Fours played.

The Big Ten hasn’t had the top team, but the league has had teams that were capable of winning a championship and just ran into THAT team that year or had something else go wrong. Purdue in 2024 comes to mind. Same for Wisconsin in 2015. MSU in 2014 might have had the best team had it stayed healthy. Michigan in 2013 came close. MSU in 2009 would have won it a lot of years. Ohio State in 2007, Illinois in 2005 — these were great teams. I’d take that Illinois team against most of the champions over the past 25 years. In a tournament decided by matchups, the matchups haven’t gone their way. Every one of those teams would have won the 2010 Final Four, for example. And MSU probably wins that year if Kalin Lucas doesn’t tear his Achilles.

So, yeah, it’s been 25 years now since the Big Ten won a title. Or 23, if you want to slice it by who’s in the league now. Either way, it’s a big number. A number that just sits there, giving ammunition to Big Ten haters. The reality, though, is that Big Ten basketball is on par with any conference out there in terms of depth of really good (and sometimes great) teams.

MORE: Couch: Tre Holloman’s transfer portal move was jarring, because it felt like a crack in something MSU basketball has so far avoided

Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on X @Graham_Couch and BlueSky @Graham_Couch.

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