yahoo - 3/16/2026 3:06:40 AM - GMT (+2 )
CHICAGO - Maybe next year, Big Ten.
The conference still doesn’t have a team that can win the men's NCAA Tournament and give the Big Ten its first title since 2000. That much is obvious after Michigan, which spent most of the season in the top three of the USA TODAY Sports coaches poll, including five weeks at No. 1, struggled throughout the conference tournament before finally losing to Purdue in the title game.
Oh, the Wolverines are still the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region. But Michigan looks like one of those teams that peaked too early, and has a Sweet 16 or Elite Eight exit written all over them.
“This loss … makes us know that we are not unbeatable. We can lose games, too,” Aday Mara said after the 80-72 loss to Purdue on Sunday, March 15.
“We cannot relax during games. We’ve just got to keep learning, keep improving and make sure we don’t relax during games.”
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That’s a lovely sentiment. But when you need a reminder of that at this stage of the season, you’re already cooked.
As are the Big Ten’s big hopes for ending its title drought.
There was a time the Big Ten was as much a constant in the list of NCAA champions as Indianapolis was in the list of Final Four host cities. But you have to go back to Michigan State’s Flintstones in 2000 since a Big Ten men’s team has won it all.
That might not sound like that long ago. When you realize that was in the quaint old days of the Big Ten still having 11 teams, however, it might as well be ancient history.
It’s not that the Big Ten hasn’t had its chances. Eight teams from the conference have made the title game since 2001. Another seven teams have made the Final Four. Once there, however, it’s been clear the Big Ten wasn’t on the same level as ACC, SEC and Big East.
Michigan was supposed to be different. It has the Big Ten player of the year in Yaxel Lendeborg, the defensive player of the year in Mara and an elite point guard in Elliot Cadeau.
The Wolverines won all but two games during the regular season, and went unbeaten in road conference games. They were explosive on offense and tenacious on defense.
Yet Michigan didn’t look like a team capable of a title run during the Big Ten tournament. The Wolverines seemed to be on their heels for most of the tournament, responding rather than setting the tone.
Against Wisconsin, the Wolverines led by 15 with less than 10 minutes to play but needed a last-second 3 from Lendeborg to avoid overtime. In the title game, Purdue opened the second half with a 13-4 run and Michigan never recovered.
Even after Boilermakers center Oscar Cluff picked up his fourth foul with 5:31 still to play, he was able to bang at will down low, scoring seven of his 21 points in the closing minutes.
“I think we let Cluff get in deep catches, so he was able to score like really easy baskets around the rim,” Mara said.
Let that sink in for a second.
Michigan had three players on the Big Ten’s all-defensive team: Lendeborg, Mara and Morez Johnson Jr. Nobody should be getting easy baskets on those guys, and certainly not at this time of year.
As for Lendeborg, though in good form against Purdue — he was 4-of-7 from deep and finished with 20 points — he wasn’t a factor offensively against Ohio State and for the first half against Wisconsin.
Michigan also lost the turnover battle in each of its games; even though it only had seven against Purdue, the Boilermakers had all of two.
“We didn't want this to happen. We planned to go three-of-three: Big Ten (title), Big Ten tournament championship, NCAA,” Nimari Burnett said. “But this is a part of the process, and we're going to use this as fuel into this next month of basketball.”
Again, it’s a little late for that.
As for the Big Ten's other top-tier teams, well, Nebraska, Illinois and Michigan State left the tournament without winning a game. Nobody eats their own quite like the Big Ten, but that doesn't bode well for the next three weeks.
The conference's best hope might actually be Purdue, which played this weekend like the No. 1 team it was when the season began.
"It's a great sign," Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "There's a lot of teams, and we've been one of those teams before, that have just played great and then all of a sudden get into tourney time and not play as well.
"It's a little bit of a mix. You've got to keep working toward getting better."
With hopes for an NCAA title dimming once again, it sounds like an assignment for the entire Big Ten.
Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Michigan's Big Ten tournament flop predicts more March Madness sadness
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