‘I Don’t Know Who The Doubters Are’: Big Ten Seeking First NCAA Title Since 2000

GLENDALE, ARIZONA - APRIL 08: A general view of the Final Four logo on the court during the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament National Championship game between the Purdue Boilermakers and the Connecticut Huskies at State Farm Stadium on April 08, 2024 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images) Getty Images The Big Ten Conference hasn’t won an NCAA Championship since Bill Clinton was in the White House more than a quarter century ago. The league repeatedly sends multiple teams to the Big Dance, but eight Big Ten teams have lost in the championship game since Tom Izzo’s Michigan State squad dubbed the “Flintstones” cut down the nets in 2000.

This year the 18-team league put six teams in the Sweet 16, four in the Elite Eight and two here in the Final Four in Indianapolis: Illinois and Michigan. HOUSTON, TEXAS - MARCH 28: Head coach Brad Underwood of the Illinois Fighting Illini celebrates cutting down the net after defeating the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Elite Eight of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Toyota Center on March 28, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images) Getty Images Illinois coach Brad Underwood says it’s only a matter of time before the league finally wins another title.

“I don’t know who the doubters are,” Underwood, whose team meets UConn in the Final Four here Saturday night ahead of the Arizona-Michigan semifinal, said in an exclusive interview at Lucas Oil Stadium. “The doubters are probably all the media people that want to keep talking about it, I don’t think that we as coaches or as a league, we think we’re good enough to do it, and it’s just a matter [of] in that moment, can you go do it? But we’re excited that we’ve got two teams here and if a Big 10 team wins it, that would be great.

” Since the Big Ten’s last title, the ACC and Big East have won eight championships a piece, while the SEC has won four, the Big 12 three and the American one “We’ve been in a lot of Final Fours,” Underwood said. “Does it mean we always have the best team? It probably hasn’t, to be honest, but it doesn’t mean we’re bad.