Michigan's title win gives Big Ten simultaneous champions in football, men's and women's basketball for first time ever

Not only did the Big Ten break a long national championship drought on Monday night, but Michigan’s win over UConn gives the conference bragging rights for the next year. The Wolverines’ 69-63 win over the Huskies is the first men’s NCAA tournament title for a Big Ten team since Michigan State in 2000. And it also means Big Ten teams are the national champions in football, men’s basketball, and women’s basketball in the same school year for the first time ever.

Indiana continued the Big Ten’s football streak in January when the Hoosiers beat Miami in the College Football Playoff national championship game. The win capped off an undefeated season for the Hoosiers, as they beat Ohio State in the Big Ten title game to get the No. 1 overall seed in the playoff.

The Buckeyes entered the postseason as the defending national champions. Ohio State beat Notre Dame for the national title in January of 2025, a year after Michigan won the final four-team playoff with its national title game victory over Washington — a school that was part of the Pac-12 at the time but is now a member of the Big Ten. On Sunday, UCLA became the first women’s team from the conference to claim a national title since Purdue in 1999 with its dominant win over South Carolina.

While Maryland is now a member of the Big Ten, the Terrapins were part of the ACC in 2006 when they won the national title that season. Before UCLA’s win, Purdue had been the only Big Ten women’s basketball team to win a title since the tournament began in 1982. Like Washington, the Bruins joined the conference in the summer of 2024 along with USC and Oregon.