Purdue big man Zach Edey – the 7-foot-4 center – led the Boilermakers to the men’s Final Four for the first time since 1980. Iowa guard Caitlin Clark – the biggest college basketball star in the country – led the Hawkeyes to the women’s Final Four.
They have been the biggest stars of their respective tournaments, soon-to-be consensus Players of the Year and now they can break the conference’s respective droughts in both sports. Given the Michigan football team won the national championship for the first time since 1997 – the time to end droughts appears to be here for the Big Ten.
A look at Edey, Clark and those national championship droughts in both sports:
When was last time Big Ten won Final Four?
No. 1 Michigan State beat No. 5 Florida 89-76 in the 2000 NCAA men’s national championship game on April 3, 2000. Since then, the conference is 0-7 in national championship games.
Maryland was in the ACC when it beat Indiana in 2002-03. In fairness, No. 1 seeds have defeated the Big Ten in all of those championship games, and Wisconsin (2014-15) was the only one of those teams that was favored.
Still, it’s a prolonged national championship drought when you consider the Pac-12 – which had won its last national championship with Arizona in 1998 – is no longer around. The Big Ten is behind the rest of the major conferences. A look at those conference’s last national championship:
| CONFERENCE | LAST TITLE |
| ACC | Virginia (2019) |
| Big East | UConn (2023) |
| Big 12 | Kansas (2022) |
| SEC | Kentucky (2012) |
Will Purdue – which hasn’t made the Final Four since 1980 – be the one to break the Big Ten curse?
Zach Edey’s stats in NCAA Tournament
Edey – a two-time Sporting News Player of the Year — has been dominant in this NCAA Tournament run. He led the Boilermakers to the Final Four with a 40-point, 16-rebound performance in the 72-66 victory against No. 2 Tennessee in the Elite Eight.
In four tournament games, Edey is averaging 30 points, 16.5 rebounds and 1.8 blocks. He’s 42 of 62 (67.7%) from the field and 36 of 54 (66.7%) from the line.
Edey has 120 points and 65 rebounds in the tournament. He has a chance to break Michigan’s Glen Rice’s NCAA tournament record 184 points – which was set during the Wolverines’ national championship run in 1989.
Edey also could become just the second player to have 150 points and 80 rebounds in the NCAA tournament. Houston’s Elvin Hayes scored 167 points with 97 rebounds in a legendary performance in the 1968 men’s basketball tournament.
That is the company Edey keeps heading into the Final Four matchup against NC State.
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