It was fast approaching midnight on April 3, 2000, and Michigan State coach Tom Izzo — who was 45 years old at the time, a dashing young man — put one foot after another up a ladder beneath a basket at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Ind. He climbed to the top step with a pair of scissors, clipped a piece of net off the rim and raised his arm in triumph.

The smile on his face stretched ear to ear and Spartans players and fans hooted and hollered around him. For the first time since 1979, the Spartans were national champions.

They were the best basketball team in all the land. And they made the Big Ten proud.

It was a special night for Izzo, who was an assistant coach at Michigan State for 12 years before getting hired as the head coach in 1995. He had been to the Final Four a year earlier and now, 12 months later, was the king of the hill.

Michigan State was emerging as the best team in the league, taking over the mantel from Indiana, which had only won two NCAA Tournament games in Bob Knight's last six years. (He would be fired five months after Izzo's title.) Indiana won three titles under Knight, and it sure seemed like Izzo might do the same down the road.

But then a funny thing happened. In the next 25 years — a quarter of a century — Izzo never won another national title. He's been to five Final Fours since then, but no more net-cutting.

He's not alone among his Big Ten brethren either. Since Michigan State won that NCAA title in 2000, the Big Ten has had plenty of chances to claim another crown, but it's never happened. Seven different conferences schools have been to a Final Four; none have won.  Big Ten schools have had 14 swings at the crown, and all 14 have come up short. Purdue was the latest, losing the 2024 title game to Connecticut.

“I don’t think it’s fair (that it defines the league), but It’s happened,'' Izzo said. "It’s fair because it’s been 25 years. I used to think, I’m the last Big Ten guy standing and (in 2024) I called Matt (Painter) and said ‘you’ve got to win. I don’t want to be the last man standing. I think It’s a reality, but I don’t want it painted that it’s the Big Ten style of play or anything like that. Duke won it four times in that era, UConn, North Carolina. Great teams, all of them. It’s not easy.

“I don’t think it’s our style, but I do know we beat each other up all year. And we play that Big Ten Tournament right up to that last day on Sunday. But I don’t think that we’re not good enough. We’ve had lots of teams that were capable of winning it all, but we just didn’t get it done.’’ 

Here are the Big Ten teams to get to a Final Four, but then not finish the deal, since Michigan State's win in 2000.

2001 — Michigan State Spartans, lost to Arizona Wildcats 80-61 in national semifinals at Hubert H Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minn.
2002 — Indiana Hoosiers, lost to Maryland Terrapins (then in the ACC) 64-52 in national championship game at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Ga.
2005 — Illinois Fighting Illini, lost to North Carolina Tar Heels 75-70 in national championship game at Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, Mo. 
2007 — Ohio State Buckeyes, lost to Florida Gators 84-75 in national championship game at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Ga. 
2009 — Michigan State Spartans, lost to North Carolina Tar Heels 89-72 in national championship game at Ford Field in Detroit, Mich. 
2010 — Michigan State Spartans, lost to Butler Bulldogs 52-50 in national semifinals at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind.
2012 — Ohio State Buckeyes, lost to Kansas Jayhawks 64-62 in national semifinals at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in New Orleans, La.
2013 — Michigan Wolverines, lost to Louisville Cardinals 82-76 in national championship game at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Ga. 
2014 — Wisconsin Badgers, lost to Kentucky Wildcats 74-73 in national semifinals at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
2015 — Wisconsin Badgers lost to Duke Blue Devils in national championship game; Michigan State Spartans lost to Duke 81-61 in national semifinals at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind.
2018 — Michigan Wolverines lost to Villanova Wildcats 79-62 in national championship game at the Alamadome in San Antonio, Texas.
2019 — Michigan State Spartans lost to Texas Tech Red Raiders 61-51 in national semifinals at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minn. 
2024 — Purdue Boilermakers lost to Connecticut Huskies 75-60 in national championship game at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

Purdue was a No. 1 ranked team in 2024, and had two-time Player of the Year Zach Edey, a dominant 7-foot-4 center. He was the best player on the floor that night in the national championship game in Arizona, but Connecticut probably had the next five best players. They won convincingly, and Purdue was left without their its NCAA title.

In 2015, Wisconsin beat an undefeated Kentucky team in the semifinals that was the best team we've seen in college basketball for decades, winning 38 games in a row. It was the biggest win in Badgers history. But two nights later, there wasn't enough left in the tank and they lost to Duke in the title game in Indianapolis.

Ohio State had a great team in 2007 that lost to Florida, and the same could be said about Michigan in 2013. Even Indiana's 2002 team made a historic run to get to the title game, but ran out of gas and lost to Maryland.

All of them could have won a title. None of them did.

“I haven’t been in the league that long like Tom, but things go in cycles,'' Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. "I thought we were a Final Four team in 2024 that could win it all, but we ran into UConn in the Elite Eight and they were a great team.

"Obviously, Matt was there in the finals against them, and I thought we were two of the best teams in the country, Purdue and Illinois. Turns out, the UConn team was just a little bit better. It takes a little bit of luck to win six games, and it hasn’t been us. But we’ll all keep knocking on the door and someone will get there. You just have to keep going after it.''

Purdue coach Matt Painter loves to tell a story about the Boilermakers' brutal 2019 overtime loss to Virginia in the 2019 Elite Eight. His team was great all day, with Carsen Edwards scoring 42 points, including a record 10 three-pointers. But Virginia tied it in the final seconds and won in overtime. It was a shocking ending.

When they got back to West Lafayette, Painter just couldn't pop in the tape. He didn't want to watch that game again, because it hurt so bad. That Purdue team was good enough to win it all — Virginia did just that a week later — and Painter knew it was an opportunity lost. 

So he put the tape aside and tried to move on, as difficult as it was.

"And then I go to the Final Four in Minnesota, and when I walk out on to the floor, what's the first thing I see? It's that Virginia shot being shown on that huge video board, and all the cheering,'' Painter said. "So much for avoiding it.''

Fast forward to 2024, five years later, and Painter had Purdue in its first Final Four since 1980, a long 44-year journey for him and his predecessor, Gene Keady. They beat a great Tennessee team to win the Midwest Regional, and then smoked N.C. State in the semifinals.

They got a UConn team in the finals that was looking to repeat, and had only lost three games all year. They were really good. Edey scored 37 points on 15-of-25 shooting, and the Huskies had no answer for him. He whipped 7-foot-2 UConn center Donovan Clingan — who would be the seventh overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft a few months later — and completely destroyed back-up center Samson Johnson, who fouled out in just five minutes of action. It was an obvious mismatch.

But the Huskies completely took away Purdue's outside game, never leaving the shooters, and the Boilers made just 1-of-7 three-pointers. They not only couldn't make a three, but they also couldn't even get a good look.

It was a great game plan by UConn coach Danny Hurley, making Purdue one dimensional. They won easily, 75-60. 

“If I was playing them all over again, I would have thrown it into Zach every time. He was, what, 15-for-25? And he missed two layups and had an airball. He scored 37 points and he probably could have scored 50,'' Painter said. "I should have had Zach take 50 shots, not 25. Outside of their backup center, they really didn’t have any weaknesses defensively. It’s not like we had place we could attack. They didn’t give us that. 

“I haven’t watched that game either. I just can’t. Look, they were really good defensively, and it was very hard to do anything against them. Zach could get his shots and Braden (Smith) could get his, but they just locked down everyone else. It’s not like we had good shots and missed them, it was just hard to get the other guys shots, period.''

Purdue has had plenty of Big Ten championship teams under Keady and Painter, and they all fell short of reaching a Final Four until that 2024 team. It was their best shot at an NCAA title, for sure. 

But, once again, they came up short. And it was very hard to swallow.

"It was an amazing experience. making that Final Four run, because it keeps you away from being in that article that everyone writes about who hasn’t been there,'' Painter said. "We’ve had a top 4-5 seed for (nine) years in a row (through 2026). Our ability to get to a Final Four hopefully makes you more hungry, but you still have to put yourself in the best position possible.

“There’s no doubt it was a relief, there’s no question about that, and anyone who says otherwise would be lying because you don’t always have a team that’s good enough to get there. And then you have three or four teams that are good enough at the Final Four, and when you don’t get in done there, you have to look in the mirror first. The players change. I didn’t change. You have to take that ownership as a coach, and then the players will take that ownership too. It’s obviously a great feeling to get to that point, but it devastating as hell to go home without that trophy.''

Fred Hoiberg coached at Iowa State before Nebraska, and he knows all about what it's like to make a tournament run. He's making history this year in Lincoln, setting a school record with 20 straight wins to open a season, a record 26 wins and a top-5 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

He's one of nine Big Ten coaches with a team in the fight this year, and one of five teams with a top-four seed that's projected to make it to the second weekend — and maybe beyond.

Hoiberg understands just how good the Big Ten is, and how difficult it is to win conference games, especially with so many hostile environments on the road. A lot of times, after 20 games, getting to the NCAA Tournament requires a hefty deep breath or two.

“There are really good programs all across the country, but what makes the Big Ten so special is that there are so many great programs that can contend for titles,'' Hoiberg said. "What did you say? Seven schools to a Final Four since 2000? It's a league where the goal is so many programs is to go win a national title. Frankly, I'm stunned that it's been that long. It's hard to comprehend.

"There are no nights off in this league, even now with 18 teams. There’s a lot of energy and fight that you have to have all season, and it does take its toll all the way through that. Look at Purdue, they were knocking on the door in 2024. It’s just a matter of time before it happens again. ''

Northwestern coach Chris Collins played at Duke and coached there for 13 years under Mike Krzyzewski. They knocked off all sorts of Big Ten teams along the way. 

“A bunch of us have talked about it in our coaches meetings. I think we all believe that we have the best league in the country from top to bottom,'' Collins said. "It shows itself in our standings. Matt (Painter) was obviously a No. 1 seed (in 2024), but we beat up each other all season and a lot of us wind up five, seven, eight seeds.

"It’s something we all take to heart. As coaches, we all know that to solidify ourselves as the best league in the country, we have to play well in the tournament and you’ve got to get to the Final Four and win championships. It’s something we talk about it, and hopefully this year will be the year.''

UCLA, USC, Oregon and Washington joined the Big Ten two years ago, and there's plenty of great history there, too. Washington has been to a Final Four, and Oregon and USC have been to two. The Ducks were there recently, in 2017.

UCLA has more national titles that anyone, with 11 overall, the last in 1995. They've also been to 19 Final Fours, and it's the goal to get back there every year.

We didn't include UCLA in our list above because they were still in the Pac-12, but it's worth noting that they've been to the Final Four four times since 2000, and they came up short too, all four times. If we do include the new schools,  that's 19 Final Fours since 2000 — and zero wins.

This year, we get more shots. Michigan has been ranked No. 1 a few weeks this season, and the Wolverines are a No. 1 seed in the Midwest now. Purdue, the preseason No. 1, won the Big Ten Tournament, and are a No. 2 seed. Michigan State and Illinois are 3s, and Nebraska is a No. 4 seed.

Wisconsin is a 5, UCLA is a 6, Ohio State an 8 and Iowa a 9.  All nine will carry the mantel into the tournament, which starts in earnest on Thursday with 16 games.

Will someone break the drought? 

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