Big weekend for the Big Ten. Quite literally.
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.
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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.
A look at those games:
Big Ten in national championship games
| YEAR | RESULT |
| 2001-02 | No. 1 Maryland 64, No. 5 Indiana 52 |
| 2004-05 | No. 1 North Carolina, No. 1 Illinois 70 |
| 2006-07 | No. 1 Florida 84, No. 1 Ohio State 75 |
| 2008-09 | No. 1 North Carolina 89, No. 2… |
