With Purdue And Michigan Atop Rankings, Big Ten May End 26-Year National Title Drought

For decades, the Big Ten has been among the nation’s best men’s basketball conferences. The league has ranked among the top three in each of the past eight seasons, per analyst Ken Pomeroy. Still, no Big Ten team since Michigan State in 2000 has won the NCAA tournament, the longest streak of any major conference.

In April, the 26-year drought may end, as Purdue and Michigan are off to arguably the best starts of any programs this season.

Purdue is No. 1 in the USA Today coaches and Associated Press media polls, while Michigan is No. 2 and 3, respectively. The Wolverines are first in analytics-based rankings from KenPom, Evan Miyakawa and Bart Torvik, while the Boilermakers and second, third and fifth, respectively. And Michigan is first and Purdue third in the NCAA’s NET ranking, which helps determine which teams make the NCAA tournament. Both teams are 7-0.

Purdue’s ranking is not surprising. After all, the Boilermakers were No. 1 in the preseason AP poll for the first time and returned four starters from last season’s team that finished 24-12 and lost by two points in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament to eventual runner-up Houston. Point guard Braden Smith, a returning first team All-American, is averaging 13 points and 9 assists per game, while fellow four-year starting guard Fletcher Loyer is leading the team with 16.1 points per game and shooting a career-best 50% from the field, including 52.2% on 6.6 3-point attempts per game. Meanwhile, forward Trey Kaufman-Renn is averaging 14.8 points and 10.6 rebounds per game and shooting 64.8% from the field, and 6-foot 11 South Dakota State transfer Oscar Cluff is averaging 11.7 points and 10.1 rebounds and making 73.8% of his field goal attempts. The Boilermakers are first in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency metric, 3.4 points better than second-place Louisville.

Purdue already has victories on the road against No. 12 Alabama and on a neutral court over Texas Tech, a game the Boilermakers won by 30 points to capture the Baha Mar Championship on Nov. 21. While that lopsided victory was impressive, Michigan’s run last week in the Players Era Festival was even more remarkable.

Over a three-day stretch in Las Vegas, Michigan defeated San Diego State 94-54, beat No. 20 Auburn 102-72 and knocked off No. 11 Gonzaga 101-61 to win the Players Era title. The Wolverines became the first Division 1 men’s team to defeat ranked opponents by at least 30 points in consecutive games, according to CBS Sports senior writer Matt Norlander, who also noted the 40-point win over Gonzaga was Michigan’s largest margin of victory over a ranked opponent in program history.

Michigan has five players scoring at least 10 points per game, including Yaxel Lendeborg, a 6-foot-9 senior transfer from the University of Alabama-Birmingham who is averaging 16 points and 7.6 rebounds per game and shooting 61.3% from the field, including a ridiculous 86.2% on 2-pointers. He is third in KenPom’s player of the year standings. Morez Johnson Jr., a 6-foot-9 sophomore transfer from Illinois, is averaging 13.1 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.

The Wolverines are No. 1 in the nation in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency metric, nearly four points better than any other team. They were 12th in defense a year ago in coach Dusty May’s first season at the helm.

May, who led Florida Atlantic to an unlikely Final Four appearance in 2023, has taken full advantage of the financial resources at Michigan, embraced analytics and the transfer portal and assembled a team that fits well together and looks capable of winning the national title. Purdue coach Matt Painter, now in his 21st season at his alma mater, is in a similar position with a team that could win the program’s first NCAA championship.

Michigan and Purdue meet just once during the regular season, with the Boilermakers hosting on Feb. 17. Still, they should face additional difficult tests in the coming months, as the Big Ten has other teams that are off to hot starts, including No. 7 Michigan State (7-0), No. 14 Illinois (6-2), No. 22 Indiana (7-0) and No. 24 USC (7-0). Iowa (7-0) and Nebraska (8-0) are both undefeated, too. The Big Ten has 10 teams in KenPom’s top 33 and eight programs among the top 28 in the NET.

The Big Ten is aiming for at least one of its teams to be in the Final Four in Indianapolis, the same city that hosted the 2000 national title game that Michigan State won. Since then, the league has had a team in the Final Four in 13 of the past 24 tournaments, but none won the championship. This season, though, the streak could finally end in a city and state synonymous with Big Ten basketball.