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Tom Izzo believes B1G can snap March Madness drought: ‘It comes down to matchups’
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It’s been a while.
No, that’s not a reference to Staind’s popular song that was released in 2001. It’s actually a mention to something that has been around slightly longer than that tune — the B1G’s basketball championship drought.
As good as the conference has been over the last two decades on the hardwood, it still hasn’t claimed a national championship since Michigan State’s run in 2000. It’s been more than 20 years since a team from the B1G has hoisted the trophy.
Monday, Spartans head coach Tom Izzo — who was at the helm of the program during that title run — said that the conference has a good shot to end that drought this year. But it’s not always dependent on how good teams are in the league.
“The tournament comes down to matchups,” Izzo said. “It always has, always will.”
Izzo believes the Big Ten can end the title drought this season, but adds, "The tournament comes down to matchups. It always has, always will."
— Matt Charboneau (@mattcharboneau) March 14, 2022
The B1G has plenty of candidates to make a deep run. Illinois and Wisconsin shared the regular season title, Iowa got hot and won the B1G Tournament and Purdue has been ranked in the Top 10 all season.
Ohio State and Michigan State have also shown the ability to get hot. And, it’s March, so you can’t count out double-digit seeds Indiana, Rutgers and Michigan.
For the past two decades, the B1G has come close to crowning a national champion but hasn’t closed the deal. Will this be the year that finally changes?
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB