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Good morning! End a personal drought today. Inside:
Finally? The Big Ten’s long wait
The richest conference in college sports hasn’t won a men’s basketball national title since a season that began in the 1990s.
Tom Izzo’s Michigan State won it all in 2000, and though Izzo remains, neither his Spartans nor any other Big Ten member has done it since. (Maryland was in the ACC in 2002. Counting from 2002 would still be a really long time.)
Last night, No. 1 Michigan became the ninth Big Ten team to reach the final in this millennium, embarrassing No. 1 Arizona 91-73, beating a team that’d long been viewed as the other Best Team In The Country. Tomorrow night, the Wolverines will get No. 2 UConn, which made the B1G’s No. 3 Illinois look ugly, 71-62.
Michigan has cruised through this entire tourney, and the Big Ten’s hoops recession might soon be a wrap. We’ve got an early look at the championship matchup for you here. But for today, let’s back up a little.
Last week, the conference had half of the Elite Eight, including Iowa and Purdue, tying the all-time record. The B1G also features Ohio State, Wisconsin and a couple years of UCLA. Some of our younger readers might be surprised to learn Indiana used to be a basketball school, not a football school.
With all that power all around, how could this drought have lasted this long? Football’s the financial priority, sure, but it almost feels like imagining the AL East going decades without any banners. The ACC and Big East have eight men’s basketball championships each since the Big Ten’s last. Outside of Kentucky, the SEC spent decades barely caring about hoops, but it has four. The Big 12 has three. Even the American has one, thanks to UConn’s brief stint there.
Recently, our Scott Dochterman looked closely into the B1G’s top-level slump. He found tough matchups, foul trouble, bad luck and inexplicable meltdowns have played roles. Honestly, this series of sentences about just the Boilermakers might sum it all up (avert your eyes, West Lafayette):
“In 2023, Purdue lost to No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson, becoming the second top seed ever to go down in Round 1.
“In 2019, Purdue guard Carsen Edwards averaged nearly 35 points in four NCAA games and dropped 42, including 10 3-pointers, in the Boilermakers’ Elite Eight matchup with Virginia, but the Cavaliers produced an improbable buzzer-beater off a missed free throw, won in overtime and went on to win the national championship.
“But 2010 Purdue was dealt the cruelest blow of all. Sitting No. 3 in the nation with an elite roster and a 10-game winning streak, the Boilers were a legitimate title contender until Robbie Hummel tore his ACL in late February.”
Lots more in here.
Really, I think some other Big Ten school should’ve simply hired Dusty May as its coach earlier. Before taking over the Wolverines, the Indiana alum nearly got the FAU Owls this far three years ago.
News to Know
Geoff Burke / Imagn Images
Buffalo snaps NHL record drought
The Sabres lost 6-2 to the Capitals, but an earlier result meant that for the first time since 2011, they’ll participate in the NHL playoffs. Matthew Fairburn, The Athletic’s Sabres writer, put things in perspective: They’ve had five different GMs, seven coaches and 11 top-10 draft picks since they last made the postseason, and were in last place as recently as December. Amazing. It’s bad news for fans of the New York Jets, who now stand alone as the major sports team with the longest playoff drought. Meanwhile, two-time defending NHL champion Florida was eliminated from playoff contention after an injury-plagued season.
Geno’s apology omits Staley
UConn coach Geno Auriemma had a lot to say about South Carolina coach Dawn Staley during and after the Huskies’ Final Four loss to the Gamecocks. In a written apology released by UConn yesterday, Auriemma acknowledged that his tantrums overshadowed the Gamecocks’ achievement but referred only to South Carolina’s players and “staff,” not mentioning Staley by name. Hmm. Read the statement for yourself here. The Athletic’s Jerry Brewer wonders whether Auriemma’s anger had less to do with referee treatment or handshake protocol and more with Staley threatening his status as center of the women’s college basketball universe.
More News
- This is ridiculous: Angels right fielder Jo Adell robbed the Mariners of THREE home runs in a 1-0 win. The best defensive game of all-time?! See them all here.
- Two years removed from being its worst team, the Pistons clinched the East’s top seed. First time since 2007.
- First Luka Dončić, now Austin Reaves will miss several weeks for the Lakers, shifting the full weight of their playoff hopes to the 41-year-old shoulders of LeBron James.
- James unrelatedly clarified yesterday that he not only hates playing in Memphis, but also Milwaukee and Cleveland.
- Candace Parker, Amar’e Stoudemire and Doc Rivers headline the 2026 Basketball Hall of Fame class. Read about all the inductees here.
- Inter Miami got the permissions it needed to open its new stadium (called Nu Stadium!) just in time for Lionel Messi to score the team’s first-ever goal there in a 2-2 draw against Austin FC.
- The ’52 Topps Mickey Mantle was second in our ranking of most important baseball cards, and turns out it’s worth a fair bit more when the seller is golf legend Fred Couples.
- Golf phenom Asterisk Talley was undone by a 7 on the par-3 12th at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, but afterward felt touched by the support she received from the likes of Bryson DeChambeau and Annika Sorenstam.
- Two weeks ago, Arsenal dreamt of a historic quadruple. After losing the league cup final to Man City and yesterday’s FA Cup quarterfinal to Championship side Southampton, a double is the best they can hope for. Have the wheels come off? Full coverage here.
📰 Find more news here 24/7.
Watch Guide
📺 NCAAW: National Championship
3:30 p.m. ET on ABC
No surprise that South Carolina is the slight favorite here, given this will be their fourth title game in five years. Dawn Staley’s team is deep, experienced — senior Raven Johnson has featured in 22 (!) tourney games — and so physical they made the unbeaten Huskies look like they were playing in mud. But the emphasis is on slight favorite. This may be UCLA’s first title game, but Cori Close’s squad is full of seniors who are likely WNBA first-rounders. They haven’t lost since the day before Thanksgiving, and no one in this tournament has had an answer for center Lauren Betts. It should be close, in theory. Read a full breakdown here.
Get tickets to games like this here.
Pulse Picks
Kyle Terada / USA Today Sports
The man pictured on 24 different Sports Illustrated covers is getting a different view on the other side of the camera. Don’t miss Brendan Quinn on what Ken Griffey Jr. found in the lens at Augusta National last year.
What comes next for UConn women’s basketball is firmly on Sarah Strong’s shoulders. Will the Huskies be contenders in 2027?
If I could only use one condiment forever, it might be Mama Teav’s hot garlic chili crisp. It’s perfect on … everything. — Torrey Hart
MLB’s automated ball-strike system is the gift that keeps on giving, as far as quirky in-game moments go. Here are all the surprising ways it has already changed the sport, along with its weirdest and wildest moments from last week.
I added a spoonful of pesto butter (a simple pesto added to room-temp butter) to this week’s egg salad batch. It was incredible. 10/10 will be doing it again. — Lauren Merola
After the Italian men’s soccer team missed out on qualifying for a third straight World Cup, our staff compiled a brief history of international sports’ biggest underperformers.
Brody Miller — whom we also checked in with yesterday — joined “The Athletic Show” this week to take us behind the scenes of the technological arms race threatening the soul of golf. Stream the episode on Fire TV, The Athletic app or wherever you get your podcasts.
If you play “MLB: The Show,” go ahead and get that Ondřej Satoria Diamond Dynasty card. No, he can’t touch 90 mph. No, the player doesn’t look like him, and yes: “MLB: The Show” got his height, uniform number and country of birth all very incorrect. But I’ve pitched 44 1/3 innings with him, and I currently have a 0.00 ERA and an 18+ K/9. It’s a good card! — Levi Weaver
WhoHQ books are a solid second-grade or so sweet spot for the answer to basically every question. Who doesn’t need an explainer? — Chris Sprow
Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: The full story on Geno’s tantrum.
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