The Big Ten has a terrible record in national championship games since 2002:
The Big Ten’s Purdue Boilermakers will play in the NCAA Tournament national championship Monday night against the UConn Huskies — the No. 1 overall seed and defending national champion.
UConn is looking for history. Florida was the last team to repeat as national champions back in 2006-2007, plus the Huskies are looking for a second consecutive tournament run with every win being by double-digits.
Purdue, on the other hand, is looking to reverse the Big Ten’s recent horrid performance in the title game. The conference has sent members to 13 of the last 25 Final Fours and seven of the last 21 title games. It does not have a national championship in that span, somehow, despite being arguably the nation’s best basketball conference.
As preparations are made for the title game on Monday night, here is the Big Ten’s history in the title game since 2000:
Purdue basketball is on the national championship in the NCAA Tournament.
On Saturday, Purdue continued its national championship run with a 63-50 win over NC State. The Boilermakers are one win from making history and the program’s first NCAA title.
While NC State defied the odds to make it to the Final Four, they had no answer for Purdue and their talented center, Zach Edey. The Toronto native continued to dominate with a team-high 20 points and 12 rebounds. Along with his teammates, Edey is now ready to play on the biggest stage in college basketball, a moment he has been dreaming about.
“The reason I came back is for playing games like this,” Edey told ESPN. “It’s the reason I’m playing college basketball for four years, to finally get this game, big-time.”
— Purdue Men’s Basketball (@BoilerBall) April 7, 2024
Although Edey dominated on the boards, Purdue was able to pull away late due to its success from beyond the arc. The Boilermakers shot 40 percent from three-point range, while NC State shot 26.3. For Purdue, Fletcher Loyer came up huge in those situations, making three of his five shots from three-point range.
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After a one-day hiatus, Purdue will be back in action on Monday night to take on UConn. Entering the National Championship, UConn is the favorite, according to ESPN. The Huskies will be looking to win their second straight title and sixth in school history.
Theo Pinson breaks down what went wrong in UNC’s loss to Alabama, noting it was more of the Tar Heels losing it versus the crimson roll tide winning it.
With the dust settling from UNC’s nightmare loss to Alabama in the Sweet 16, many are now speaking up about the what-if season.
Despite a strong start to March Madness, similar issues that have plagued the Tar Heels this year showed in the loss against Alabama. Many were concerned about UNC’s ability to finish games, a narrative that has followed the team since their National Championship loss two years ago.
Inability to close out ended up being the nail in UNC’s coffin, with Alabama taking full advantage, outscoring the Tar Heels by 10 points in the second half to win the game by two points. UNC losing to Alabama left a lot puzzled, including former Tar Heel [autotag]Theo Pinson[/autotag], who spoke about the loss on his recent Run Your Race episode, powered by Tidal League.
Pinson echoed what many believe. It wasn’t that Alabama was the better team, more so UNC losing the game due to their own mistakes. It’s hard to beat a team throwing haymakers when your jabs aren’t landing, and that’s what happened in the Sweet 16.
It’s time to move towards next season, with the transfer portal already off to a strong start. That said, it’s always nice to hear what former Tar Heels think.
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Alabama’s memorable March Madness run has come to an end. Relive the excitement from the game against UConn in the Final Four.
The Alabama Crimson Tide had a memorable and unprecedented March Madness run that culminated in the program’s first-ever Final Four appearance. However, head coach [autotag]Nate Oats[/autotag] and his team couldn’t get beyond the extremely well-rounded UConn Huskies to advance to the national championship game against Purdue.
This year’s Alabama team was heavily doubted heading into the 2023-2024 regular season, as the roster had high turnover, the coaching staff was basically brand new across the board and the defense took a significant step in the wrong direction.
Nobody expected the Crimson Tide to be as dominant as they were in March, and yet they shocked the nation, their fans, and everyone but themselves by making it to the Final Four.
Photo gallery from Alabama vs. UConn in the Final Four of March Madness
Potential Thunder draft prospect Donovan Clingan leads UConn to Final Four win.
The Oklahoma City Thunder could have two 2024 first-round picks in the lottery range. They own the Houston Rockets’ top-four protected pick and the Utah Jazz’s top-10 protected pick. The former looks more likely to convey to OKC than the latter.
With the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament concluded, the top prospects were in the spotlight as they drew national attention for their postseason performances.
Considering the Thunder will likely have at least one lottery pick, plenty of possible additions via the draft give fans a chance to see how they match up in high-stress situations.
One possibility is UConn center Donovan Clingan. He finished with 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting, five rebounds and four blocks in 29 minutes in UConn’s 86-72 win over Alabama in the Final Four on Saturday.
In his second season, Clingan has been part of a dominant UConn squad that seeks to repeat as national champions. The 7-foot-2 center averaged 12.5 points on 64% shooting, 7.2 rebounds and 2.3 blocks.
At 280 pounds, he has an NBA-ready frame and can give a team a classic rim-running big who can protect the rim. UConn went 31-3 and is No. 1 in the East Region.
The Thunder could envision Clingan adding serious size at center. He could start alongside Holmgren for jumbo lineups or serve as an efficient backup center for OKC.
Potential Thunder draft prospect Zach Edey leads Purdue to Final Four win.
The Oklahoma City Thunder could have two 2024 first-round picks in the lottery range. They own the Houston Rockets’ top-four protected pick and the Utah Jazz’s top-10 protected pick. The former looks more likely to convey to OKC than the latter.
With the national semifinals of the NCAA Tournament concluded, the top prospects were in the spotlight as they drew national attention for their postseason performances.
Considering the Thunder will likely have at least one lottery pick, plenty of possible additions via the draft give fans a chance to see how they match up in high-stress situations.
One possibility is Purdue center Zach Edey. He finished with 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting, 12 rebounds, four assists and two blocks in 40 minutes in Purdue’s 63-50 win over NC State in the Final Four on Saturday.
Edey is a polarizing figure as a draft prospect. After opting out of last year’s draft, he returned for his senior season at Purdue and put up monster numbers. In 35 games, he averaged 24.5 points on 62% shooting, 12.1 rebounds and 2.3 blocks. He led Purdue to a No. 1 seed.
The concern with the 7-foot-4, 300-pound big man is his mobility and slowness. If he can’t improve in those areas, he might not survive as an NBA center.
On the Thunder, Edey would add serious size to a small roster. He can play a traditional big-man role and pair with Chet Holmgren nicely. He ultimately might not fit with OKC due to his lack of playmaking.
The Alabama Crimson Tide men’s basketball had its Final Four run cut short with a 86-72 loss to the UConn Huskies in the semifinal matchup
The magical run for [autotag]Nate Oats[/autotag] and the Alabama Crimson Tide men’s basketball team came to an end on Saturday night with a tough 86-72 loss to the UConn Huskies in the Final Four.
The final score does not indicate how close the game actually was, but UConn’s talent, depth, and championship pedigree were on full display down the stretch.
Mark Sears led the Tide with 24 points while Grant Nelson played a tough and physical game with 19 points and 15 rebounds.
Alabama will head back to Tuscaloosa with plenty to build on in the future as Coach Oats has the Crimson Tide rolling in the right direction.
— Alabama Men’s Basketball (@AlabamaMBB) April 7, 2024
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Did you know Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark grew up a huge UNC basketball fan?
All the attention in the college basketball world is on Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark, who’s amongst the best to ever don a college uniform.
Clark has been balling out since her elementary school days in Des Moines, Iowa, but this season has undoubtedly been her best. Not only did she break Kelsey Plum’s NCAA Division-I women’s scoring record, but she now holds the NCAA Division-I all-time scoring record after later passing Pistol Pete Maravich,
Though Clark is an Iowa basketball legend, did you know she actually grew up a UNC fan?
We can credit this to two Tar Heel legends: Mia Hamm, arguably the greatest women’s soccer player our National Team has ever seen and Harrison Barnes, who grew up approximately 40 minutes north of Clark in Ames.
“I was a big Harrison Barnes fan growing up, but I was also big Mia Hamm fan, too,” Clark said in a Tar Heel Tribune article. “Harrison Barnes was like ‘it’ in the state of Iowa.”
This sentence for the Tar Heel tribune article shows you how much Clark truly loved North Carolina: She had her mom repaint her entire room Carolina blue and navy blue. She had Carolina stuff all over her room.
As much as she loves UNC, was there ever a shot she’d don the Tar Heel Blue herself?
“I didn’t really want to go there and play women’s basketball, but I loved their men’s basketball and their soccer because I grew up playing soccer,” Clark said. “So, yeah, I was a big North Carolina basketball fan growing up.”
Just imagine if Clark chose UNC. Can you imagine how much more of a basketball school it’d be?
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Not ready for the Final Four of March Madness? Watch this trailer by Alabama basketball as the team prepares to take on UConn and you’ll be ready to take the court alongside them.
The day has come for the college basketball national championship matchup to be decided. As the NC State Wolfpack take on the Purdue Boilermakers and the Alabama Crimson Tide take on the UConn Huskies in the Final Four of the 2024 March Madness Tournament.
As Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats has said during this week, there’s not much stress on his team. They feel as if they are playing with house money. They are happy to be where they are at but don’t feel the pressure that UConn likely faces to get to the national championship game. That ease of mind could be a real game changer when it comes time to tip-off.
On social media, Alabama basketball shared a trailer for the game against the Huskies and it has fans ready to line up alongside the team to take the court.
Narrated by Alabama alum and ESPN personality Rece Davis, the Crimson Tide is ready to roll into the Final Four with the mentality of ‘Why stop now?’
Nate Oats and the Alabama Crimson Tide basketball team heard from a March Madness veteran who knows what it’s like to play in the Final Four.
Alabama basketball is heading into uncharted waters tonight as they will play in the program’s first-ever Final Four. The Crimson Tide beat the No. 1 seeded UNC Tar Heels in the Sweet 16 and the No. 6 Clemson Tigers in the Elite Eight here to earn a date with the No. 1 overall seed and defending national champion UConn Huskies. The Huskies have opened as an 11.5-point favorite with most experts predicting a blowout in favor of Dan Hurley’s squad, but this Alabama team seems relaxed.
Superstar for the Phoenix Suns and former Kentucky G Devin Booker stopped by to speak with the Tide in Phoenix this week. Booker was on the 38-0 Kentucky team that was widely regarded as one of the best teams ever before their shocking upset to Wisconsin in the Final Four. So, Booker knows better than anyone that anything can happen on this stage regardless of the David vs. Goliath story. Booker has gone on to be a First-Team All-Pro and 4x All-Star.
On top of sharing some words of encouragement for Nate Oats’s squad, Booker was kind enough to drop off some signature shoes for the ‘Bama players. Regardless of how the game goes, this has been a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the players and fans alike.
— Alabama Men’s Basketball (@AlabamaMBB) April 5, 2024
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