Former IU basketball manager Dusty May led Michigan to the Big Ten’s first men’s basketball national title since 2000 on Monday evening in Indianapolis.
The Michigan win led the conference to first time ever accomplishment.
The Big Ten is the first conference in Division I history to have three different schools win national championships in football (Indiana), men’s basketball (Michigan) and women’s basketball (UCLA) in the same academic year.
It’s just the second time a conference has won the football, women’s basketball, and men’s basketball national titles.
The league can also claim the last three winners of the football national title, with Ohio State and Michigan winning before IU.
The Big Ten’s expansion to 18 teams in 2024 was met with frustration and derision from fans who longed for tradition.
But the coast-to-coast footprint came with a massive new television contract that has helped significantly expand Big Ten athletic department coffers. That played a significant role in attracting top-tier coaches to the conference, including Indiana’s Curt Cignetti and Michigan’s May.
Cignetti has said on multiple occasions the financial situation in the Big Ten was part of the appeal when Indiana came calling in 2023.
“The Big Ten television contract a couple of years ago really got my attention,” Cignetti said in 2024. “When that went down, like, that really got my attention. My feeling, I felt the commitment from the president, the AD. They made the change on a Sunday, I was on the phone with them Sunday evening and was offered a job Wednesday night.
“It was a very quick process, and but it resonated with me how strongly they felt about changing the brand of Indiana football, making the commitment resource-wise that you have to make today to be successful.”
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