SAN ANTONIO — There are two extremes of Ohio State and Michigan fans.
Call the first group the Rivalry Radicals. For them, the enemy of the enemy is their best friend, and the only thing half as fun as their team’s success is rocking, say, an Appalachian State — or Clemson — shirt to rub in their antagonist’s failures.
Then there is the Conference Pride Club.
For this group, cats and dogs lived together Monday.
The Michigan basketball team headed into the national title game carrying the half-mast championship flag of its league.
For as highly as Big Ten basketball is generally regarded, the last time one of its teams won the whole thing was Michigan State in 2000 — one of the most confounding droughts in sports. Since 2000, Big Ten teams have played a combined 200-plus seasons and sent six teams to the national title game, only to fall short every time, some overmatched, others on the wrong end of a couple late breaks.
Indiana lost to current league member Maryland — then in the ACC — 64-52 in 2002, Illinois lost to North Carolina 75-70 in 2005, Ohio State lost to Florida 84-75 in 2007, Michigan State lost to North Carolina 89-72 in 2009, Michigan lost to Louisville 82-76 in 2013, and Wisconsin lost to Duke 68-63 in 2015.
“Every team gets to this point and wins this game, it's not always the best team, it's the team that had a few breaks along the way,” Michigan coach John Beilein said. “And the Big Ten has had some tough breaks along the way between our Louisville game, Wisconsin game ... they could have gone either way. We could have had two more.
“One thing happens, one thing happens here. The Big Ten would love to win another one. But it's not like any of us are saying, ‘Well, the Big Ten is not very good, we haven't won a national championship.
“The Big Ten is as strong as any league as out there, and the breaks haven't gone our way in a couple of games and other people have. Maybe things will change. If they don't, it doesn't change. The Big Ten is good and it's really good.”
Contact David Briggs at dbriggs@theblade.com, 419-724-6084, or on Twitter @DBriggsBlade.
First Published April 2, 2018, 8:59 p.m.