Last NCAA Tournament championship by conference: Can SEC, Big Ten end decade-long droughts?

The 2025 NCAA Tournament has been pretty chalky so far, as there weren't any Cinderella stories during the first weekend. That means that the power conferences will take center stage during the Sweet 16, with a couple looking to end some championship droughts.

In recent history, a few conferences have had the most success, with the Big East in particular dominating March Madness. On the other side, a couple of conferences have found themselves far removed from their most recent title.

Only four conferences will be represented in the Sweet 16 this year, setting a record for the least number of conferences in the second weekend of the tournament since it expanded in the 1970s. That gives the SEC and Big Ten a great chance to win the championship, something that neither conference has done in a while.

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Ahead of the NCAA Tournament's second weekend, here's a look at the last time each team won it all in March Madness. 

Last NCAA Tournament championship by conference

Last time SEC won national title in basketball

The SEC has had a dominant season in 2024-25, and the conference is hoping to snap a decade-long championship drought. The last SEC team to win the title was Kentucky in 2012, when John Calipari and Anthony Davis led the Wildcats to their first title since 1998.

Since then, the SEC has only had one other team even play in the national title game, which would be Kentucky in 2014 who lost to UConn.

This year's tournament represents the SEC's best chance to break its drought, though, as seven teams will represent the conference in the Sweet 16. Of those teams, Auburn and Florida are one-seeds, while Tennessee and Alabama are two-seeds, giving the SEC a strong chance to win it all.

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Last time Big Ten won national title in basketball

The longest championship drought among major conferences belongs to the Big Ten, as Michigan State is the last team to win a title while in the conference. Since then, the conference has had eight runner up finishes, with seven different schools losing in the National Championship.

Since realignment has altered the conferences so much, Michigan State technically isn't the most recent current team in the Big Ten to win it all — that would be Maryland, who won the championship in 2002 while the school was still in the ACC.

For the Big Ten to break the drought this year, Michigan State and Maryland are two of the conference's hopes. However, Purdue and Michigan, both of whom have finished as runners-up in the past decade, are also still alive in the tournament.

Last time ACC won national title in basketball

A powerhouse conference in college basketball, the ACC is tied with the Pac-12 for most basketball championships all-time with 15. However, it's been six years since the ACC won it all, as Virginia was the least team in the conference to cut down the nets.

Duke and North Carolina make up the vast majority of the ACC's championships, as the two rivals have combined for 11 of the conference's 15. This year, for the ACC to snap it's mini drought, Duke will have to carry the load as the rest of the ACC teams failed to make it to the second weekend.

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Last time Big East won national title in basketball

The Big East has had the most recent success among the conferences, as UConn and Villanova have won four of the last eight NCAA championships. The Huskies in particular are coming off an impressive run where they won back-to-back titles in 2023 and 2024, winning 12-straight games in dominant fashion.

However, with UConn, Creighton and St. John's losing in the round of 32, no Big East teams remain in the NCAA Tournament this year.

Last time Big 12 won national title in basketball

While the Big 12 is a strong basketball conference, it only has three national championships since it was founded in 1994. However, two of those came within the last four years, when Baylor won its first title in 2021 and Kansas followed that up with another title in 2022.

This year, Big 12 newcomer Houston is the conference's best hope to add another championship, but Texas Tech and BYU are also representing the conference in the Sweet 16,

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