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Message: [QUOTE="SWC75, post: 237639, member: 289"] A poster wondered how many teams had achieved 30 more wins that losses, as Syracuse is now guaranteed of doing, and how many of them won the national championship. I got out my trusty ESPN Encyclopedia to find out. I had to use their website for the two years since that came out. (This is limited to teams considered “Major College”, “Division 1”, etc.) Montana State was 36-2 in both 1927-28 and 1928-29. Pittsburgh, (21-0) was #1 in the first year in both the Premo-Poretta Power Poll, (which lists a top 25) and according to the Helms Foundation, (which recognizes only the champion). The Bobcats were #3 in the 3P Poll. The next year The Bobcats were #1 according to both organizations. Northwest Missouri State was 31-0 in 1929-30 but all that got them was a #13 ranking in the 3P Poll. Kentucky went 34-3 in 1946-47 but lost to Utah in the Finals of the NIT, (which was a rival to the NCAA tournament in those days, not a consolation tournament). Helms stopped rating champions effective with 1938-39 when the NCAA Tournament began but 3P went to when the first AP Poll started in 1948-49. They have Kentucky as #1 for 1946-47. The Wildcats were the dominant team of the post war-era in college basketball and went 36-3 in 1947-48, 32-2 in 1948-49 and 32-2 in 1950-51, winning the NCAA championship in each season. They also went 29-3 in 1951-52 and were #1 when they lost to St. John’s in the Elite 8. The Wildcat’s involvement in the 1950 point shaving scandals and recruiting violations caused their 1952-53 season to be cancelled. They came back the next year and went 25-0 but since they used players whose eligibility would have run out the previous year if they’d played, the NCAA didn’t allow those players to play in the tournament and so the #1 ranked Wildcats didn’t go. It was a sad ending to an amazing era of success. Nobody in college basketball made it to 30+ until North Carolina went 32-0 and won the national tile in 1956-57. They were 30-0 after beating Syracuse in the Eastern Regional final but had to win triple overtime games vs. Michigan State and Kansas in the Final Four to retain that status and then to win the title. UCLA had 30-0 national championship teams in 1963-64, 1966-67, 1971-72 and 1072-73. The only other team to reach 30 more wins than losses in that period was the 1967-68 Houston Cougars who beat UCLA 71-69 during the regular season and cruised to a 31-0 record into the national semi finals where the Bruins exacted a terrible revenge, 101-69, (they were up by 44 points at one juncture). They still had consolation games at that juncture and the deflated Houston team lost to Ohio State to finish 31-2. The next 30+ team was Bob Knight’s Indiana Hoosiers who went 31-1, who lost to Kentucky in the Elite 8 in 1975 , 90-92 when their star, Scott May had a broken arm, and who sent 32-0 and won the championship the next year. 63-1 over two years, probably should have been 66-0. And Larry Bird could have been on that team. He matriculated at IU but decided he didn’t like the big city and transferred to Indiana State. The Sycamores, in Larry’s senior year, went 33-0 before losing to Michigan State, with Magic Johnson, in the 1979 NCAA title game. Oh, and Rutgers, of all schools, pulled a Houston and went into the Final Four in 1976 31-0, only to lost to Michigan in the semis and UCLA in the consy. The loss to Michigan was disappointing: we could have seen a national title game between two teams that would have been a combined 65-0. But the Knights didn’t come all that close, losing to the Wolverines 70-86. Beginning in the 1980’s, with schedules going longer and longer, 30+ teams then became more common. And you didn’t necessarily have to win a championship to get there. But Louisville (33-3) in 1980, North Carolina (32-2) in 1982 and Georgetown (34-3) in 1984 did. The Hoyas were 35-2 going into the following year’s title game, (we were one of the two, thanks to the Pearl), when Villanova shot 79% to beat them by 2 points. Bradley was 32-2 that year but got beat by Louisville in the round of 32 to finished 32-3. In 1986, Duke and Kansas met in the national semi-finals. The Blue Devils were 37-2 and the Jayhawks 35-3. Everybody figure it was the “real” national championship. Duke won, then lost to Louisville in the final. UNLV was 37-1 when Indiana stopped them in the 1987 semi final, (I forgot what happened next). Temple went 32-2 in 1987-88 but lost to Duke in the Elite 8. Oklahoma and Arizona met in another “real title game” in the semi-finals. They were 34-3 and 35-2 respectively. The Sooners won but then lost to Kansas in the final. UNLV crushed Duke 103-73, (the largest margin ever in a final) to win the 1990 title with a 35-5 record and kept winning, going 34-0 until a rematch with the Blue Devils in the 1991 semis, which Duke won 79-77 on their way to their first title. Arkansas was 34-4 that year but lost to Kansas in the Elite 8. Duke’s greatest team went 34-2 to win the 1992 championship. Their greatest rival, North Carolina, went 34-4 to win the 1993 title. In 1996 we had another “real championship” in the Semis. Massachusetts was 35-2 and had beaten Kentucky, 34-2 during the regular season. The Wildcats reversed that result, 81-74. I forgot what happened next. The next year the Wildcats went 35-5 and beat a Minnesota team that wound up with the same record in the semis. But they lost the final to Arizona in over time. The Wildcats had beaten a 34-1 Kansas team in the Sweet 16. The Jayhawks were 35-3 when they lost to Rhode Island in the round of 32 the next year. North Carolina lost to Utah in the semis but finished 34-4. Kentucky win the title with a 35-4 record. In 1999 Duke and Connecticut were clearly the top two teams. The Blue Devils were 37-1 and the Huskies 33-2 when they met of the title. Billy Packer was shocked when Connecticut won, 77-74. He was happier when Duke won the title two years later with a 35-4 team. Kansas was 33-3 when they lost to Maryland in the 2002 semis to finish 33-4. Illinois was 37-1 when they got beat by North Carolina in the 2005 title game. Two years later Florida (34-5) met Ohio State (35-4) in the title game. The Gators joined the club with a 84-75 win. Memphis had quite a run from 2005-2009 under John Calipari. They went 33-4, 33-4, 38-2 and 33-4. The 33-4 teams lost to UCLA and Ohio State in the Elite 8 and to Missouri in the Sweet 16. The great year, for those of us who prefer great confrontations to great upsets, was 2008, the only year when all #1 seeds made the Final Four. Memphis came in at 37-1, Kansas 35-3, North Carolina 36-2 and UCLA 35-3. We should have seen three terrific games. Instead both semi-finals were blow out and then Kansas beat Memphis in overtime for the title. The Tar Heels patched up their wounds and won the title the following year with a 34-4 team that was probably better than anybody from the previous year. Their great rivals, Duke, (barely), won the title the next year with a 35-5 team. Kansas (33-3) lost to Northern Iowa in the round of 32, Kentucky (35-3) lost to West Virginia in the Elite 8. Last year Kansas was 35-3, Ohio State 34-3 and San Diego State 34-3. They all watched the Final Four on TV. Kansas lost to VCU in the Elite 8, Ohio State to Kentucky and San Diego State to Connecticut, both in the Sweet 16. This year Syracuse is 33-2 and Kentucky 34-2. They will both be 30+. Murray State made it to 31-1 but then lost. North Carolina is 31-5 and could be 35-5 if they win it all. Totally, 66 teams have made it to having 30 more wins than losses, (I don’t say 30 games over .500. A .500 team is 15-15: a 30-0 team is 15 games over .500). Nine of those lost to fall back under 30. That leaves 57 that ended at 30+ with UNC having a chance to make it 58. Here are the final results for the teams that reached 30+ in past seasons, (even if they didn’t stay at that level), plus Murray State whose season is over: 22 of them have won the NCAA Tournament 10 have been runner-up 10 have lost in the national semi-finals 7 have lost in the Elite 8 5 have lost in the Sweet 16 4 have lost in the Round of 32 Then there’s Kentucky’s 1947 NIT runners-up, the two Montana State teams, one of which won a Helms and 3P title and Northwest Missouri. Man, you should have seen the Bearcats back in the day…. 　　　　 [/QUOTE]

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