I did not know that Depaul university had 3 consecutive no.1 seeds

[retro44]

and lost their first game in the tourney back in the late 70's.

 

[MSOrange]

Yes Ray Meyer coached DePaul for over 40 years and had a pretty good run back in the late 70s and early 80s (a few years before my time but I remember when he retired)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Meyer

 

[Cusefan95]

and lost their first game in the tourney back in the late 70's.

DePaul was HUGE in Chicago when I was a kid - people went to their games to be seen. It shocked me how quickly they fell off from a power program to a dog. Hard for city schools like DePaul and St Johns to stay relevant for long.

Random unrelated comment - I remember Wichita State making the Elite Eight in '81, I was a kid and figured they were a big time power. I always kinda rooted for them as a result, up until this year when I realized their coach is a clown I can't stand.

 

[cto]

They were a top four team in the late 70's. They were the 3rd team in the Final Four in 79 (the Magic/Bird final). Oddly, Penn was the 4th team

 

[retro44]

http://t.foxsports.msn.com/college-basketball/best-teams-that-failed-to-win-ncaa-title-1

 

[stuckinbig11]

Mark Aguire and Terry Cummings with no jumps to the NBA helps.

 

[Cuse_1999]

DePaul was HUGE in Chicago when I was a kid - people went to their games to be seen. It shocked me how quickly they fell off from a power program to a dog. Hard for city schools like DePaul and St Johns to stay relevant for long.

Random unrelated comment - I remember Wichita State making the Elite Eight in '81, I was a kid and figured they were a big time power. I always kinda rooted for them as a result, up until this year when I realized their coach is a clown I can't stand.

I could be mistaken, but I think back then Depaul was in the same boat as St John's. They didn't have any or enough on campus dorms, so their athletes were allowed to get cash from the school for housing. Essentially, their players were allowed to be paid to a certain extent. Depaul and St John's both built on campus housing which eliminated their ability to pay players and both teams went in the tank

 

[shermstheman]

After Ray left his son Joey took over (reminded me of Sherman from Mr. Peabody). Program fell dramatically under him).

 

[Delmar]

As I recall, they lost to St. Joseph's one year and UCLA the other, both in the first round. That was Larry Brown's UCLA team that went to the final and lost to Louisville. Kiki Vanderweghe (sp?) was on that UCLA team. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[joct]

After Ray left his son Joey took over (reminded me of Sherman from Mr. Peabody). Program fell dramatically under him).

And I believe they stayed an independent throughout the 80's, until joining the Great Midwest Conference in the 90's. As this was the Big East's rise, which reduced the independents, so all of the attention was on the conferences, so I think that hurt them as well.

 

[joct]

They were a top four team in the late 70's. They were the 3rd team in the Final Four in 79 (the Magic/Bird final). Oddly, Penn was the 4th team

...and they upset us along the way to get there.

 

[Marsh01]

DePaul was loaded when I was growing up. Very surprised they never won a title with the talent they had.

 

[bpo57]

Back then Chicago pumped out hoops talent. Aguirre, Cummings, Isaiah Thomas, Ronnie Lester. The Big 10, ND and DePaul were all very strong back then.

 

[milerock]

The great George Mikan also played at DePaul back in the 40s. They won the NIT back when it was as big a deal as the NCAA.
He went onto play for the Minneapolis Lakers and played on several championship teams. Can be argued he was the first big NBA star.