SWC75
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We are currently, (2013-14) neck and neck with Arizona for the top spot in the country, each team undefeated. Wichita State is undefeated and may actually have the best chance to run the table for the regular season, being in the weaker conference. And the made the Final Four last year, so watch out.
Syracuse fans want to out-=last the other two teams and be the “last man standing”, but how important is this? How often has the last team to lose gone on to win the national championship?
Firstly, some history. The NCAA tournament began in 1939 but there was no undefeated champion until Bill Russell’s San Francisco Dons went 29-0 in his senior year of 1955-56. That began an amazing stretch of 21 seasons in which full one third- 7- of our national champions were undefeated. North Carolina was 32-0 in 1956-57, UCLA was 30-0 in 1963-64, 1966-67, 1971-72 and 1972-73 and then Indiana went 32-0 in 1975-76. There have been none since. The only two undefeated teams to reach the Final Four since were Larry Bird’s Indiana State team, who lost to Magic John’s Indian State team in 1979 and the Larry Johnson UNLV team, which came in as defending national champions but lost to Duke, who they had beaten by 30 points to win the 1990 title, in the semi-finals. Significantly both those teams were “mid-majors” who were able to go undefeated in weaker conferences.
We’ve never had a dream national championship match-up between undefeated teams but came close in 1976 when Michigan beat a 31-0 Rutgers team in the national semi-finals. But the NIT had one in that first NCAA year of 1939 as 23-0 Long Island met 21-0 Loyola of Chicago for the title in what then was arguably the most prestigious tournament of the time. LIU won 44-32.
Ohio State was undefeated when they got upset 65-70 in overtime by Cincinnati in the 1961 finals. The bearcats beat them again the next year. The Buckeye, who had won the 1960 title as sophomores, had already lost- once- during the 1961-62 regular season. They had a three year 78-6 run, playing for the title in all three seasons. Jerry Lucas and John Havlichek were the stars, with Bobby Knight as a reserve.
Houston had beaten UCLA and were 31-0 when the Bruins gained a terrible revenge in the national semi-finals in 1968, 101-69. Marquette and Pennsylvania were both 27-0 going into the 1971 NCAA tournament. The Warriors, (as they were then) lost in the Sweet 16 and the Quakers got killed by Villanova 90-47 in the regional finals.
Two teams, Kentucky in 1953-54 and North Carolina State in 1972-73 went undefeated but were on probation. The Wolfpack would have been the odds-on favorite to meet the undefeated Walton Gang for the title if they had been eligible. They lost to them in the regular season the next year but beat them in the 1974 semi-finals and Marquette the next night to win the title, having gone 57-1 over two seasons. Indian was 31-0 in 1975 when they lost a regional final to Kentucky, in part due to the absence of forward Scott May who had a broken arm. They then went 32-0 the next year for a two year run of 63-1. Bill Russell’s Dons went 57-1 in winning their two national titles in 1955 and 1956. But nothing tops the Walton Gang’s consecutive 30-0 season in 1971-73 or UCLA’s 205-5 run from 1966-73 with seven straight national championships.
I decided to look at the seasons cine Indiana went undefeated to see who the “last man standing” was, how they did in the tournament and where the team that won it all was at the time the last undefeated team went down. The ranking listed is the higher of the two between the writers and the coaches, if there was a difference. My source is the ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia through the 2008-09 season and then their website. What is listed is the weekly rankings and the team’s record as of the beginning of that week. It’s possible that I could be off by one of the team’s actual record when they lost their first game because more than one game would have been played by the next week.
1977: San Francisco won their first 29 games and were ranked #1. They finished the regular season 29-1 and ranked #3. They got blown out 95-121 by UNLV in the first round of the NCAAs, (which was the round of 32 back then). Eventual champion Marquette was 20-7 and ranked #14 when the Dons went down.
1978: Kentucky won their first 14, finished 26-2 and ranked #1 and went on to win the national title.
1979: Indiana State was 33-0 when the Spartans ending their run in the national title game. Michigan State had lost 6 games that year.
1980: DePaul started out 25-0, then lost to Notre Dame. They were 26-1 and still ranked #1 at the end of the regular season. They lost to UCLA in the round of 32. The national champion was Louisville, who was 26-3 and #4 when the Blue Demons lost.
1981: Oregon State was 25-0 and ranked #2 when they lost. They were 26-1 and #2 in the last poll. They lost in the round of 32 to Kansas State. Indiana who was 19-9 and ranked #13 when the Beavers lost, won it all.
1982: Missouri was 18-0 and ranked #1 when they lost. They were 26-3 and ranked #5 in the last poll and lost in the Sweet 16. North Carolina, who was 16-1 and ranked #2 when the Tigers lost, won the title.
1983: UNLV was 23-0 and ranked #1 when they lost. They finished 28-2 and #6 and in the Sweet 16. NC State was not even ranked when the Rebels lost. They appeared in the ranking three weeks later at 20-10 and #14 and went on to win the title.
1984: In Michael Jordan’s last year, UNC was 20-0 and ranked #1 when they lost. They were 27-2 and still #1 in the final poll but got knocked off by Indiana in the Sweet 16. Georgetown who was 19-2 and ranked #3 when the Heels lost, won the title.
1985: They Hoyas were 17-0 and #1 when they got beat. They were 30-2 and #1 in the final poll but lost to Villanova, who had been 12-3 and #14 when St. John’s beat the Hoyas, for the title.
1986: North Carolina was 21-0 and #1 when they lost. They stumbled after that to 26-5 and #8. Louisville who had been only 11-6 when Carolina lost and ranked #15, won the title. They had beaten Carolina in the Sweet 16, 94-79.
1987: Iowa, (16-0, DePaul (14-0) and Clemson (16-0) all went down in the same week. The Hawkeyes had been #3, the Blue Demons #6 and the Tigers #10. They finished 27-4, #6, 26-2, #5 and 25-5, #13, respectively and lost in the Sweet 16, the Sweet 16 and the first round. Indian, who had been 14-1 and #3 when they all went down, won the title. (I won’t go into the details.)
1988: BYU was 15-0 and ranked #2 when they met defeat. They wound up 25-5 and #19 entering the tournament, where they lost in the second round. Eventual champion Kansas was unranked when BYU lost. They briefly appeared in the coach’s poll at #23 four week alter at 18-11 but then lost and were unranked as the tournament began.
1989: Illinois got to 17-0 and #1 before losing. They were 27-4 and #3 in the final poll before losing to eventual champion Michigan in the national semi-finals. The Wolverines had been 15-3 and #10 when the Iliini lost.
1990: Kansas (16-0, #1), Georgetown, (13-0 #2) and Oklahoma, (12-0 #3) all went down in the same week and wound up 29-4, #5, 23-6, #8 and 26-4 #1, respectively before all three lost in the second round. UNLV who had been 10-3 and #8 blew out Duke for the title.
1991: The Rebels were 34-0 when Duke nipped them in the national semis, 79-77.
1992: Duke got to 17-0 before they lost. They wound up 28-2 and #1 went on to win their second straight title.
1993: Virginia was the last unbeaten at 11-0 and Ranked #7. They faltered after that to 21-10 and #18 but made it to the Sweet 16. Eventual champion UNC was 14-1 and #3 when the Cavaliers lost.
1994: UCLA got to 13-0 and #1 but wound up 21-7 and #22 before losing in the first round. Champion Arkansas had been 13-2 and #5 when the Bruins lost.
1995: Connecticut was 14-0 and #2, wound up 28-5 and #6 and lost to eventual champ UCLA in the regional final. The Bruins had been 11-1 and #4 when the Huskies lost.
1996: Massachusetts was 25-0 and #1 and had already beaten two other Final Four teams, Kentucky and Syracuse when they lost. They were 3-1 and still 31 in the Final poll but lost to eventual champion Kentucky in the semi-finals. The Wildcats had been 22-1 and #2 with their only loss to the Minutemen when UMASS went down for the first time.
1997: Kansas was 22-0 and #1 at the point of their first defeat. They wound up 32-1 and #1but lost to eventual champion Arizona, 82-95 in the Sweet 16. The Wildcats were 13-5 and #11 when the Jayhawks first lost.
1998: Utah (17-0 and #3) and Stanford (18-0 and #4) both went down in the same week. They wound up 25-3 and #7 and 26-4 and #10, respectively. Kentucky beat both of them in the Final Four, Stanford in OT in the semi and Utah in the final. The Wildcats had been 16-2 and #7 when the other two went down.
1999: Connecticut was 19-0 and #1 when they lost. They finished 28-2 and #3 but went on to win the tile over Duke.
2000: Syracuse was the last unbeaten team at 19-0 but we were only ranked #4.We were 24-5 and #14 to begin the tournament and lost to eventual champion Michigan State in the Sweet 16. The Spartans had been 15-5 but ranked #6 when we lost. The two Michigan State national championship teams have lost 6 and 7 games respectively, a lot for a national champion.
2001: Stanford was 19-0 and #1 when they lost. They finished 28-2 and #2 but lost to Maryland in the Elite 8. National champion Duke was 19-1 and #2 when Stanford lost.
2002: Duke, (11-0, #1), Virginia 9-0, #4), Oklahoma State, (13-0, #5, Butler, 13-0, #20 and Miami (13-0, #21), all went down in the same week. Duke (29-3) was still #1 in the final pool. Virginia and Butler had disappeared form the rankings. Oklahoma State was 23-8 and #20. Miami was 24-7 and #21. Duke lost in the Sweet 16. Okie State and Miami lost in the NCAA first round. Virginia lost in the NIT first round and Butler in second round but finished 26-6. Maryland, who had been 10-2 and #6 when all these teams lost, cut down the nets.
2003: Duke was 11-0 and ranked #1 when they hit the iceberg. They wound up 24-6 and #7, then lost in the Sweet 16 to Kansas. Eventual champion Syracuse was 10-1 when Duke lost but only #25 and only in the writer’s poll.
2004: It appeared as if we had a shot at two unbeaten teams in the final as St. Joseph’s in the east started 27-0 and Stanford in the west bolted to 26-0. Stanford lost first but was 29-1 and #1 in the Final poll. St. Joes was 27-1 and #5. Stanford went down in the second round to the same Alabama team that beat us in the second round and then lost to eventual champion Connecticut in the regional final. St. Joe’s made it to a regional final. UCONN had been 24-6 and #9 when the Hawks lost.
2005: Illinois seemed a serious threat to run the table at 28-0 and #1 before losing by appoint to an Ohio State team whose coach, Thad Matta, had coached the Xavier team that knocked off St. Joe’s the year before. Guy can coach. The Illini were 32-1 and #1 in the final poll and kept going right to the finals when the lost to North Carolina, 70-75 in a great game. UNC had been 24-3 and #2 when Matta scored again.
2006: Duke and Florida were both 16-0 and ranked #1-2 when they lost. Duke was #1 at 30-3 in the final poll but the Gators had slipped to 27-6 and were ranked #10. But they went on to win it all while the Blue Devils went down in the Sweet 16.
2007: UCLA was 13-0 and #1 when they hit the windshield. They wound up 26-5 and #6 and lost to Florida in the semis. The Gators, who had been 12-2 and #2 when the Bruins went down, won their second straight title.
2008: Memphis was 25-0 and #1 when they lost. They were 33-1 and #2 as the tournament started and went to lose the title game in OT to Kansas, who had been 24-2 and #5 when they lost.
2009: Wake Forest started 16-0 and #1 but wound up 24-6 and #11and lost by 15 points to Cleveland State in the NCAA first round. It’s been all downhill since. North Carolina was 16-2 and #5 when Wake lost and looked unbeatable in winning 6 NCAA games by an average of 20 points, (nobody got closer than 12 points).
2010: I remember this year as Syracuse vs. Kansas but Kentucky at 19-0 was the last unbeaten team. Eventual champion Duke was 16-3 and #7. Kentucky was 29-2 and #2 in the Final poll. Kansas had the same record and was #1. Syracuse was 28-3 and #3. The Jayhawks lost in the second round, ‘Cuse in the Sweet 16 and the Cats in a regional final.
2011: Ohio State was 24-0 and #1 and looking like a million bucks when they got beat. Eventual champion UCONN was 18-4 and #9. The Buckeyes were 29-2 and #1 in the final poll but went cold against Kentucky in the Sweet 16.
2012: We went to 20-0 and #1 Kentucky had already lost and was #2 but the actual last unbeaten team was Murray State who went to 23-0. All three teams were 30-1 in the last poll. Kentucky was #1, Syracuse #2, Murray State #11. SU lost in the Elite 8, Murray in the round of 32. Kentucky won it all.
2013: Duke was 14-0 and #1, Michigan 15-0 and #2 and Arizona 14-0 and #4 when they all lost. Eventual champion Louisville was 13-1 and #3, (we were the ‘1’). In the final poll, Duke was 27-4, (#2), Michigan 25-6 and #6 and Arizona 24-6 and #18. Duke lost to Louisville in a regional final, (the Kevin Ware game). Michigan lost to them in the finals. Arizona lost in the Sweet 16.
The obvious point: a long run as an undefeated team doesn’t assure you of any special degree of success in the post season and you can look through the rankings and this point and any one of those teams could go on a run and win it all. Only Kentucky in 1978 and Connecticut in 1999 has been the last team standing and gone on to win the national championship
But what about teams that got to 20-0, as we will be trying to do on Wednesday vs. Wake Forest?
1977 San Francisco 29-0, lost in 1st round
1979 Indiana State 33-0, lost in the championship game
1980 DePaul, 25-0, lost in the round of 32
1981 Oregon State, 25-0, lost in the round of 32
1983 UNLV 23-0, lost in the Sweet 16
1984 North Carolina, 20-0, lost in the Sweet 16
1986 North Carolina, 21-0, lost in the Sweet 16
1991 UNLV, 34-0, lost in the semi-finals
1996 Massachusetts, 25-0, lost in the semi-finals
1997 Kansas 22-0, lost in the Sweet 16
2004 St. Joseph’s 27-0 lost in the Elite 8
2004 Stanford, 26-0, lost in the second round
2005 Illinois 28-0, lost in the championship game
2008 Memphis, 25-0, lost in the championship game
2011 Ohio State, 24-0, lost in the Sweet 16
2012 Murray State 23-0, lost in the second round.
2012 Syracuse 20-0, lost in the Elite 8
Not much of a pattern there, either. 5 of 17 teams made it to Final Four. Three of those made it to the championship game and all lost.
What about being #1 in the Final poll? The first poll was in 1949. The following teams have finished #1 in the final poll and gone on to win the national championship:
1949 Kentucky
1951 Kentucky
1953 Indiana
1955 San Francisco
1956 San Francisco
1957 North Carolina
1964 UCLA
1967 UCLA
1969 UCLA
1971 UCLA
1972 UCLA
1973 UCLA
1974 NC State
1975 (The final poll was just before the Final Four and included Indiana’s loss to Kentucky: UCLA was #1 but the Hoosiers had been #1 in the final regular season poll)
1976 Indiana
1978 Kentucky
1982 North Carolina
1992 Duke
1994 Arkansas
1995 UCLA
2001 Duke
2012 Kentucky
It used to happen a lot but with 6 games to win and more and more good teams, it’s hard for even a top ranked to “survive and advance” to cut down the nets.
So the race to be the last team standing and the race to be #1 is fun, but what really counts is how good your team can get and how well they play when it counts.
Syracuse fans want to out-=last the other two teams and be the “last man standing”, but how important is this? How often has the last team to lose gone on to win the national championship?
Firstly, some history. The NCAA tournament began in 1939 but there was no undefeated champion until Bill Russell’s San Francisco Dons went 29-0 in his senior year of 1955-56. That began an amazing stretch of 21 seasons in which full one third- 7- of our national champions were undefeated. North Carolina was 32-0 in 1956-57, UCLA was 30-0 in 1963-64, 1966-67, 1971-72 and 1972-73 and then Indiana went 32-0 in 1975-76. There have been none since. The only two undefeated teams to reach the Final Four since were Larry Bird’s Indiana State team, who lost to Magic John’s Indian State team in 1979 and the Larry Johnson UNLV team, which came in as defending national champions but lost to Duke, who they had beaten by 30 points to win the 1990 title, in the semi-finals. Significantly both those teams were “mid-majors” who were able to go undefeated in weaker conferences.
We’ve never had a dream national championship match-up between undefeated teams but came close in 1976 when Michigan beat a 31-0 Rutgers team in the national semi-finals. But the NIT had one in that first NCAA year of 1939 as 23-0 Long Island met 21-0 Loyola of Chicago for the title in what then was arguably the most prestigious tournament of the time. LIU won 44-32.
Ohio State was undefeated when they got upset 65-70 in overtime by Cincinnati in the 1961 finals. The bearcats beat them again the next year. The Buckeye, who had won the 1960 title as sophomores, had already lost- once- during the 1961-62 regular season. They had a three year 78-6 run, playing for the title in all three seasons. Jerry Lucas and John Havlichek were the stars, with Bobby Knight as a reserve.
Houston had beaten UCLA and were 31-0 when the Bruins gained a terrible revenge in the national semi-finals in 1968, 101-69. Marquette and Pennsylvania were both 27-0 going into the 1971 NCAA tournament. The Warriors, (as they were then) lost in the Sweet 16 and the Quakers got killed by Villanova 90-47 in the regional finals.
Two teams, Kentucky in 1953-54 and North Carolina State in 1972-73 went undefeated but were on probation. The Wolfpack would have been the odds-on favorite to meet the undefeated Walton Gang for the title if they had been eligible. They lost to them in the regular season the next year but beat them in the 1974 semi-finals and Marquette the next night to win the title, having gone 57-1 over two seasons. Indian was 31-0 in 1975 when they lost a regional final to Kentucky, in part due to the absence of forward Scott May who had a broken arm. They then went 32-0 the next year for a two year run of 63-1. Bill Russell’s Dons went 57-1 in winning their two national titles in 1955 and 1956. But nothing tops the Walton Gang’s consecutive 30-0 season in 1971-73 or UCLA’s 205-5 run from 1966-73 with seven straight national championships.
I decided to look at the seasons cine Indiana went undefeated to see who the “last man standing” was, how they did in the tournament and where the team that won it all was at the time the last undefeated team went down. The ranking listed is the higher of the two between the writers and the coaches, if there was a difference. My source is the ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia through the 2008-09 season and then their website. What is listed is the weekly rankings and the team’s record as of the beginning of that week. It’s possible that I could be off by one of the team’s actual record when they lost their first game because more than one game would have been played by the next week.
1977: San Francisco won their first 29 games and were ranked #1. They finished the regular season 29-1 and ranked #3. They got blown out 95-121 by UNLV in the first round of the NCAAs, (which was the round of 32 back then). Eventual champion Marquette was 20-7 and ranked #14 when the Dons went down.
1978: Kentucky won their first 14, finished 26-2 and ranked #1 and went on to win the national title.
1979: Indiana State was 33-0 when the Spartans ending their run in the national title game. Michigan State had lost 6 games that year.
1980: DePaul started out 25-0, then lost to Notre Dame. They were 26-1 and still ranked #1 at the end of the regular season. They lost to UCLA in the round of 32. The national champion was Louisville, who was 26-3 and #4 when the Blue Demons lost.
1981: Oregon State was 25-0 and ranked #2 when they lost. They were 26-1 and #2 in the last poll. They lost in the round of 32 to Kansas State. Indiana who was 19-9 and ranked #13 when the Beavers lost, won it all.
1982: Missouri was 18-0 and ranked #1 when they lost. They were 26-3 and ranked #5 in the last poll and lost in the Sweet 16. North Carolina, who was 16-1 and ranked #2 when the Tigers lost, won the title.
1983: UNLV was 23-0 and ranked #1 when they lost. They finished 28-2 and #6 and in the Sweet 16. NC State was not even ranked when the Rebels lost. They appeared in the ranking three weeks later at 20-10 and #14 and went on to win the title.
1984: In Michael Jordan’s last year, UNC was 20-0 and ranked #1 when they lost. They were 27-2 and still #1 in the final poll but got knocked off by Indiana in the Sweet 16. Georgetown who was 19-2 and ranked #3 when the Heels lost, won the title.
1985: They Hoyas were 17-0 and #1 when they got beat. They were 30-2 and #1 in the final poll but lost to Villanova, who had been 12-3 and #14 when St. John’s beat the Hoyas, for the title.
1986: North Carolina was 21-0 and #1 when they lost. They stumbled after that to 26-5 and #8. Louisville who had been only 11-6 when Carolina lost and ranked #15, won the title. They had beaten Carolina in the Sweet 16, 94-79.
1987: Iowa, (16-0, DePaul (14-0) and Clemson (16-0) all went down in the same week. The Hawkeyes had been #3, the Blue Demons #6 and the Tigers #10. They finished 27-4, #6, 26-2, #5 and 25-5, #13, respectively and lost in the Sweet 16, the Sweet 16 and the first round. Indian, who had been 14-1 and #3 when they all went down, won the title. (I won’t go into the details.)
1988: BYU was 15-0 and ranked #2 when they met defeat. They wound up 25-5 and #19 entering the tournament, where they lost in the second round. Eventual champion Kansas was unranked when BYU lost. They briefly appeared in the coach’s poll at #23 four week alter at 18-11 but then lost and were unranked as the tournament began.
1989: Illinois got to 17-0 and #1 before losing. They were 27-4 and #3 in the final poll before losing to eventual champion Michigan in the national semi-finals. The Wolverines had been 15-3 and #10 when the Iliini lost.
1990: Kansas (16-0, #1), Georgetown, (13-0 #2) and Oklahoma, (12-0 #3) all went down in the same week and wound up 29-4, #5, 23-6, #8 and 26-4 #1, respectively before all three lost in the second round. UNLV who had been 10-3 and #8 blew out Duke for the title.
1991: The Rebels were 34-0 when Duke nipped them in the national semis, 79-77.
1992: Duke got to 17-0 before they lost. They wound up 28-2 and #1 went on to win their second straight title.
1993: Virginia was the last unbeaten at 11-0 and Ranked #7. They faltered after that to 21-10 and #18 but made it to the Sweet 16. Eventual champion UNC was 14-1 and #3 when the Cavaliers lost.
1994: UCLA got to 13-0 and #1 but wound up 21-7 and #22 before losing in the first round. Champion Arkansas had been 13-2 and #5 when the Bruins lost.
1995: Connecticut was 14-0 and #2, wound up 28-5 and #6 and lost to eventual champ UCLA in the regional final. The Bruins had been 11-1 and #4 when the Huskies lost.
1996: Massachusetts was 25-0 and #1 and had already beaten two other Final Four teams, Kentucky and Syracuse when they lost. They were 3-1 and still 31 in the Final poll but lost to eventual champion Kentucky in the semi-finals. The Wildcats had been 22-1 and #2 with their only loss to the Minutemen when UMASS went down for the first time.
1997: Kansas was 22-0 and #1 at the point of their first defeat. They wound up 32-1 and #1but lost to eventual champion Arizona, 82-95 in the Sweet 16. The Wildcats were 13-5 and #11 when the Jayhawks first lost.
1998: Utah (17-0 and #3) and Stanford (18-0 and #4) both went down in the same week. They wound up 25-3 and #7 and 26-4 and #10, respectively. Kentucky beat both of them in the Final Four, Stanford in OT in the semi and Utah in the final. The Wildcats had been 16-2 and #7 when the other two went down.
1999: Connecticut was 19-0 and #1 when they lost. They finished 28-2 and #3 but went on to win the tile over Duke.
2000: Syracuse was the last unbeaten team at 19-0 but we were only ranked #4.We were 24-5 and #14 to begin the tournament and lost to eventual champion Michigan State in the Sweet 16. The Spartans had been 15-5 but ranked #6 when we lost. The two Michigan State national championship teams have lost 6 and 7 games respectively, a lot for a national champion.
2001: Stanford was 19-0 and #1 when they lost. They finished 28-2 and #2 but lost to Maryland in the Elite 8. National champion Duke was 19-1 and #2 when Stanford lost.
2002: Duke, (11-0, #1), Virginia 9-0, #4), Oklahoma State, (13-0, #5, Butler, 13-0, #20 and Miami (13-0, #21), all went down in the same week. Duke (29-3) was still #1 in the final pool. Virginia and Butler had disappeared form the rankings. Oklahoma State was 23-8 and #20. Miami was 24-7 and #21. Duke lost in the Sweet 16. Okie State and Miami lost in the NCAA first round. Virginia lost in the NIT first round and Butler in second round but finished 26-6. Maryland, who had been 10-2 and #6 when all these teams lost, cut down the nets.
2003: Duke was 11-0 and ranked #1 when they hit the iceberg. They wound up 24-6 and #7, then lost in the Sweet 16 to Kansas. Eventual champion Syracuse was 10-1 when Duke lost but only #25 and only in the writer’s poll.
2004: It appeared as if we had a shot at two unbeaten teams in the final as St. Joseph’s in the east started 27-0 and Stanford in the west bolted to 26-0. Stanford lost first but was 29-1 and #1 in the Final poll. St. Joes was 27-1 and #5. Stanford went down in the second round to the same Alabama team that beat us in the second round and then lost to eventual champion Connecticut in the regional final. St. Joe’s made it to a regional final. UCONN had been 24-6 and #9 when the Hawks lost.
2005: Illinois seemed a serious threat to run the table at 28-0 and #1 before losing by appoint to an Ohio State team whose coach, Thad Matta, had coached the Xavier team that knocked off St. Joe’s the year before. Guy can coach. The Illini were 32-1 and #1 in the final poll and kept going right to the finals when the lost to North Carolina, 70-75 in a great game. UNC had been 24-3 and #2 when Matta scored again.
2006: Duke and Florida were both 16-0 and ranked #1-2 when they lost. Duke was #1 at 30-3 in the final poll but the Gators had slipped to 27-6 and were ranked #10. But they went on to win it all while the Blue Devils went down in the Sweet 16.
2007: UCLA was 13-0 and #1 when they hit the windshield. They wound up 26-5 and #6 and lost to Florida in the semis. The Gators, who had been 12-2 and #2 when the Bruins went down, won their second straight title.
2008: Memphis was 25-0 and #1 when they lost. They were 33-1 and #2 as the tournament started and went to lose the title game in OT to Kansas, who had been 24-2 and #5 when they lost.
2009: Wake Forest started 16-0 and #1 but wound up 24-6 and #11and lost by 15 points to Cleveland State in the NCAA first round. It’s been all downhill since. North Carolina was 16-2 and #5 when Wake lost and looked unbeatable in winning 6 NCAA games by an average of 20 points, (nobody got closer than 12 points).
2010: I remember this year as Syracuse vs. Kansas but Kentucky at 19-0 was the last unbeaten team. Eventual champion Duke was 16-3 and #7. Kentucky was 29-2 and #2 in the Final poll. Kansas had the same record and was #1. Syracuse was 28-3 and #3. The Jayhawks lost in the second round, ‘Cuse in the Sweet 16 and the Cats in a regional final.
2011: Ohio State was 24-0 and #1 and looking like a million bucks when they got beat. Eventual champion UCONN was 18-4 and #9. The Buckeyes were 29-2 and #1 in the final poll but went cold against Kentucky in the Sweet 16.
2012: We went to 20-0 and #1 Kentucky had already lost and was #2 but the actual last unbeaten team was Murray State who went to 23-0. All three teams were 30-1 in the last poll. Kentucky was #1, Syracuse #2, Murray State #11. SU lost in the Elite 8, Murray in the round of 32. Kentucky won it all.
2013: Duke was 14-0 and #1, Michigan 15-0 and #2 and Arizona 14-0 and #4 when they all lost. Eventual champion Louisville was 13-1 and #3, (we were the ‘1’). In the final poll, Duke was 27-4, (#2), Michigan 25-6 and #6 and Arizona 24-6 and #18. Duke lost to Louisville in a regional final, (the Kevin Ware game). Michigan lost to them in the finals. Arizona lost in the Sweet 16.
The obvious point: a long run as an undefeated team doesn’t assure you of any special degree of success in the post season and you can look through the rankings and this point and any one of those teams could go on a run and win it all. Only Kentucky in 1978 and Connecticut in 1999 has been the last team standing and gone on to win the national championship
But what about teams that got to 20-0, as we will be trying to do on Wednesday vs. Wake Forest?
1977 San Francisco 29-0, lost in 1st round
1979 Indiana State 33-0, lost in the championship game
1980 DePaul, 25-0, lost in the round of 32
1981 Oregon State, 25-0, lost in the round of 32
1983 UNLV 23-0, lost in the Sweet 16
1984 North Carolina, 20-0, lost in the Sweet 16
1986 North Carolina, 21-0, lost in the Sweet 16
1991 UNLV, 34-0, lost in the semi-finals
1996 Massachusetts, 25-0, lost in the semi-finals
1997 Kansas 22-0, lost in the Sweet 16
2004 St. Joseph’s 27-0 lost in the Elite 8
2004 Stanford, 26-0, lost in the second round
2005 Illinois 28-0, lost in the championship game
2008 Memphis, 25-0, lost in the championship game
2011 Ohio State, 24-0, lost in the Sweet 16
2012 Murray State 23-0, lost in the second round.
2012 Syracuse 20-0, lost in the Elite 8
Not much of a pattern there, either. 5 of 17 teams made it to Final Four. Three of those made it to the championship game and all lost.
What about being #1 in the Final poll? The first poll was in 1949. The following teams have finished #1 in the final poll and gone on to win the national championship:
1949 Kentucky
1951 Kentucky
1953 Indiana
1955 San Francisco
1956 San Francisco
1957 North Carolina
1964 UCLA
1967 UCLA
1969 UCLA
1971 UCLA
1972 UCLA
1973 UCLA
1974 NC State
1975 (The final poll was just before the Final Four and included Indiana’s loss to Kentucky: UCLA was #1 but the Hoosiers had been #1 in the final regular season poll)
1976 Indiana
1978 Kentucky
1982 North Carolina
1992 Duke
1994 Arkansas
1995 UCLA
2001 Duke
2012 Kentucky
It used to happen a lot but with 6 games to win and more and more good teams, it’s hard for even a top ranked to “survive and advance” to cut down the nets.
So the race to be the last team standing and the race to be #1 is fun, but what really counts is how good your team can get and how well they play when it counts.
