College Exam: Day #9 of One-and-Only NCAA Tournament Trivia Challenge
Emphasizing a "one-and-only" theme for a "one-and-only" event, here is Day 9 of a treasure-trove of tantalizing NCAA Tournament trivia questions from CollegeHoopedia.com (10 per day from Selection Sunday through the championship game) tracking the only coach, conference, player or school to be linked to a distinguished or dubious achievement (click here for answers or conduct research digesting historical morsels in CollegeHoopedia's year-by-year highlights):
1. Who was the only athlete to lead his championship team in scoring in two Final Four games and pitch in the major leagues the same year? Hint: He was a guard for three consecutive Final Four teams and was selected to the All-NCAA Tournament team as a senior.
2. Name the only school with more than 1,300 victories in the 20th Century never to reach the Final Four. Hint: The school participated in the NCAA playoffs just once (1992) in last 40-plus years.
3. Name the only school to defeat a team three times in a season the opponent captured the NCAA title. Hint: The school also defeated the same conference foe three times the next season as defending national champion.
4. Name the only champion to win its two Final Four games by a total of more than 50 points. Hint: The titlist suffered its only loss that season against one of the Final Four victims.
5. Of the 35 Final Four Most Outstanding Players selected from 1946 through 1981 when there was a national third-place game, who was the only honoree to play for a fourth-place team? Hint: He never averaged as many as nine points per game in four NBA seasons.
6. Name the only school to lose in back-to-back years in the first round to different institutions going on to capture national titles those years. Hint: The school won a total of 47 games in the two seasons. The two defeats were in the middle of six consecutive playoff appearances for the school after it appeared in playoffs just once from 1939 through 1982.
7. Name the only year four teams arrived at the national semifinals with a composite winning percentage of less than 75 percent. Hint: The two schools that met in the national third-place game are traditional football powers. The college losing both of its Final Four games that year is the only national semifinalist to finish a season with as many as 14 defeats.
8. Who is the only player to score more than 60 points in a single playoff game and to score more than 43 points at least twice? Hint: Of the players who scored more than 235 playoff points and/or averaged more than 25 points per tournament game (minimum of three games), he is the only individual from the select group to have a losing playoff record. He is the only one of the top 25 playoff scorers never to reach Final Four.
9. Who is the only male player to score more than 44 points in a single Final Four game? Hint: He is the only player to twice convert more than 12 free throws without a miss in playoff game.
10. Who is the only player to score more than 400 points in his playoff career? Hint: The only individual to start in four straight Final Fours hit two last-second shots to help his team win East Regional final overtime games and is only player with at least 10 championship game free-throw attempts to convert all of them.
Exit Strategy: Power-Conference Members Poach Pilots From Mid-Majors
An average of four coaches per year leave NCAA playoff teams since seeding started in 1979. The first tournament mentor to depart this season was Ron Hunter, who abandoned Georgia State for Tulane to try to restore some pride with the Green Wave (or at least some Mardi Gras-like fun falling off chair along sideline). Next to jump ship was Nate Oats, who aligned with Alabama after departing Buffalo's 32-win squad returning the Bulls' top three scorers.
It might be a move up financially for Hunter and Oats, but it's debatable as to whether they'll direct Tulane and Bama to immediate respectability or simply become the next John Groce, who was jettisoned by Illinois two years ago after becoming one of 14 mentors since 2012 to be hired by a power-league member after directing a mid-major to the NCAA playoffs. The Illini subsequently hired Brad Underwood after he served only one season with Oklahoma State.
In every year since 1968, directing a team to the NCAA Tournament has been a springboard to what many believed was bigger-and-better things at a "poach-a-coach" school. Following are head coaches since the tourney field expanded to at least 64 entrants in 1985 who had a change of heart and accepted similar job at a different major college promptly after directing team to the NCAA playoffs:
1985 (six) - J.D. Barnett (Virginia Commonwealth to Tulsa), Craig Littlepage (Penn to Rutgers), Nolan Richardson Jr. (Tulsa to Arkansas), Andy Russo (Louisiana Tech to Washington), Tom Schneider (Lehigh to Penn), Eddie Sutton (Arkansas to Kentucky)
1986 (four) - Jim Calhoun (Northeastern to Connecticut), Paul Evans (Navy to Pittsburgh), Clem Haskins (Western Kentucky to Minnesota), George Raveling (Iowa to Southern California)
1987 (two) - Jim Brandenburg (Wyoming to San Diego State), Benny Dees (New Orleans to Wyoming)
1988 (two) - Dave Bliss (Southern Methodist to New Mexico), Tom Penders (Rhode Island to Texas)
1989 (four) - Tommy Joe Eagles (Louisiana Tech to Auburn), Bill Frieder (Michigan to Arizona State), Rick Majerus (Ball State to Utah), Lynn Nance (Saint Mary's to Washington)
1990 (five) - Kermit Davis Jr. (Idaho to Texas A&M), Mike Jarvis (Boston University to George Washington), Lon Kruger (Kansas State to Florida), Mike Newell (UALR to Lamar), Les Robinson (East Tennessee State to North Carolina State)
1991 (four) - Tony Barone (Creighton to Texas A&M), Jim Molinari (Northern Illinois to Bradley), Stew Morrill (Montana to Colorado State), Steve Newton (Murray State to South Carolina)
1992 (one) - Charlie Spoonhour (Southwest Missouri State to Saint Louis)
1993 (one) - Eddie Fogler (Vanderbilt to South Carolina)
1994 (eight) - Tom Asbury (Pepperdine to Kansas State), Rick Barnes (Providence to Clemson), Jeff Capel Jr. (North Carolina A&T to Old Dominion), Kevin O'Neill (Marquette to Tennessee), Skip Prosser (Loyola MD to Xavier), Kelvin Sampson (Washington State to Oklahoma), Ralph Willard (Western Kentucky to Pittsburgh), Jim Wooldridge (Southwest Texas State to Louisiana Tech)
1995 (three) - Dick Bennett (Wisconsin-Green Bay to Wisconsin), Scott Edgar (Murray State to Duquesne), Tubby Smith (Tulsa to Georgia)
1996 (one) - Ben Braun (Eastern Michigan to California)
1997 (five) - Ernie Kent (Saint Mary's to Oregon), Mack McCarthy (UT-Chattanooga to Virginia Commonwealth), Jim O'Brien (Boston College to Ohio State), Steve Robinson (Tulsa to Florida State), Al Skinner (Rhode Island to Boston College), Tubby Smith (Georgia to Kentucky)
1998 (seven) - Rick Barnes (Clemson to Texas), Larry Eustachy (Utah State to Iowa State), Rob Evans (Mississippi to Arizona State), Mark Gottfried (Murray State to Alabama), Mike Jarvis (George Washington to St. John's), Melvin Watkins (UNC Charlotte to Texas A&M), Tim Welsh (Iona to Providence)
1999 (four) - Steve Alford (Southwest Missouri State to Iowa), Dave Bliss (New Mexico to Baylor), Jim Harrick (Rhode Island to Georgia), Dan Monson (Gonzaga to Minnesota)
2000 (four) - Barry Collier (Butler to Nebraska), Ray McCallum (Ball State) to Houston), Buzz Peterson (Appalachian State to Tulsa), Bill Self (Tulsa to Illinois)
2001 (five) - Thad Matta (Butler to Xavier), Dave Odom (Wake Forest to South Carolina), Skip Prosser (Xavier to Wake Forest), Gary Waters (Kent State to Rutgers), Jay Wright (Hofstra to Villanova)
2002 (three) - Stan Heath (Kent State to Arkansas), Steve Merfeld (Hampton to Evansville), Jerry Wainwright (UNC Wilmington to Richmond)
2003 (eight) - Cy Alexander (South Carolina State to Tennessee State), Ed DeChellis (East Tennessee State to Penn State), Dennis Felton (Western Kentucky to Georgia), Ben Howland (Pittsburgh to UCLA), Oliver Purnell (Dayton to Clemson), Bill Self (Illinois to Kansas), Dereck Whittenburg (Wagner to Fordham), Roy Williams (Kansas to North Carolina)
2004 (eight) - Jessie Evans (Louisiana-Lafayette to San Francisco), Ray Giacoletti (Eastern Washington to Utah), Billy Gillispie (Texas-El Paso to Texas A&M, Trent Johnson (Nevada to Stanford), Thad Matta (Xavier to Ohio State), Matt Painter (Southern Illinois to Purdue), Joe Scott (Air Force to Princeton), John Thompson III (Princeton to Georgetown)
2005 (two) - Travis Ford (Eastern Kentucky to Massachusetts), Bruce Pearl (Wisconsin-Milwaukee to Tennessee)
2006 (eight) - Mike Anderson (UAB to Missouri), Brad Brownell (UNC Wilmington to Wright State), Mick Cronin (Murray State to Cincinnati), Mike Davis (Indiana to UAB), Fran Dunphy (Penn to Temple), Greg McDermott (Northern Iowa to Iowa State), Kelvin Sampson (Oklahoma to Indiana), Herb Sendek (North Carolina State to Arizona State)
2007 (four) - Ronnie Arrow (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to South Alabama), Todd Lickliter (Butler to Iowa), Billy Gillispie (Texas A&M to Kentucky), Gregg Marshall (Winthrop to Wichita State)
2008 (five) - Jim Christian (Kent State to Texas Christian), Tom Crean (Marquette to Indiana), Keno Davis (Drake to Providence), Darrin Horn (Western Kentucky to South Carolina), Trent Johnson (Stanford to Louisiana State)
2009 (three) - John Calipari (Memphis to Kentucky), Anthony Grant (Virginia Commonwealth to Alabama), Sean Miller (Xavier to Arizona)
2010 (five) - Tony Barbee (Texas-El Paso to Auburn), Steve Donahue (Cornell to Boston College), Bob Marlin (Sam Houston State to Louisiana-Lafayette), Fran McCaffery (Siena to Iowa), Oliver Purnell (Clemson to DePaul).
2011 (seven) - Mike Anderson (Missouri to Arkansas), Patrick Chambers (Boston University to Penn State), Ed DeChellis (Penn State to Navy), Sydney Johnson (Princeton to Fairfield), Lon Kruger (UNLV to Oklahoma), Jim Larranaga (George Mason to Miami FL), Mark Turgeon (Texas A&M to Maryland)
2012 (six) - Larry Eustachy (Southern Mississippi to Colorado State), Jim Ferry (Long Island to Duquesne), John Groce (Ohio University to Illinois), Frank Martin (Kansas State to South Carolina), Tim Miles (Colorado State to Nebraska), Sean Woods (Mississippi Valley State to Morehead State)
2013 (two) - Steve Alford (New Mexico to UCLA), Andy Enfield (Florida Gulf Coast to Southern California)
2014 (three) - Danny Manning (Tulsa to Wake Forest), Cuonzo Martin (Tennessee to California), Saul Phillips (North Dakota State to Ohio University)
2015 (two) - Bobby Hurley (Buffalo to Arizona State), Shaka Smart (Virginia Commonwealth to Texas)
2016 (seven) - Chris Beard (UALR to UNLV to Texas Tech), Jamie Dixon (Pittsburgh to Texas Christian), Scott Nagy (South Dakota State to Wright State), Steve Pikiell (Stony Brook to Rutgers), Tubby Smith (Texas Tech to Memphis), Kevin Stallings (Vanderbilt to Pittsburgh), Brad Underwood (Stephen F. Austin to Oklahoma State)
2017 (six) - Chris Holtmann (Butler to Ohio State), Kevin Keatts (UNC Wilmington to North Carolina State), Archie Miller (Dayton to Indiana), Brad Underwood (Oklahoma State to Illinois), Will Wade (Virginia Commonwealth to Louisiana State), Paul Weir (New Mexico State to New Mexico)
2018 (three) - Mike Davis (Texas Southern to Detroit), Danny Hurley (Rhode Island to Connecticut), Chris Mack (Xavier to Louisville)
2019 (seven) - John Brannen (Northern Kentucky to Cincinnati), Mick Cronin (Cincinnati to UCLA), Ron Hunter (Georgia State to Tulane), Eric Musselman (Nevada to Arkansas), Nate Oats (Buffalo to Alabama), Buzz Williams (Virginia Tech to Texas A&M), Mike Young (Wofford to Virginia Tech)
Waiting List: NCAA Tourney Helps Bring Natural Rivalries Out of Hibernation
Four seasons ago, we learned anew why Kansas seeks to avoid Wichita State year upon year after the Shockers clobbered KU in the Midwest Regional. Ditto Notre Dame and Purdue with their frequent shunning this century of Butler, which took the Irish into overtime in the same regional before losing by only three points against the Boilermakers in second round in 2018. The results showed again why some major schools should be ashamed of themselves for ducking nearby quality opponents. Why in the world did they have to resort to a national tournament assignment hundreds of miles from their fan base to oppose each other?
In a "Days of Whine and Hoses" era when many cash-strapped athletic departments are begging for revenue, they still schedule numerous poorly-attended home games against inferior opponents. It defies logic as to why tradition-rich schools forsake entertaining non-conference contests with natural rivals (example: Virginia Tech vs. Liberty this year) while scheduling more than their share of meaningless "rout-a-matics" at home. Fans shouldn't have to wait for an entertaining contest such as Morehead State upsetting Louisville, 62-61, in the opening round of the 2011 playoffs or Florida Gulf Coast taking Florida State to the mat in 2017.
The normal intensity of an NCAA Tournament tilt escalates even more in "bragging rights" games between neighboring opponents such as Texas Tech vs. Stephen F. Austin in 2018 first round that rarely if ever tangle on the same floor unless forced to compete against each other by a postseason bracket. Essentially, it is a sad state of affairs for fans in Kansas to need to hope KU and Wichita State oppose each other every 20 to 25 years in the NCAA tourney for them to meet on the hardwood.
A classic example of the scheduling neglect was an intense 2001 West Regional matchup between Maryland and Georgetown. Of course, the Washington, D.C., area isn't the only region with a scheduling complex. As emotional as it was, the Hoya Paranoia-Terrapin Trepidation confrontation didn't stack up among the following top dozen intrastate contests in NCAA playoff history including a couple of Kentucky/Louisville duels before they started meeting on a regular basis:
1. 1961 NCAA Championship Game (Cincinnati 70, Ohio State 65 in OT)
Paul Hogue, a 6-9 center who hit just 51.8% of his free-throw attempts during the season, sank only two of 10 foul shots in his two previous contests before putting Cincinnati ahead to stay with a pair of pivotal free throws in overtime in a victory over previously undefeated Ohio State.
2. 1998 East Regional second round (North Carolina 93, UNCC 83 in OT)
UNC Charlotte forward DeMarco Johnson outplayed national player of the year Antawn Jamison of the Tar Heels, but Carolina got a total of 55 points from Shammond Williams and Vince Carter to withstand the 49ers' bid for an upset.
3. 1983 Mideast Regional final (Louisville 80, Kentucky 68 in OT)
The first meeting between in-state rivals Kentucky and Louisville in more than 24 years was memorable as the Cardinals outscored the Wildcats 18-6 in overtime to reach the Final Four. The next year in the same region's semifinals, UK erased a half-time deficit to upend the Cards, 72-67.
4. 1981 Midwest Regional semifinals (Wichita State 66, Kansas 65)
Mike Jones hit two long-range baskets in the last 50 seconds for Wichita State in the first game between the intrastate rivals in 36 years.
5. 1989 Southeast Regional first round (South Alabama 86, Alabama 84)
In an exciting intrastate battle, South Alabama erased a 16-point halftime deficit. Jeff Hodge and Gabe Estaba combined for 55 points for USA.
6. 1971 West Regional final (UCLA 57, Long Beach State 55)
The closest result for UCLA during the Bruins' 38-game playoff winning streak from 1967 to 1973 came when they had to erase an 11-point deficit despite 29 percent field-goal shooting to edge Jerry Tarkanian-coached Long Beach State.
7. 1971 Mideast Regional semifinals (Western Kentucky 107, Kentucky 83)
This year's game wasn't anything like when WKU, long regarded as poor country cousins by Kentucky, whipped the Wildcats in their first-ever meeting when All-American Jim McDaniels poured in 35 points for the Hilltoppers.
8. 1959 Mideast Regional semifinals (Louisville 76, Kentucky 61)
Second-ranked Kentucky (24-3) hit less than one-third of its field-goal attempts in blowing a 15-point lead against intrastate rival Louisville (19-12). The Cardinals had lost to Georgetown (KY) earlier in the season.
9. 1964 Midwest Regional first round (Texas Western 68, Texas A&M 62)
Jim "Bad News" Barnes took out his do-it-yourself kit and accounted for 61.8% of Texas Western's offense by scoring 42 points.
10. 1962 NCAA Championship Game (Cincinnati 71, Ohio State 59)
Ohio State All-American center Jerry Lucas wrenched his left knee in the national semifinals against Wake Forest, limiting his effectiveness against Cincinnati counterpart Paul Hogue in the Bearcats' 71-59 triumph in the final.
11. 1963 Mideast Regional final (Loyola of Chicago 79, Illinois 64)
Sparked by All-American Jerry Harkness' 33 points (highest ever for Ramblers in NCAA tourney), Loyola's only meeting against the Illini in a 24-year span from 1955-56 through 1978-79 represented the Ramblers' lone win in their irregular series until 1984-85.
T12. 1974 East Regional first round (Furman 75, South Carolina 67)
Furman's Clyde Mayes collected 21 points and 16 rebounds to upend the Gamecocks' star-studded roster featuring Mike Dunleavy Sr., Alex English and Brian Winters.
T12. 1964 Midwest Regional final (Kansas State 94, Wichita 86)
All-American Dave Stallworth's 37 points (highest ever by Shockers in NCAA tourney) and 16 rebounds weren't enough to prevent Wichita's loss against K-State.
T12. 1969 Midwest Regional semifinals (Colorado State 64, Colorado 56)
Cliff Meely's 32 points (all-time individual playoff high for CU) were in vain. Cliff Shegogg tallied a team-high 20 points for the Rams.
Missing in Action: Premier Programs Never Meeting in NCAA Tournament
Whether St. John's deserved to be an at-large entrant or not, the red-faced Red Storm failed to last long enough to oppose Michigan or North Carolina for the first time in the NCAA Tournament. What other powerhouses never have battled each other in the NCAA tourney?
Although the event is in its eighth decade, there are attractive power school match-ups never to have occurred. The potentially entertaining intra-sectional playoff contests between storied programs never to take place in the NCAAs include:
- Georgetown vs. Indiana
- Georgetown vs. Michigan
- Georgetown vs. UCLA
- Michigan vs. St. John's
- North Carolina vs. St. John's
- Notre Dame vs. St. John's
- Notre Dame vs. UCLA
- Notre Dame vs. Villanova
- St. John's vs. UCLA
- Syracuse vs. UCLA
The Thrill is Gone: St. John's Winless Over Last 19 NCAA Tournaments
A significant number of schools turn sheepish at the mention of recent NCAA Tournament success. Among Division I institutions making at least 10 NCAA playoff appearances, seven former Final Four participants - New Mexico State, Oregon State, Princeton, St. John's, San Francisco, Southern Methodist and Texas-El Paso - combined to go winless in the past 19 years.
DePaul, Oregon State and San Francisco each have won more than 20 NCAA tourney games but collaborated for only one win in the past 29 years (DePaul over Dayton in double overtime in 2004). With B.B. King "The Thrill is Gone" lyrics in the background, following is an alphabetical list of schools with at least 10 NCAA playoff appearances for which Sweet 16 is a distant memory:
School (Playoff Appearances) Recent NCAA Tournament Travails Boston College (18) winless past 11 years with only one appearance Charlotte (11) no appearance past 13 years; winless past 17 years DePaul (22) appeared once past 18 years; one victory past 29 years George Washington (11) one victory past 24 years Georgia (12) one victory past 22 years Holy Cross (13) posted first win since 1953 three seasons ago in play-in game Idaho State (11) winless past 41 years New Mexico State (23) winless past 25 years Old Dominion (12) one victory past 23 years Oregon State (17) winless past 36 years Penn (24) one victory past 38 years Pepperdine (13) one victory past 36 years Princeton (25) winless past 20 years St. John's (30) winless past 19 years San Francisco (16) appeared once past 36 years Santa Clara (11) no appearance past 22 years Seattle (11) winless since 1964 Southern Methodist (12) winless past 30 years Texas-El Paso (17) winless past 26 years Utah State (21) one victory past 48 years Weber State (15) winless past 19 years Wyoming (15) one victory past 31 years
College Exam: Day #8 of One-and-Only NCAA Tournament Trivia Challenge
Emphasizing a "one-and-only" theme for a "one-and-only" event, here is Day 8 of a treasure-trove of tantalizing NCAA Tournament trivia questions from CollegeHoopedia.com (10 per day from Selection Sunday through the championship game) tracking the only coach, conference, player or school to be linked to a distinguished or dubious achievement (click here for answers or conduct research digesting historical morsels in CollegeHoopedia's year-by-year highlights):
1. Name the only school to reach the Final Four three consecutive years on two separate occasions in the 20th Century. Hint: In the first three-year stretch, it became the only school to lose three straight national semifinal games. In the second three-year stretch, the school was involved in only times two teams from same state met each other in championship game.
2. What was the only year two undefeated teams reached the Final Four? Hint: One of the squads had a perfect ending after winning in the national semifinals and championship game by an average of 16 points, while the other club that was unbeaten lost in national semifinals and third-place game by an average of 15 points.
3. Who is the shortest player to lead an NCAA champion in scoring average? Hint: He was part of a three-guard starting lineup, averaging under 5-10 in height, playing the entire championship game for the only current Division I school to capture an NCAA title despite never having an NCAA consensus first- or second-team All-American.
4. Who is the only U.S. Olympic basketball coach to win the NCAA and NIT titles with different schools? Hint: He never participated in a national postseason tournament with the third university he coached (Michigan State).
5. Who was the only coach to direct two different schools to the Final Four twice apiece in the 20th Century? Hint: He is the only coach to compile a record of more than four games under .500 in Final Four contests and only coach to guide three teams to national fourth-place finishes.
6. Who is the only coach of a championship team other than Rick Pitino to subsequently coach another university and compile a winning NCAA playoff record at his last major-college job? Hint: He is the only coach to win a national title at a school where he stayed less than five seasons.
7. Of the coaches to reach the national semifinals at least twice, who is the only one to compile an undefeated Final Four record? Hint: He won both of his championship games against the same school. He is also the only NCAA consensus first-team All-American to later coach his alma mater to an NCAA title.
8. Name the only school to lead UCLA at halftime in the 22 Final Four games for the Bruins' 11 titlists. Hint: The school leading one of the 11 UCLA champions at intermission of a Final Four game was coached by a John Wooden protege.
9. Of the coaches hired by NBA teams after winning an NCAA championship, who is the only one to compile a non-losing NBA playoff record? Hint: He is one of four different men to coach an undefeated NCAA championship team.
10. Name the only school to defeat a team by as many as 27 points in a season the opponent wound up winning the national title. Hint: The school is also the only one to defeat an eventual national titlist twice in same season by at least 12 points.
Mr. Big Shot: LSU's Tremont Waters Joins Long List of Last-Second Heroes
A game-winning scoop layup driving down the right side of the lane in traffic with 1.6 seconds remaining enabled LSU guard Tremont Waters to join the striking list of storybook moments in NCAA playoff lore, making it time to shine light on many of those who previously made history. More than one-fourth of the NCAA Tournament's games were determined in overtime or in regulation by fewer than four points since the field expanded to at least 32 teams in 1975. Four riveting national finals in an eight-year span from 1982 through 1989 furnished memories etched indelibly in our minds because clutch players appeared impervious to pressure by producing in last-second situations.
Videos help us remember the buzzer beaters far beyond the actual moment. Butler's Gordon Hayward almost joined this group but his heave from near half-court rimmed out in 2010 national final against Duke. Hayward learned close only counts in hand grenades, horseshoes and drive-in movies. The following alphabetical list details numerous individuals who supplied a trip-down-memory-lane field goal as time expired or in waning moments in an NCAA tourney tilt:
| Player | School | Description of Decisive Last-Second Basket |
|---|---|---|
| Danny Ainge | Brigham Young | Coast-to-coast drive including behind-the-back dribble and finishing with scoop shot edged #2 seed Notre Dame, 51-50, in 1981 East Regional semifinals. |
| Keith Anderson | Cal State Fullerton | Capping comeback from 15-point, second-half deficit, he drilled jumper with three seconds remaining to break a 72-72 deadlock against Bill Cartwright-led San Francisco in 1978 West Regional semifinals. |
| Elgin Baylor | Seattle | Long shot at the buzzer closer to mid-court than head of the key gave the Chiefs a 69-67 success at San Francisco in 1958 West Regional semifinals. |
| Rolando Blackman | Kansas State | Jumper from 17 feet from right baseline was the difference in 50-48 verdict against #1 seed Oregon State in second round of 1981 West Regional. |
| Vander Blue | Marquette | Drive and lefthanded layup with one second remaining climaxed rally from five-point deficit with fewer than 30 seconds remaining in 59-58 nod over Davidson in opening round of 2013 East Regional. |
| Rodney Bullock | Providence | Layup with 1.5 seconds remaining off baseline in-bounds pass lifted the Friars to 70-69 win against Southern California in first round of 2016 East Regional. |
| Nathaniel Burton | Georgetown | Driving layup surviving instant-replay review was final margin in 63-61 nod over Arkansas in first round of 2001 West Regional. |
| Will Bynum | Georgia Tech | Drive down right side of lane and layup with 1.5 seconds left gave Yellow Jackets a 67-65 triumph against Oklahoma State in 2004 national semifinals. |
| Casey Calvary | Gonzaga | Tipped in game-winner with 4.4 seconds remaining in 73-72 verdict over Florida in 1999 West Regional semifinals. |
| Lorenzo Charles | North Carolina State | Sophomore forward, averaging a modest 8 ppg, converted guard Dereck Whittenburg's off-line desperation shot from well beyond the three-point arc into decisive dunk in 54-52 success against Houston in 1983 championship game. |
| Chris Chiozza | Florida | The Gators, trailing Wisconsin by two points with fewer than four seconds remaining in OT in 2017 East Regional semifinals, got the ball in hands of Chiozza, who went coast-to-coast and sank a running three-pointer at the buzzer for 84-83 triumph. |
| Fran Corcoran | Canisius | Corcoran's jumper with four seconds remaining - his only points of the four-overtime game - catapulted the Golden Griffins to a 79-78 success against #2-ranked North Carolina State in first round of 1956 East Regional. |
| Todd Day | Arkansas | Follow-up of his own missed shot with three seconds remaining raised Razorbacks to an 86-84 win against Dayton in second round of 1990 Midwest Regional. |
| Cameron Dollar | UCLA | Short runner in middle of lane with less than two seconds remaining after length-of-the-court drive in overtime upended Iowa State, 74-73, in 1997 Midwest Regional semifinals. |
| Bryce Drew | Valparaiso | Signature three-pointer after touch pass following three-quarter court pass from minor-league baseball player on baseline to another hoop teammate gave #13 seed a 70-69 victory against Ole Miss in first round of 1998 Midwest Regional. |
| Tyus Edney | UCLA | Length-of-the-court drive mixing in behind-the-back dribble before layup from right side gave #1 seed a 75-74 triumph against Missouri in second round of 1995 West Regional. |
| James Forrest | Georgia Tech | Freshman forward, who didn't attempt a three-pointer all year, nailed a desperation shot from beyond the arc on left side after receiving sideline out-of-bounds pass for 79-78 win against Southern California in second round of 1992 Midwest Regional. |
| Rick Fox | North Carolina | Drive along right baseline for leaning bank shot in 79-77 upset of top-ranked Oklahoma in second round of 1990 Midwest Regional. |
| Kevin Gamble | Iowa | Straight-away three-pointer with one second remaining in overtime against Oklahoma provided 93-91 triumph in 1987 West Regional semifinals. |
| Tate George | Connecticut | Turnaround jumper from right baseline after length-of-the-court pass from eventual MLB first-round draft choice Scott Burrell clipped Clemson, 71-70, in 1990 East Regional semifinals. |
| Clarence Gilbert | Missouri | Jumper from 15 feet helped withstand furious Georgia rally, 70-68, in first round of 2001 East Regional. |
| Clarence Glover | Western Kentucky | Pretending to tie his shoestring after an opponent's turnover, he received an in-bounds pass in closing seconds and put in decisive basket in 74-72 nod over Jacksonville in first round of 1971 Mideast Regional. |
| Demetri Goodson | Gonzaga | Short running bank shot from left side of lane following length-of-the court drive by eventual Baylor CB and NFL draft choice lifted Zags to 83-81 triumph against Western Kentucky in second round of 2009 South Regional. |
| Jeff Green | Georgetown | It looked like a walk violation, but Green squeezed through traffic to sink jumper off spin move from right side of lane with 2.5 seconds remaining in 66-65 verdict over Vanderbilt in 2007 East Regional semifinals. |
| Richard Hamilton | Connecticut | Off-balance fall-away in lane following rebound gave Huskies a 75-74 win against Washington in 1998 East Regional semifinals. |
| Jeff Hodge | South Alabama | Desperation three-pointer off broken play in waning moments gave USA an 86-84 victory against Alabama in opening round of 1989 Southeast Regional. |
| Shaheen Holloway | Seton Hall | Mercurial point guard drove length of the court through and around a double team to score on an underhanded layup high off the glass with 1.9 seconds remaining in overtime to frustrate Oregon, 72-71, in first round of 2000 East Regional. |
| Jeff Hornacek | Iowa State | Fall-away 25-footer from left side off an out-of-bounds pass with two seconds remaining in overtime gave the Cyclones their first NCAA playoff victory in 42 years - 81-79 against Miami (Ohio) in opening round of 1986 Midwest Regional. |
| R.J. Hunter | Georgia State | Son knocked his excited father/coach (Ron Hunter) off stool along sideline with long straight-on three pointer with 2.6 seconds remaining to give Panthers a 57-56 success against #3 seed Baylor in first round of 2015 Midwest Regional. |
| Donte Ingram | Loyola of Chicago | Straight-on three-pointer from well beyond arc propelled Ramblers to 64-62 success against Miami (Fla.) in 2018 South Regional first round. |
| De'Jon Jackson | San Diego | Fade-away 18-footer from right side with 1.2 seconds remaining in overtime for #13 seed accounted for 70-69 decision over UConn in 2008 West Regional. |
| Marius Janulis | Syracuse | Lithuanian sank a three-pointer with 1.2 seconds remaining - his second trey in final minute - to lift the Orangemen to a 63-61 win against Iona in first round of 1998 South Regional. |
| Kris Jenkins | Villanova | On the heels of miracle off-balance three-pointer by North Carolina's Marcus Paige tying the score at 74-74 with fewer than five seconds remaining, Jenkins responded by drilling a game-winning trey from right side following clever hand-off by Nova's playmaker in 2016 title tilt. |
| Paul Jesperson | Northern Iowa | Half-court bank shot after several dribbles crossing from right sideline to middle of hardwood propelled #11 seed to a 75-72 nod over Texas in opening round of 2016 West Regional. |
| DeAndre Kane | Iowa State | Layup high off backboard with less than two seconds remaining after driving down middle of lane lifted Cyclones to 85-83 victory against North Carolina in second round of 2014 East Regional. |
| Jason Kidd | California | Twisting layup from right side with one second remaining following drive down lane enabled the Bears to edge Louisiana State, 66-64, in first round of 1993 Midwest Regional. |
| Bronson Koenig | Wisconsin | Swished three-pointer from right corner off sideline out-of-bounds play in 66-63 triumph against #2 seed Xavier in second round of 2016 East Regional. His decisive basket left him 16-of-31 from beyond the arc in last five minutes of games during the season. |
| Chris Kramer | Purdue | Drive past one defender down left side of lane and right-handed layup with 4.2 seconds remaining over another defender taller than him boosted Boilermakers past Texas A&M, 63-61, in overtime in second round of 2010 South Regional. |
| Christian Laettner (1) | Duke | After in-bounding ball with 2.6 seconds remaining in overtime, he received it back and converted contorted leaner from left side for 79-78 win against UConn in 1990 East Regional final. |
| Christian Laettner (2) | Duke | In perhaps most memorable shot in NCAA playoff history, he received pass from opposite baseline from Grant Hill and sank turnaround jumper near top of the key for 104-103 overtime victory against Kentucky in 1992 East Regional final. |
| Orlando Lamb | Virginia Commonwealth | Contested free-throw line jumper at buzzer propelled Rams to 70-69 win against Jim Calhoun-coached Northeastern in first round of 1984 East Regional. |
| Jim Lee | Syracuse | Mid-range jumper from left wing with five seconds remaining put Orangemen ahead in 78-76 win against North Carolina in 1975 East Regional semifinal. |
| Gabe Lewullis | Princeton | Layup from the right side of basket off a back-door cut with less than four seconds remaining proved decisive for #13 seed in 43-41 triumph against defending NCAA champion UCLA in first round of 1996 Southeast Regional. |
| Chris Lofton | Tennessee | Jumper from right corner after receiving sideline in-bounds pass for #2 seed in 63-61 win against upstart Winthrop in first round of 2006 Washington/East Regional. |
| Brook Lopez | Stanford | Dropped in twisting right-baseline leaner with 1.3 seconds remaining to outlast Marquette in overtime, 82-81, in second round of 2008 South Regional. |
| Korie Lucious | Michigan State | Straight-on three-pointer from top of key at buzzer in 85-83 decision over Maryland in second round of 2010 Midwest Regional. |
| Luke Maye | North Carolina | Jumper from left side just inside three-point arc with 0.3 seconds remaining was the difference in 75-73 win against Kentucky in 2017 South Regional final. |
| Eric Maynor | Virginia Commonwealth | Swished jumper off dribble move from just beyond middle of free-throw line with 1.8 seconds left for 79-77 upset win against Duke in 2007 West Regional opener. |
| Ken McCally | Navy | After two-minute freeze, reserve made 20-foot one-handed basket with two seconds remaining to give Midshipmen a 69-67 win against Cornell in 1954 East Regional semifinals. |
| Mike Miller | Florida | Fall-down short shot driving left side of lane in overtime gave eventual national runner-up a 69-68 nod over Butler in first round of 2000 East Regional. |
| Darrel Mitchell | Louisiana State | Long three-pointer with 3.9 seconds remaining enabled the Tigers to top Texas A&M, 58-57, in second round of 2006 South/Atlanta Regional. |
| Ronald Moore | Siena | Connecting from identical spot where he made three-pointer at end of first overtime, another trey with fewer than four seconds left in second OT sent the Saints past Ohio State, 74-72, in first round of 2009 Midwest Regional. |
| Rick Mount | Purdue | Mid-range jumper from the right side with one tick remaining in overtime boosted Boilermakers to 75-73 success against Marquette in 1969 Mideast Regional final. |
| Maurice Newby | Northern Iowa | Three-point basket from left side with two seconds remaining in 74-71 triumph against #3 seed Missouri in first round of 1990 Southeast Regional. |
| Drew Nicholas | Maryland | Dribbled much of length of court before firing three-pointer from right side to nip UNC Wilmington, 75-73, in first round of 2003 South Regional. |
| Freddie Owens | Wisconsin | Lefthander's three-pointer from left corner capped comeback from 13-point deficit in a 61-60 success against Tulsa in second round of 2003 Midwest Regional. |
| Kenton Paulino | Texas | Three-pointer from left side propelled #2 seed to a 74-71 victory against West Virginia in Sweet 16 of 2006 Atlanta/South Regional. |
| Ron Pflueger | Notre Dame | Tip-in with 1.5 seconds remaining climaxed a 76-75 come-from-behind victory against upstart Stephen F. Austin in second round of 2016 East Regional. |
| Quincy Pondexter | Washington | Driving short bank shot from left side with 1.7 seconds remaining in an 80-78 win against Marquette in opening round of 2010 East Regional. |
| Jordan Poole | Michigan | Spread-eagle trey from well beyond the arc on right side gave Wolverines a 64-63 triumph over Houston in 2018 West Regional second round. |
| Ken Pryor | Oklahoma | Backup's only basket in 1947 tourney, a two-handed banked set shot from left wing in closing seconds, gave OU a 55-54 success against Texas in national semifinals. |
| U.S. Reed | Arkansas | In aftermath of clutch field goal by Louisville's Derek Smith, a criss-crossing drive down right side resulted in mid-court heave giving Hogs a 74-73 win in second round of 1981 Midwest Regional. |
| Don Reid | Georgetown | Grabbed Allen Iverson's three-pointer falling short of rim and flipped ball back over his head for basket in 53-51 victory against Weber State in second round of 1995 Southeast Regional. |
| Scottie Reynolds | Villanova | Length-of-court drive and successful short jumper in middle of lane against #1 seed Pittsburgh for 78-76 triumph in 2009 East Regional final. |
| Cameron Ridley | Texas | Lefthanded basket at buzzer off rebound of missed shot lifted Longhorns to 87-85 triumph against Arizona State in first round of 2014 Midwest Regional. |
| Ty Rogers | Western Kentucky | Desperation 30-foot three-pointer from right side in overtime against Drake lifted WKU to 101-99 first-round victory in 2008 West Regional. |
| Vic Rouse | Loyola of Chicago | Junior forward jumped high to redirect center Les Hunter's shot from free-throw line into the basket to climax Ramblers' first year in playoffs with 60-58 overtime success against Cincinnati in 1963 championship game. |
| Tyrone Sally | West Virginia | After blocking a three-point attempt, Sally raced downcourt for decisive dunk with fewer than three seconds remaining to propel Mountaineers to a 63-61 verdict over Creighton in first round of 2005 Albuquerque/West Regional. |
| Vee Sanford | Dayton | Flyers edged Ohio State, 60-59, in first round of 2014 South Regional when Sanford banked in short runner down right side of lane with 3.8 seconds remaining. |
| Keith Smart | Indiana | Junior college recruit, IU's fifth-leading scorer, tallied 12 of the Hoosiers' final 15 points, including 15-foot jumper from left baseline to give them a 74-73 victory against Syracuse in 1987 championship game. |
| Ishmael Smith | Wake Forest | Jumper from right side with less than two seconds remaining capped comeback from eight-point deficit in overtime in an 81-80 win against Texas in opening round of 2010 East Regional. |
| John Smith | Saint Joseph's | Converted layup after adroit pass from teammate in right corner with three seconds remaining in 49-48 decision over top-ranked DePaul in second round of 1981 Mideast Regional. |
| Steve Smith | Michigan State | Three-pointer near top of the key with one tick remaining beat Wisconsin-Green Bay, 61-58, in 1991 West Regional opener. |
| Dave Sorenson | Ohio State | Banked in shot with three seconds remaining to give OSU an 82-81 victory against Kentucky in 1968 Mideast Regional final at Lexington, Ky., where fifth-ranked UK failed to lose all season. |
| Terence Stansbury | Temple | Swished 25-footer for 65-63 win against St. John's in first round of 1984 East Regional after All-American Chris Mullin, a 91% free-throw shooter, missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity. |
| Salim Stoudamire | Arizona | Lefthander hit off-balance jumper from left side with less than three seconds remaining to nip Oklahoma State, 79-78, in 2005 Chicago/Midwest Regional semifinals. |
| Robert Tatum | Ohio University | Freshman picked up a loose ball at left corner of free-throw line before nailing fade-away, double-clutch shot for 51-49 triumph against Illinois State in first round of 1983 Mideast Regional. |
| Terrell Taylor | Creighton | His eighth three-pointer of game (following move after receiving out-of-bounds pass from left sideline) gave Bluejays an 83-82 double-overtime win against Florida in first round of 2002 Midwest Regional. |
| Danero Thomas | Murray State | Fall-away jumper from right side just inside three-point arc for #13 seed secured a 66-65 verdict over Vanderbilt in 2010 West Regional. |
| Wayman Tisdale | Oklahoma | Lefthander's turnaround jumper from eight feet out along the left baseline bounced multiple times on rim before falling through with :02 remaining in overtime to give Sooners an 86-84 win against Karl Malone-led Louisiana Tech in 1985 Midwest Regional semifinals. |
| Andre Turner | Memphis State | "Little General" contributed back-to-back free-throw high, game-winning jumpers in Midwest Regional (67-66 vs. UAB with five seconds left in overtime and shot at buzzer in 59-57 success vs. Boston College) to carry Tigers to 1985 Final Four. |
| David Vaughn III | Memphis State | Put-back field goal from right baseline with 1.1 seconds remaining after teammate's missed mid-range jumper from other side of court propelled Tigers to 75-73 victory against Purdue in second round of 1995 Midwest Regional. |
| Jermaine Wallace | Northwestern State | Step-back three-pointer from left corner after retrieving long rebound catapulted Demons to triumph over #3 seed Iowa, 64-63, in first round of 2006 Atlanta/South Regional. |
| John Wallace | Syracuse | Lean-in three-pointer with less than three seconds remaining in overtime produced 83-81 win against Georgia in 1996 West Regional semifinals. |
| Tremont Waters | Louisiana State | Scoop layup driving down right side of lane in traffic with 1.6 seconds remaining gave the Tigers a 69-67 success against Maryland in second round of 2019 East Regional. |
| Jarrod West | West Virginia | Banked in long three-pointer with less than one second remaining for a 75-74 victory against #2 seed Cincinnati in second round of 1998 West Regional. UC had just made a trey seconds earlier. |
| Herb Wilkinson | Utah | Freshman swingman connected from beyond head of the key with three seconds remaining to give Utes a 42-40 overtime win against Dartmouth in 1944 championship game. |
| Danny Young | Wake Forest | Drove to hoop for basket and 73-71 triumph in overtime against #1 seed DePaul in 1984 Midwest Regional semifinals, spoiling legendary coach Ray Meyer's swan song. |
Nice to See You Again: MN/MSU Earliest NCAA Intra-Conference Match-up
NCAA Tournament match-ups between members from the same power league such as Michigan State vs. Minnesota are relatively rare (29 of them). But what made this second-round contest unique was how early in the tourney the first Big Ten Conference member confrontation since 2000 occurred. Two seasons ago, SEC rivals Florida and South Carolina met in the East Regional final. It was the first such tilt for the SEC in a 31-year span.
The Big Ten Conference accounted for seven of the first 18 NCAA Tournament games pitting league members against each other. Three campaigns ago marked the first time a league (ACC) generated three intra-conference playoff confrontations in a single tourney. It won't be surprising if the ACC duplicates that achievement this season.
| Year | Conference | Playoff Round | NCAA Tourney Result Between Members of Same League |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Big Ten | national championship | Indiana 86 (May scored team-high 26 points), Michigan 68 (Green 18) |
| 1980 | Big Ten | regional semifinals | Purdue 76 (Edmonson/Morris 20), Indiana 69 (I. Thomas 30) |
| 1980 | Big Ten | national third-place | Purdue 75 (Carroll 35), Iowa 58 (Arnold 19) |
| 1981 | ACC | national semifinals | North Carolina 78 (Wood 39), Virginia 65 (Lamp 18) |
| 1983 | ACC | regional final | North Carolina State 63 (Whittenburg 24), Virginia 62 (Sampson 23) |
| 1985 | Big East | national semifinals | Georgetown 77 (Williams 20), St. John's 59 (Glass 13) |
| 1985 | Big East | national championship | Villanova 66 (McClain 17), Georgetown 64 (Wingate 16) |
| 1986 | SEC | regional semifinals | Kentucky 68 (Walker 22), Alabama 63 (Coner 20) |
| 1986 | SEC | regional final | Louisiana State 59 (Williams 16), Kentucky 57 (Walker 20) |
| 1987 | Big East | regional final | Providence 88 (Donovan/D. Wright 20), Georgetown 73 (Williams 25) |
| 1987 | Big East | national semifinals | Syracuse 77 (Monroe 17), Providence 63 (Screen 18) |
| 1988 | Big Eight | regional final | Kansas 71 (Manning 20), Kansas State 58 (Scott 18) |
| 1988 | Big Eight | national championship | Kansas 83 (Manning 31), Oklahoma 79 (Sieger 22) |
| 1989 | Big Ten | national semifinals | Michigan 83 (Rice 28), Illinois 81 (Battle 29) |
| 1992 | Big Ten | regional final | Michigan 75 (Webber 23), Ohio State 71 (Jackson 20) |
| 1992 | Great Midwest | regional final | Cincinnati 88 (Jones 23), Memphis State 57 (Hardaway 12) |
| 2000 | Big Ten | regional final | Wisconsin 64 (Bryant 18), Purdue 60 (Cardinal/Cunningham 13) |
| 2000 | Big Ten | national semifinals | Michigan State 53 (Peterson 20), Wisconsin 41 (Boone 18) |
| 2001 | ACC | national semifinals | Duke 95 (Battier 25), Maryland 84 (Dixon 19) |
| 2002 | Big 12 | regional final | Oklahoma 81 (Price 18), Missouri 75 (Paulding 22) |
| 2009 | Big East | regional final | Villanova 78 (Anderson 17), Pittsburgh 76 (Young 28) |
| 2013 | Big East | regional final | Syracuse 55 (Southerland 16), Marquette 39 (Blue 14) |
| 2015 | ACC | regional semifinals | Louisville 75 (Harrell 24), North Carolina State 65 (Lacey 18) |
| 2016 | ACC | regional final | North Carolina 88 (Johnson 25), Notre Dame 74 (Jackson 26) |
| 2016 | ACC | regional final | Syracuse 68 (Richardson 23), Virginia 62 (Perrantes 18) |
| 2016 | ACC | national semifinals | North Carolina 83 (Jackson/Johnson 16), Syracuse 66 (Cooney 22) |
| 2017 | SEC | regional final | South Carolina 77 (Thornwell 26), Florida 70 (Leon 18) |
| 2018 | ACC | regional semifinals | Duke 69 (Bagley 22), Syracuse 65 (Battle 19) |
| 2019 | Big Ten | second round | Michigan State 70 (Tillman 14), Minnesota 50 (Coffey 27) |
| 2019 | ACC | regional semifinals | Duke 75 (Williamson 23), Virginia Tech 73 (Blackshear 18) |
| 2019 | SEC | regional final | Auburn 77 (Harper 26), Kentucky 71 (Washington 28) |
College Exam: Day #7 of One-and-Only NCAA Tournament Trivia Challenge
Emphasizing a "one-and-only" theme for a "one-and-only" event, here is Day 7 of a treasure-trove of tantalizing NCAA Tournament trivia questions from CollegeHoopedia.com (10 per day from Selection Sunday through the championship game) tracking the only coach, conference, player or school to be linked to a distinguished or dubious achievement (click here for answers or conduct research digesting historical morsels in CollegeHoopedia's year-by-year highlights):
1. Name the only coach to grace the NCAA playoffs in five decades. Hint: He achieved the feat with four different universities.
2. Who is the only player to score a team-high point total in his prominent school's first NCAA Tournament victory the same year he earned All-American honors as a quarterback for a national football champion? Hint: He later became executive director of the Pro Football Hall of Fame after coaching two different universities when they participated in the Rose Bowl.
3. Who is the only individual to be more than 10 games below .500 in his initial campaign as a major-college head coach and subsequently guide a team to a national championship? Hint: He won his last 10 NCAA Tournament games decided by fewer than five points. In his last two playoff appearances with the former titlist, it became the only school to receive at-large bids in back-to-back years with as many as 14 defeats entering the tourney.
4. Name the only school to be denied three NCAA Tournament berths because it was on probation. Hint: The three times the school didn't participate in the national playoffs because of NCAA probation were from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s.
5. Who was the only player to score more than 40 points in his first tournament game? Hint: The university left the Division I level for 28 years and was UCLA's first victim when the Bruins started a 38-game winning streak in the playoffs. He and his twin brother were infielders together with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
6. Name the only school to deploy just five players in an entire championship game. Hint: The school, participating in the playoffs for the first time that year, set a record for largest winning margin with a 69-point victory in its first-round game. The school is the only former NCAA champion never to compete against legendary coaches Bob Knight and Dean Smith.
7. Who is the only individual to go as many as 25 years between coaching teams in the NCAA Tournament? Hint: His first two playoff teams were eliminated in their tourney openers by eventual championship game participants.
8. Name the only school to have more than one two-time first-team All-American never reach the Final Four. Hint: One of the players is the only three-time first-team All-America to fail to appear in the NCAA playoffs. The school is the only top four seed to lose a first-round game by more than 20 points.
9. Who is the only player to have season scoring averages of fewer than 10 points per game in back-to-back years he was named to the All-NCAA Tournament team? Hint: His school reached the national championship game each season and had two different centers named Final Four Most Outstanding Player. Also, he is part of the only set of brothers to play together in two NCAA title games. One of their teammates became a marquee coach.
10. Who is the only individual to play for an NCAA basketball champion and in a major league baseball World Series? Hint: He was primarily a relief pitcher for six different teams in 13 big league seasons from 1975 through 1989.
Unfinished Business: Utah State Nowhere Close to Finally Reaching Final Four
Weep On It/Think On It/Sleep On It/Drink On It. That could be the motto for Utah State after the Aggies remained a "Susan Lucci" school in Division I by losing in opening round, preventing them from chance to reach the Promised Land. Brigham Young, Missouri and Xavier are the only three schools participating in more than 25 NCAA Tournaments but never advancing to a Final Four.
Missouri has reached a regional final on four occasions but fell short in advancing to the Final Four. Last year, Xavier joined Mizzou (1994) and Auburn (1999) as the only schools never reaching the national semifinals despite earning a #1 seed at some point during their NCAA playoff participation. Boston College is another bridesmaid multiple times comparable to Xavier, losing three regional finals (1967, 1982 and 1994) in 18 tourney appearances (22-19 record) since the field expanded beyond eight teams in 1950.
Utah State is among the following five frustrated institutions in a quagmire because they've made more than 20 appearances without reaching the Final Four:
School Tourney Appearances (Playoff Record Through 2019) Regional Final Losses Utah State 21 (6-23 mark, .207) 1970 Brigham Young 29 (15-32, .319) 1951 and 1981 Missouri 27 (22-27, .449) 1976, 1994, 2002 and 2009 Alabama 21 (21-21, .500) 2004 Xavier 28 (28-28, .500) 2004, 2008 and 2017
Shock Treatment: UC Irvine Anteaters Contribute to Bottom of Bracket Racket
In the first six years of the NCAA Tournament seeding process from 1979 through 1984 when the playoff field ranged from 40 to 53 teams, a total of 13 No. 1 and 2 seeds lost their openers. Notwithstanding the misleading media's spin, the NCAA tourney hasn't been saturated with authentic upsets since the playoff field expanded to at least 64 teams in 1985. On the other hand, there has been only five years in that span failing to provide a first-round shocker from the bottom of the bracket (1994, 2000, 2004, 2007 and 2017).
Teams seeded 13th or worse defeated teams seeded among the top four in a regional a total of 58 times in the last 35 years after #13 seed UC Irvine kayoed #4 Kansas State. At least the Big 12 setback wasn't as ugly as a couple of sorry SEC setbacks when Navy overwhelmed LSU by 23 points in 1985 and Siena smothered Vanderbilt by 21 in 2008.
Arizona's similar stunning defeat against Santa Clara in 1993 materialized despite the Wildcats reeling off 25 unanswered points in a stretch bridging the last five minutes of the first half and the first five minutes of the second half. Gary Waters is the only coach to win two opening-round games in this category while in charge of two different schools (Kent State in 2001 and Cleveland State in 2009).
Until Virginia's 1/16 debacle last year, Michigan State was the only #2 seed to lose its playoff opener after spending a portion of the regular season atop the AP national poll. Following is a rundown of the first 58 first-round knockouts by the bottom of the bracket (#13 through #16 seeds) since the NCAA field expanded to at least 64 teams in 1985:
#16 seed (1 victory)
| Year | #16 Seed Winner | Coach | #1 Seed Loser | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Maryland-Baltimore County | Ryan Odom | Virginia | 74-54 |
#15 seed (8 victories)
| Year | #15 Seed Winner | Coach | #2 Seed Loser | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Richmond | Dick Tarrant | Syracuse | 73-69 |
| 1993 | Santa Clara | Dick Davey | Arizona | 64-61 |
| 1997 | Coppin State | Ron "Fang" Mitchell | South Carolina | 78-65 |
| 2001 | Hampton | Steve Merfeld | Iowa State | 58-57 |
| 2012 | Lehigh | Dr. Brett Reed | Duke | 75-70 |
| 2012 | Norfolk State | Anthony Evans | Missouri | 86-84 |
| 2013 | Florida Gulf Coast | Andy Enfield | Georgetown | 78-68 |
| 2016 | Middle Tennessee State | Kermit Davis Jr. | Michigan State | 90-81 |
#14 seed (20 victories)
#13 seed (29 victories)
Short and Sweet: Is Serving Siena Only One Year the Christian Thing to Do?
George Washington-bound Jamion Christian is deemed an ascending star in the coaching profession after compiling a 17-16 record in his only season with Siena, which won only eight games in 2017-18. But what a majority of media mavens fail to point out is there have been numerous "won-and-done" mentors posting significantly better winning percentages in "short-and-sweet" one-year stints since the generally recognized start of the modern era of college basketball in the early 1950s.
Fordham improved by 14 games in Digger Phelps' only season with the Rams in 1970-71, a mark that stood for one-year wonders until Chris Beard broke it last year with a 15-game improvement after UALR (30-5) went 13-18 in 2014-15. Buzz Peterson, the only coach to win a national postseason championship in his only season at a school (Tulsa), is among the following "one-and-done" coaches who won more than 60% of their games in one-year tenures in the last 50-plus years:
| Coach | School | Single Season | W-L | Pct. | Reason for One-Year Stint |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lute Olson | Long Beach State | 1973-74 | 24-2 | .923 | Became coach at Iowa. |
| Digger Phelps | Fordham | 1970-71 | 26-3 | .897 | Became coach at Notre Dame. |
| Chris Beard | UALR | 2015-16 | 30-5 | .857 | Became coach at UNLV. |
| Carl Tacy | Marshall | 1971-72 | 23-4 | .852 | Became coach at Wake Forest. |
| Keno Davis | Drake | 2007-08 | 28-5 | .848 | Became coach at Providence. |
| Matt Painter | Southern Illinois | 2003-04 | 25-5 | .833 | Became coach at Purdue. |
| Stan Heath | Kent State | 2001-02 | 29-6 | .829 | Became coach at Arkansas. |
| Paul Weir | New Mexico State | 2016-17 | 28-6 | .824 | Became coach at New Mexico. |
| Thad Matta | Butler | 2000-01 | 24-8 | .750 | Became coach at Xavier. |
| Bill Fitch | Bowling Green | 1967-68 | 18-7 | .720 | Became coach at Minnesota. |
| Jim Harding* | La Salle | 1967-68 | 20-8 | .714 | Forced out by administration. |
| Buzz Peterson | Tulsa | 2000-01 | 26-11 | .703 | Became coach at Tennessee. |
| Bob Vanatta | Army | 1953-54 | 15-7 | .682 | Became coach at Bradley. |
| Larry Shyatt | Wyoming | 1997-98 | 19-9 | .679 | Became coach at Clemson. |
| Rick Barnes | George Mason | 1987-88 | 20-10 | .667 | Became coach at Providence. |
| Ron Greene | Mississippi State | 1977-78 | 18-9 | .667 | Became coach at Murray State. |
| Art Tolis | New Orleans | 1987-88 | 21-11 | .656 | Forced out by administration. |
| Scott Drew | Valparaiso | 2002-03 | 20-11 | .645 | Became coach at Baylor. |
| Louis Orr | Siena | 2000-01 | 20-11 | .645 | Became coach at Seton Hall. |
| Bob Huggins | Kansas State | 2006-07 | 22-13 | .629 | Became coach at West Virginia. |
| Grant McCasland | Arkansas State | 2016-17 | 20-12 | .625 | Became coach at North Texas. |
| Brad Underwood | Oklahoma State | 2016-17 | 20-13 | .606 | Became coach at Illinois. |
*Harding became coach for Minnesota (ABA) for portion of 1968-69 season.
Remember Me? ASU's Hurley Hurled Bull Losing to Former Team (UB Bulls)
Passionate pilot Bobby Hurley was hurling invective as Arizona State, infected by competing against undisciplined St. John's in First Four, stumbled badly against his old stomping grounds (Buffalo). Hurley steered the Bulls to the 2015 NCAA playoffs before departing for the Sun Devils. X marked the first head coaching spot for Sean Miller when he directed Xavier for five seasons from 2004-05 through 2008-09 before leaving with nine years remaining on a contract to join Arizona. In 2017, the Cincinnati-based Jesuit school meant eXit for the frustrated mentor seeking his initial Final Four appearance. Miller, who guided the Musketeers to a regional semifinal each of his last two campaigns with them, opposed his old stomping grounds in the West Regional for the second time in three-year span.
Norm Sloan is the only coach to post an NCAA playoff victory against a school he previously guided to the national championship. Sloan was Florida's mentor in 1987 when the Gators notched an 82-70 first-round triumph over North Carolina State, the institution he took to the 1974 title.
Gene Bartow is the only individual to oppose two different schools in the playoffs he previously coached to the Final Four (UAB lost against Memphis State in 1985 and UCLA in 1990). North Carolina's Roy Williams lost three times by double-digit margins against Kansas in a six-year span from 2008 through 2013 after taking the Jayhawks to the Final Four on four occasions (1991, 1993, 2002 and 2003).
Lute Olson is the only coach to twice defeat the same school he previously took to the NCAA playoffs (Arizona beat Iowa in 1988 and 1996). Miller is among the 16 different bench bosses on the following chronological list of "muscle-memory" mentors opposing a school in the NCAA Tournament they previously directed in the playoffs:
| Tourney Coach | School | Playoff Round | Foe Previously Took to NCAA Playoffs | Tournament Career Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Carnevale | Navy | 1959 First Round | W vs. North Carolina, 76-63 | Carnevale compiled 2-1 mark in NCAA playoffs with Tar Heels in 1946 before going 4-6 with Midshipmen (1947-53-54-59-60). |
| Frank McGuire | South Carolina | 1972 Regional Semifinal | L vs. North Carolina, 92-69 | McGuire was 5-1 with Tar Heels in 1957 and 1959 before going 4-5 with Gamecocks (1971 through 1974). |
| Gene Bartow | UAB | 1985 Second Round | L vs. Memphis State, 67-66 | Bartow was 3-1 with Tigers in 1973 before going 6-9 with Blazers (1981-82-83-84-85-86-87-90-94). |
| Johnny Orr | Iowa State | 1986 Second Round | W vs. Michigan, 72-69 | Orr was 7-4 with Wolverines from 1974 through 1977 before going 3-6 with Cyclones (1985-86-88-89-92-93). |
| Norm Sloan | Florida | 1987 First Round | W vs. N.C. State, 82-70 | Sloan was 5-2 with Wolfpack (1970-74-78) before going 3-3 with Gators from 1987 through 1989. |
| Lute Olson | Arizona | 1988 Regional Semifinal | W vs. Iowa, 99-79 | Olson was 7-6 with Hawkeyes from 1979 through 1983 before going 39-22 with Wildcats from 1985 through 2007. |
| Gene Bartow | UAB | 1990 First Round | L vs. UCLA, 68-56 | Bartow was 5-2 with Bruins in 1976 and 1977 before going 6-9 with Blazers (1981-82-83-84-85-86-87-90-94). |
| Nolan Richardson Jr. | Arkansas | 1994 Regional Semifinal | W vs. Tulsa, 103-84 | Richardson was 0-3 with Golden Hurricane (1982-84-85) before going 26-12 with Razorbacks from 1988 through 1996 and 1998 through 2001. |
| Lute Olson | Arizona | 1996 Second Round | W vs. Iowa, 87-73 | Olson was 7-6 with Hawkeyes from 1979 through 1983 before going 39-22 with Wildcats from 1985 through 2007. |
| Gale Catlett | West Virginia | 1998 Second Round | W vs. Cincinnati, 75-74 | Catlett was 2-3 with Bearcats from 1975 through 1977 before going 5-8 with Mountaineers (1982-83-84-86-87-89-92-98). |
| Lon Kruger | Illinois | 2000 Second Round | L vs. Florida, 93-76 | Kruger was 4-2 with Gators in 1994 and 1995 before going 3-3 with Illini (1997-98-00). |
| Lefty Driesell | Georgia State | 2001 Second Round | L vs. Maryland, 79-60 | Driesell was 10-8 with Terrapins (1973-75-80-81-83-84-85-86) before going 1-1 with Panthers in 2001. |
| Tubby Smith | Kentucky | 2002 Second Round | W vs. Tulsa, 87-82 | Smith was 4-2 with Golden Hurricane in 1994 and 1995 before going 18-6 with Wildcats from 1998 through 2004. |
| Thad Matta | Ohio State | 2007 Second Round | W vs. Xavier, 78-71 | Matta was 5-3 with Muskeeters (2002 through 2004) before going 18-9 with Buckeyes from 2006 through 2017. |
| Ben Howland | UCLA | 2007 Regional Semifinal | W vs. Pittsburgh, 64-55 | Howland was 4-2 with Panthers (2002 and 2003) before going 15-7 with Bruins (2005-06-07-08-09-11-13). |
| Roy Williams | North Carolina | 2008 National Semifinal | L vs. Kansas, 84-66 | Williams was 34-14 with Jayhawks (1990 through 2003) before going 36-10 with Tar Heels from 2004 through 2016. |
| Bill Self | Kansas | 2011 Second Round | W vs. Illinois, 73-59 | Self was 6-3 with Illini (2001 through 2003) before going 30-12 with Jayhawks from 2004 through 2016. |
| Roy Williams | North Carolina | 2012 Regional Final | L vs. Kansas, 80-67 | Williams was 34-14 with Jayhawks (1990 through 2003) before going 36-10 with Tar Heels from 2004 through 2016. |
| Roy Williams | North Carolina | 2013 Second Round | L vs. Kansas, 70-58 | Williams was 34-14 with Jayhawks (1990 through 2003) before going 36-10 with Tar Heels from 2004 through 2016. |
| Larry Brown | Southern Methodist | 2015 First Round | L vs. UCLA, 60-59 | Brown was 5-2 with Bruins before going 0-1 with Mustangs. |
| Sean Miller | Arizona | 2015 Regional Semifinal | W vs. Xavier, 68-60 | Miller was 6-4 with Musketeers from 2006 through 2009 before going 13-6 with Wildcats from 2011 through 2017 |
| Sean Miller | Arizona | 2017 Regional Semifinal | L vs. Xavier, 73-71 | Miller was 6-4 with Musketeers from 2006 through 2009 before going 13-6 with Wildcats from 2011 through 2017 |
| Bobby Hurley | Arizona State | 2019 Regional First Round | L vs. Buffalo, 91-74 | Hurley was 0-1 with Bulls in 2015 before joining Sun Devils and losing back-to-back NCAA tourney outings in 2018 and 2019 |
College Exam: Day #6 of One-and-Only NCAA Tournament Trivia Challenge
Emphasizing a "one-and-only" theme for a "one-and-only" event, here is Day 6 of a treasure-trove of tantalizing NCAA Tournament trivia questions from CollegeHoopedia.com (10 per day from Selection Sunday through the championship game) tracking the only coach, conference, player or school to be linked to a distinguished or dubious achievement (click here for answers or conduct research digesting historical morsels in CollegeHoopedia's year-by-year highlights):
1. Who was the only player to lead the nation in scoring average in the same season he played for a team reaching the NCAA Tournament championship game? Hint: He was the first player to score more than 30 points in a Final Four game and the only individual to crack the 30-point plateau in national semifinals and final in same season. He was also the only Big Eight Conference player to lead nation in scoring.
2. Of the 60 or so different players to score at least 2,500 points and/or rank among the top 25 in career scoring average, who was the only one to have a winning NCAA playoff record in his career plus post higher scoring, rebounding and field-goal shooting playoff averages than he compiled in regular season? Hint: The player scored at least 17 points in all 10 of his NCAA playoff games.
3. Who was the only football Heisman Trophy winner to play in the basketball Final Four? Hint: He won the Most Outstanding Player Award in a Liberty Bowl after setting a school record for longest run from scrimmage.
4. What was the only Final Four match-up to have both coaches opposing his alma mater? Hint: It's happened twice. The protege was an assistant at his alma mater for 10 years.
5. Who is the only coach to oppose his alma mater more than twice at the Final Four? Hint: He is also the only coach in the 20th Century to twice win conference and NCAA tournaments in same year.
6. Who is the only unbeaten coach in NCAA playoff history? Hint: He is the only NCAA basketball championship coach to also be baseball coach at the same school when it won a College World Series game.
7. Who was the only coach with more than 30 NCAA Tournament victories to earn those wins at more than one school until Lute Olson (Iowa and Arizona) joined him in 1998? Hint: Three schools for the first coach were slapped with an NCAA probation during his stints there.
8. Who is the only coach in back-to-back years to win at least one NCAA playoff game in his first season with two different schools? He coached Butler the previous campaign. Hint: He was an assistant under three coaches who directed two different schools to the NCAA Tournament (Charlie Coles, Tates Locke and Herb Sendek).
9. Name the only school to gain an at-large invitation despite losing all of its conference road games. Hint: Three years earlier, the school received an at-large bid despite losing four league road games by at least 25 points.
10. Of the individuals to both play and coach in the NCAA Tournament, who leads that group in both scoring and rebounding totals? Hint: He was the leading scorer in biggest blowout in regional final history.
David vs. Goliath: Murray State Cuts Head Off Power-Conference Opponent
If upper-crust elite schools smugly look down their noses, they might find their opponents boast the upper hand by looking down the barrel of a gun. Just ask Marquette (Big East) after it was mauled by Morant State (a/k/a Murray State). In 2013, two mid-major at-large entrants reached a regional final (La Salle and Wichita State) after also failing to capture a regular-season league title. Generous doses of humility frequently occur. Five years ago, #3 seeds Duke and Syracuse were embarrassed by Mercer and Dayton, respectively. They join Marquette among 20 former national champions losing multiple times in the tourney against members of lower-profile conferences seeded five or more places worse than the major university currently a member of one of the consensus power-six leagues.
Kansas has a high of seven setbacks as a total of 12 former NCAA titlists have lost three or more such contests. Last year, Baylor joined KU and four other power-league members (Florida, Georgetown, Indiana and Vanderbilt) in losing playoff games in back-to-back seasons thus far in the 21st Century against mid-major foes with double-digit seeds. Has part-time ACC commish/publicist Jay Bilas mentioned on ESPN about 14 ACC members collectively having been victimized by such illegal mid-major aliens crossing over power-league border as much as any power alliance?
Who did they play (mid-majors in NCAA playoff competition) and who did they beat (power-league members seeded five or more slots better)? Well, a total of 88 different lower-profile schools and current members of 24 different mid-major conferences (all but Northeast) have won 158 such games since seeding was introduced in 1979. But heaven forbid if Murray State had lost against Belmont in the OVC Tournament championship contest. The nation likely would have missed out on witnessing Ja Morant's magnificence while bowing down at the power-league altar worshiping mediocrity. The mid-major school with the most "David vs. Goliath" playoff victories cited in the following list was Richmond with six until Gonzaga tied the Spiders after two such triumphs in 2016:
ACC (32 defeats against mid-major opponents seeded five or more places worse) - Boston College (lost against #12 Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2005); Clemson (#13 Southwest Missouri State in 1987 and #11 Western Michigan in 1998); Duke (#11 Virginia Commonwealth in 2007, #15 Lehigh in 2012 and #14 Mercer in 2014); Florida State (#13 Middle Tennessee State in 1989); Georgia Tech (#13 Richmond in 1988 and #13 Southern in 1993); Louisville (#12 Ball State in 1990, #12 Butler in 2003 and #13 Morehead State in 2011); Miami (#11 Loyola of Chicago in 2018); North Carolina (#9 Penn in 1979, #14 Weber State in 1999 and #11 George Mason in 2006); North Carolina State (#14 Murray State in 1988); Notre Dame (#14 UALR in 1986, #11 Winthrop in 2007 and #11 Old Dominion in 2010); Pittsburgh (#10 Kent State in 2002, #13 Bradley in 2006 and #8 Butler in 2011); Syracuse (#7 Navy in 1986, #11 Rhode Island in 1988, #15 Richmond in 1991, #13 Vermont in 2005 and #11 Dayton in 2014); Virginia (#12 Wyoming in 1987, #12 Gonzaga in 2001 and #16 UMBC in 2018); Wake Forest (#13 Cleveland State in 2009)
BIG EAST/including AAC members UC and UConn from previous league configuration (20) - Cincinnati (lost to #12 Harvard in 2014 and #7 Nevada in 2018); Connecticut (#11 George Mason in 2006 and #13 San Diego in 2008); Creighton (#11 Rhode Island in 2017); DePaul (#12 New Mexico State in 1992); Georgetown (#10 Davidson in 2008, #14 Ohio University in 2010, #11 Virginia Commonwealth in 2011 and #15 Florida Gulf Coast in 2013); Marquette (#12 Tulsa in 2002 and #12 Murray State in 2019); Providence (#12 Pacific in 2004 and #11 Dayton in 2015); St. John's (#10 Gonzaga in 2000 and #11 Gonzaga in 2011); Seton Hall (#7 Western Kentucky in 1993 and #11 Gonzaga in 2016); Villanova (#14 Old Dominion in 1995 and #10 Saint Mary's in 2010)
BIG TEN (28) - Illinois (lost to #14 Austin Peay State in 1987, #12 Dayton in 1990, #14 Chattanooga in 1997 and #12 Western Kentucky in 2009); Indiana (#14 Cleveland State in 1986, #13 Richmond in 1988, #11 Pepperdine in 2000 and #13 Kent State in 2001); Iowa (#14 Northwestern State in 2006); Maryland (#12 College of Charleston in 1997); Michigan (#11 Loyola Marymount in 1990 and #13 Ohio University in 2012); Michigan State (#14 Weber State in 1995, #11 George Mason in 2006 and #15 Middle Tennessee State in 2016); Minnesota (#12 Middle Tennessee State in 2017); Nebraska (#14 Xavier in 1991 and #11 Penn in 1994); Ohio State (#12 Utah State in 2001, #9 Wichita State in 2013 and #11 Dayton in 2014); Purdue (#11 Virginia Commonwealth in 2011 and #12 UALR in 2016); Wisconsin (#12 Southwest Missouri State in 1999, #11 Georgia State in 2001, #7 UNLV in 2007, #10 Davidson in 2008 and #12 Cornell in 2010)
BIG 12 (25) - Baylor (lost to #14 Georgia State in 2015 and #12 Yale in 2016); Iowa State (#15 Hampton in 2001 and #14 UAB in 2015); Kansas (#9 Texas-El Paso in 1992, #8 Rhode Island in 1998, #14 Bucknell in 2005, #13 Bradley in 2006, #9 Northern Iowa in 2010, #11 Virginia Commonwealth in 2011 and #7 Wichita State in 2015); Kansas State (#11 Tulane in 1993, #13 La Salle in 2013 and #13 UC Irvine in 2019); Oklahoma (#13 Southwestern Louisiana in 1992, #13 Manhattan in 1995, #13 Indiana State in 2001, #11 Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2006 and #12 North Dakota State in 2014); Oklahoma State (#12 Princeton in 1983, #10 Temple in 1991 and #12 Tulsa in 1994); Texas (#11 Northern Iowa in 2016); Texas Tech (#11 Southern Illinois in 2002); West Virginia (#14 Stephen F. Austin in 2016)
PACIFIC-12 (21) - Arizona (lost to #14 East Tennessee State in 1992, #15 Santa Clara in 1993, #12 Miami of Ohio in 1995, #11 Wichita State in 2016 and #13 Buffalo in 2018); California (#12 Wisconsin-Green Bay in 1994 and #13 Hawaii in 2016); Oregon State (#10 Lamar in 1980, #11 Evansville in 1989 and #12 Ball State in 1990); Southern California (#13 UNC Wilmington in 2002); Stanford (#14 Siena in 1989 and #10 Gonzaga in 1999); UCLA (#12 Wyoming in 1987, #13 Penn State in 1991, #12 Tulsa in 1994, #13 Princeton in 1996 and #12 Detroit in 1999); Utah (#10 Miami of Ohio in 1999 and #11 Gonzaga in 2016); Washington State (#12 Penn in 1980)
SEC (32) - Alabama (lost to #11 Lamar in 1983, #11 South Alabama in 1989, #10 Kent State in 2002 and #12 Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2005); Auburn (#12 Richmond in 1984); Florida (#12 Creighton in 2002, #12 Manhattan in 2003 and #8 Butler in 2011); Georgia (#14 Chattanooga in 1997 and #11 Southern Illinois in 2002); Kentucky (#7 UAB in 1981, #11 Middle Tennessee State in 1982 and #9 UAB in 2004); Louisiana State (#13 Navy in 1985 and #11 UAB in 2005); Mississippi (#13 Valparaiso in 1998); Mississippi State (#12 Eastern Michigan in 1991, #12 Butler in 2003, #7 Xavier in 2004 and #12 Liberty in 2019); Missouri (#13 Xavier in 1987, #11 Rhode Island in 1988, #14 Northern Iowa in 1990 and #15 Norfolk State in 2012); South Carolina (#15 Coppin State in 1997 and #14 Richmond in 1998); Tennessee (#12 Southwest Missouri State in 1999, #7 Wichita State in 2006 and #11 Tennessee in 2018); Vanderbilt (#13 Siena in 2008, #13 Murray State in 2010 and #12 Richmond in 2011)
NOTES: Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State were members of the Big Eight until 1997. Mizzou left the Big 12 for SEC in 2013. . . . Notre Dame was an independent in 1986. . . . Florida State, Louisville and Tulane were members of the Metro Conference in 1989, 1990 and 1993, respectively. . . . Butler was a member of the Horizon League in 2003 and 2011. . . . Dayton was a member of the Midwestern Collegiate in 1990. . . . DePaul was a member of the Great Midwest in 1992. . . . Texas-El Paso and Utah were members of the WAC in 1992 and 1999, respectively. . . . Marquette and Louisville were members of Conference USA in 2002 and 2004, respectively. . . . Tulsa was a member of Missouri Valley in 1994 and 2002. . . . Xavier was a member of Midwestern Collegiate in 1987 and 1991 and Atlantic 10 in 2004. . . . Boston College was a member of the Big East in 2005. . . . Defeats for Maryland (ACC), Louisville (Big East), Pittsburgh (Big East) and Syracuse (Big East) came when they were members of another power league.
False Starts: St. John's & Temple Again Lose Opening Game in NCAA Playoffs
North Carolina A&T State appeared in the NCAA playoffs the most times (nine) without winning a tournament game until prevailing in a First Four outing earlier this decade. But N.C. A&T still has a long way to go to join the ranks of "quick-exit" schools such as St. John's and Temple. This season, the Johnnies exhibited all the frailty of a club completely unworthy of an at-large berth.
Connecticut, after absorbing nine opening-round losses in 17 years from 1951 through 1967, had the most opening-round setbacks for an extended period. But the Huskies didn't incur an opening-round reversal for 28 years until suffering two in a recent five-year span. Similarly, St. John's suffered eight opening-round losses in a 20-year stretch from 1973 through 1992.
Maryland was the first school to incur at least 10 NCAA Tournament defeats but never absorb an opening-round setback until the Terrapins lost to Santa Clara in 1996. Mizzou's mauling by a mediocre Florida State squad, six years after bowing against Norfolk State despite being favored by more than 20 points, left the Tigers among the five schools most prone to sustaining an opening-round NCAA tourney defeat:
School (Playoff Losses) NCAA Tournament Opening-Round Defeats Brigham Young (32) 19 (1950-57-65-69-72-79-80-87-90-92-95-01-03-04-07-08-09-14-15) Princeton (29) 17 (1952-55-60-63-69-76-77-81-89-90-91-92-97-01-04-11-17) Utah State (21) 17 (1939-63-71-75-79-80-83-88-98-00-03-05-06-09-10-11-19) Temple (33) 16 (1944-64-67-70-72-79-90-92-95-98-08-09-10-12-16-19) Missouri (27) 15 (1944-78-81-83-86-87-88-90-93-99-00-11-12-13-18) St. John's (32) 15 (1961-68-73-76-77-78-80-84-88-92-98-02-11-15-19) West Virginia (27) 14 (1955-56-57-58-62-65-67-83-86-87-92-09-12-16)
College Exam: Day #5 of One-and-Only NCAA Tournament Trivia Challenge
Emphasizing a "one-and-only" theme for a "one-and-only" event, here is Day 5 of a treasure-trove of tantalizing NCAA Tournament trivia questions from CollegeHoopedia.com (10 per day from Selection Sunday through the championship game) tracking the only coach, conference, player or school to be linked to a distinguished or dubious achievement (click here for answers or conduct research digesting historical morsels in CollegeHoopedia's year-by-year highlights):
1. Who is the only player to score more than 30,000 points in his pro career after never appearing in NCAA playoffs? Hint: He is the only former major-college player to become NBA Most Valuable Player after failing to participate in NCAA Tournament. He was 0-2 in the NIT, where he lost his final college game by 41 points, before leaving college for the pros with one season of eligibility remaining.
2. Who is the only person to play for an NBA championship team before coaching an NCAA titlist? Hint: He was a backup to an NBA all-time great after being the leading scorer and rebounder for a team winning an NIT crown.
3. Who became an NCAA playoff coach after being the only player in history to participate with two different schools in the NCAA championship game? Hint: One of the teams he played for was undefeated. He coached two different schools in the tourney.
4. Who is the only coach to engineer a turnaround featuring an NCAA playoff appearance in his first full season at a new job although the school compiled a record of more than 20 games below .500 the previous year? Hint: It was his only year as coach at the school.
5. Name the only mid-major conference to have two different members reach a regional semifinal as at-large teams in the same year, beating opponents from the Big East, Big 12 and SEC in the process. Hint: Two other members of the same league achieved the feat in the previous seven years. Only two of its current members haven't won playoff games when seeded five or more places worse than a major university currently a member of one of the current consensus top six leagues since seeding started in 1979.
6. Name the only former NCAA Tournament champion not to win at least one playoff game since capturing the title. Hint: It's the first NCAA champion to have black players in its starting lineup and is the only school to win the NCAA playoffs and NIT in the same year. The school is also the only former major college to win a Division I Tournament championship.
7. Name the school with the most playoff games decided by one or two points (four) on its way to a championship. Hint: It was the first school to need six victories to claim the national crown and is the only school to have two different coaches capture a national championship after compiling a losing record in their first seasons as a major-college head coach.
8. Who is the only coach to win his first 12 tournament games decided in overtime or by fewer than six points in regulation? Hint: His first of three NCAA championship game teams had four players become NBA first-round draft choices.
9. Name the only state to have more than six different schools reach the Final Four. Hint: The state went 31 years between its two national championships.
10. Name the only person to coach two different universities in back-to-back years when each school made its initial playoff appearance. Hint: He reached the national championship game with one of the schools.
Fantastic Four: Fran Dunphy Retires in Exclusive Company Among DI Coaches
Fran Dunphy had had only one Top 20 team in 30 seasons of coaching (Temple in 2009-10), but he finished his career in exclusive company upon stepping aside for former Owls player Aaron McKie following this campaign. Dunphy, who was bench boss for Penn 17 years prior to joining the Owls, is one of only four Division I mentors compiling more than 200 victories and at least seven NCAA Tournament appearances with two different universities.
"I've just been coaching a long time," said a modest Dunphy, who fell short of joining Roy Williams as the only coaches with 300 triumphs for two DI schools. Following is an alphabetical list of Dunphy, Williams and the two other coaches (Lou Henson and Eddie Sutton) in this select circle (Rick Pitino made six straight NCAA playoff appearances with Kentucky in the mid-1990s and John Calipari appeared in six NCAA tourneys with Memphis in the previous decade):
| Coach | Subject Seasons | Two Different Schools With More Than 200 Victories (Minimum of Seven NCAA Playoff Appearances) |
|---|---|---|
| Fran Dunphy | 30 (1989-90 through 2018-19) | Penn (1993-94-95-99 and 2000-02-03-05-06)/Temple (2008-09-10-11-12-13-16-19) |
| Lou Henson | 38 (1966-67 through 1995-96, 1997-98 through 1999-00 and 2000-01 through 2004-05) | New Mexico State (1967-68-69-70-71-75-99)/Illinois (1981-83-84-85-86-87-88-89-90-93-94-95) |
| Eddie Sutton | 27 (1974-75 through 1984-85 and 1990-91 through 2005-06) | Arkansas (1977-78-79-80-81-82-83-84-85)/Oklahoma State (1991-92-93-94-95-98-99 and 2000-01-02-03-04-05) |
| Roy Williams | 31 (1988-89 through 2018-19) | Kansas (1990-91-92-93-94-95-96-97-98-99 and 2000-01-02-03)/North Carolina (2004-05-06-07-08-09-11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19) |
NOTE: Henson (Hardin-Simmons), Pitino (Hawaii, Boston University and Providence) and Sutton (Creighton, Kentucky and San Francisco) also coached other colleges.
Ex-Dead Teams Walking: Colgate and Brown Finally Reach 20-Victory Plateau
Colgate (24-10), after posting only four winning records in previous 23 seasons, set a school record for most victories in a single season. It was the first time the school ever reached the 20-win plateau. After Colgate shed a big blemish on its hoops resume, it appears Brown would become the only long-time NCAA Division I institution never to be part of a 20-win season at the major-college level. But the Bears concluded the campaign with a 20-11 worksheet. After being mired in mediocrity for so long, kudos to Colgate and Brown for leaving their status as the only universities never to post a 20-win campaign despite participating at the NCAA DI level more than 60 years.
Bottom of Barrel: Five Schools Remain Winless in > Six NCAA Playoff Games
"No, you never get any fun out of the things you haven't done." - Ogden Nash
Nobody said it was going to be easy for Belmont as the Nashville-based school sang the blues losing its first seven NCAA playoff games before posting first-ever tourney victory in First Four competition. But the preceding quote definitely still rings true for the following five universities competing in NCAA playoffs the most but still possessing a defect because they are winless:
0-8 - Eastern Kentucky
0-7 - Boise State, Long Island, Louisiana-Monroe and Nebraska
College Exam: Day #4 of One-and-Only NCAA Tournament Trivia Challenge
Emphasizing a "one-and-only" theme for a "one-and-only" event, here is Day 4 of a treasure-trove of tantalizing NCAA Tournament trivia questions from CollegeHoopedia.com (10 per day from Selection Sunday through the championship game) tracking the only coach, conference, player or school to be linked to a distinguished or dubious achievement (click here for answers or conduct research digesting historical morsels in CollegeHoopedia's year-by-year highlights):
1. Name the only conference to have five different members win the national championship although it has only one title in the previous 24 years. Hint: One of the five members to capture a title didn't participate in the NCAA playoffs from 1948 through 1993. The league came within eight points of going 0-11 in the tournament in 1995 and 1996.
2. Name the only conference to have all of its current members win at least one NCAA Tournament game in the 1990s. Hint: It's the only league to have all of its current members participate in at least 10 NCAA playoff games.
3. Who is the only coach to have more than 15 of his teams appear in the playoffs but none reach the Final Four? Hint: He has the worst record in NCAA Tournament history for any coach with at least 25 decisions and was also 1-5 in the NIT. He has more victories as a pitcher in the College World Series for his alma mater than basketball Final Four appearances. He is the only coach with more than 700 victories never to advance to the national semifinals.
4. Who is the only retired major college coach with more than 700 victories never to reach Final Four? Hint: He is the only coach to go at least 20 years between NCAA Tournament appearances with same school.
5. Who is the only coach to leave an NCAA champion before the next season for another coaching job? Hint: He is the only coach to earn a trip to the Final Four in his first college season despite finishing the season with at least 10 defeats. He is also the only coach to reach the NCAA final after finishing fourth or lower in regular-season conference standings. Moreover, he is one of just two coaches, both were also NBA head coaches, to take two different schools to the NCAA playoff championship game.
6. Who is the only coach to direct teams to the NCAA Final Four and the NBA Finals and compile a winning NCAA playoff career record? Hint: His son coached at three Division I schools, taking two of them to the NCAA playoffs.
7. Name the only school to become NCAA champion despite losing five home games during the regular season. Hint: The school didn't participate in nine consecutive NCAA Tournaments and twice in a four-year span in the mid-1970s lost a first-round game after reaching the national final the previous season.
8. Name the only coach of an NCAA titlist to previously play major league baseball. Hint: The Hall of Famer's 18-year college head coaching career was all at one university.
9. Who is the only coach to compile NCAA playoff records at least three games above .500 at two different schools (minimum of five victories at each school) before Rick Pitino arrived at Louisville? Hint: The coach earned a doctorate.
10. Name the only school to have six different coaches take the university to the Final Four. Hint: Of the schools winning at least two national championships, it's the only one in the select group to go more than 25 years between titles.
Personal Items: Did You Knows Regarding 2019 NCAA Tournament Coaches
There is a tendency to overindulge at an all-you-can-eat buffet. Anyone digesting the following assortment of incisive facts on most of the NCAA Division I Tournament coaches should find that variety is the spice of this occasionally irreverent smorgasbord. Remember: If a morsel isn't appetizing, don't be a glutton for punishment in trying to comprehend what makes the coaching community tick. Just proceed directly to the next tidbit. Sooner or later, there's bound to be a factoid that you can savor.
ABILENE CHRISTIAN: Joe Golding served as an assistant coach with two junior colleges before returning to his alma mater ACU in the same capacity.
ARIZONA STATE: Bobby Hurley appeared in the 1994 feature film Blue Chips, where he played for the Indiana team under coach Bob Knight.
AUBURN: As an undergraduate at Boston College, Bruce Pearl was Tom Davis' administrative assistant before serving as an assistant coach under Davis at Stanford and Iowa.
BAYLOR: Scott Drew served as coach of an Athletes In Action (AIA) squad that toured Croatia and Bosnia in the summer of 1997.
BELMONT: Rick Byrd was a student assistant coach at Tennessee under the legendary Ray Mears.
BRADLEY: Two-time C-USA all-league selection Brian Wardle scored all of Marquette's first-half points (17) on 2-16-00 when it trailed DePaul, 27-17.
BUFFALO: Detroit-area prep coach Nate Oats joined Bobby Hurley's staff directly with junior college recruit Justin Moss in 2013 before Moss became Mid-American Conference Player of the Year the next season and one year before center Raheem Johnson aligned with the Bulls as another J.C. signee. Moss and Johnson played under Oats at Romulus H.S.
UC IRVINE: Russell Turner played under recently-dismissed William & Mary coach Tony Shaver with Hampden-Sydney (Va.).
CINCINNATI: Mick Cronin's father, Harold "Hep" Cronin, compiled more than 400 victories as a high school coach in the greater Cincinnati area.
COLGATE: Matt Langel played under retiring coach Fran Dunphy at Penn before serving as an assistant coach under him at Penn and Temple.
DUKE: Mike Krzyzewski was an assistant with Dave Bliss, Bob Donewald and Bob Weltlich on Indiana coach Bob Knight's staff in 1974-75. Krzyzewski had the worst three-year record for the Blue Devils (38-47 from 1980-81 through 1982-83) since George Buckheit went 16-30 from 1924-25 through 1926-27.
FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON: Greg Herenda holds the Merrimack (Mass.) record for assists in a game (22) and shares the standard for single-season average (9.0).
FLORIDA: Mike White's wife, Kira, was an All-SEC volleyball player for Ole Miss. His father, Kevin, is Director of Athletics at Duke.
FLORIDA STATE: Leonard Hamilton, who set a school record by scoring 54 points for Gastonia (N.C.) Community College before attending Tennessee-Martin, was hired by Wilmington, N.C., native Michael Jordan to coach the Washington Wizards in 2000-01. Hamilton's nine-victory increase in Big East competition with Miami (Fla.) from 1994 to 1995 is the largest in conference history.
GARDNER-WEBB: Tim Craft directed the Runnin' Bulldogs to non-league road victories in the last five seasons against three ACC members (Clemson, Georgia Tech and Wake Forest) plus two Big Ten teams (Nebraska and Purdue).
GEORGIA STATE: One of Ron Hunter's teammates at Miami (Ohio) during three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances from 1984 through 1986 was NBA standout Ron Harper. Hunter hit all six of his field-goal attempts while Harper went 7 of 22 in their final college game, an 81-79 overtime loss to Iowa State in the first round of the 1986 Midwest Regional. Hunter gained national notoriety for coaching barefoot during games to raise awareness of children who do not have shoes. With Samaritan's Feet, Hunter helped raise more than 250,000 pairs of shoes and made deliveries to Peru, Costa Roca and South Africa.
GONZAGA: Mark Few never was a head coach at any level before inheriting that position after Dan Monson departed for Minnesota. Few was an assistant for two different Oregon high schools before becoming an aide with the Zags under Dan Fitzgerald and Monson. Few's wedding vows in 1994 were exchanged with Rev. Norm Few, the father of the groom.
HOUSTON: Kelvin Sampson was a three-year baseball letterman at Pembroke (N.C.) State.
IONA: Tim Cluess was a part-time caterer for a Holiday Inn while coaching at the small-college level with C.W. Post. Cluess and his three older brothers (Hank, Greg and Kevin) all played for St. John's.
IOWA: Fran McCaffery is believed to have been the youngest coach (28 years old) ever to take a team to the NCAA Tournament when he directed Lehigh to the 1988 playoffs. His wife, the former Margaret Nowlin, ranks among the top 10 scorers in Notre Dame history. She was the catalyst behind the first-ever NCAA women's appearance by the Irish in 1992 and was named MVP of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference Tournament that year. Margaret served as an assistant coach at her alma mater in 1996-97.
IOWA STATE: Steve Prohm began college at Division III Oglethorpe in Atlanta before promptly transferring to Alabama, where he worked as student manager.
KANSAS: Bill Self served as an assistant on the Big Eight Conference coaching staffs of Larry Brown (Kansas) and Eddie Sutton (Oklahoma State). Self, an Oklahoma State alumnus, played in the Big Eight against Maryland coach Mark Turgeon (Kansas) and top two NBA draft picks Steve Stipanovich (2nd selection overall in 1983/attended Missouri), Wayman Tisdale (2nd in 1985/Oklahoma) and Danny Manning (1st in 1988/Kansas). Self, Oklahoma's High School Player of the Year over Tisdale in 1980-81, directed Oral Roberts to the nation's best winning percentage among independent schools in 1996 (18-9) and 1997 (21-7).
KANSAS STATE: Bruce Weber served as a high school assistant coach in Milwaukee three years during his college days. He has two brothers who are high school coaches (Ron in northern Wisconsin and David in the Chicago area).
KENTUCKY: John Calipari lettered two years for UNC-Wilmington before transferring to Clarion (Pa.) State.
LIBERTY: Ritchie McKay's brother, Orlando, caught 13 touchdown passes for the University of Washington from 1989 through 1991 (shared NCAA national title with Miami FL as senior) before becoming a fifth-round selection in 1992 NFL draft by the Green Bay Packers. Their father, Joe, averaged 11.9 points per game for New Mexico from 1960-61 through 1962-63.
LOUISIANA STATE: MIA Will Wade began his career as a student manager for Clemson.
LOUISVILLE: Chris Mack played for Athletes in Action in 1993 and in Europe in 1994. His wife, Christi, was Director of Basketball Operations for women's basketball team with Xavier from 2001 through 2003.
MARQUETTE: Steve Wojciechowski played professional basketball in Poland for one season after finishing among Duke's top 10 career leaders in assists and steals.
MARYLAND: Mark Turgeon became the first Kansas player ever to play in four consecutive NCAA Tournaments (1984 through 1987), played in the Big Eight Conference against Illinois counterpart Bill Self (Oklahoma State). Turgeon was an assistant with Jerry Green, Steve Robinson and Kevin Stallings during coach Roy Williams' first four seasons with the Jayhawks from 1988-89 through 1991-92.
MICHIGAN: John Beilein is the only active mentor in the country to register 20-win seasons at the junior college, NAIA, NCAA Division II and NCAA Division I levels. A 22-7 record in 1993-94 in his second year at the major-college level with Canisius was the winningest in school history and came just two seasons after the Golden Griffins suffered an all-time high in losses (8-22 mark in 1991-92). His uncle, Joe Niland, coached Canisius for five seasons from 1948-49 through 1952-53. They are relatives of soldiers that inspired the best-selling book "Band of Brothers" and Oscar Award-winning movie "Saving Private Ryan."
MICHIGAN STATE: Tom Izzo was a teammate in high school (Iron Mountain, Mich.) and college (Northern Michigan) of former Detroit Lions coach Steve Mariucci. Izzo, a running back, and Mariucci, a quarterback, were the best men in each others' weddings.
MINNESOTA: Richard Pitino was manager of Providence's team under coach Tim Welsh.
MISSISSIPPI: The father of Kermit Davis Jr. directed Mississippi State to a 91-91 record in seven seasons from 1970-71 through 1976-77.
MISSISSIPPI STATE: Ben Howland's wife, Kim, is a former Weber State cheerleader. He was an assistant for Gonzaga in 1981-82 when future NBA assists king John Stockton was a sophomore with the Zags. "I played against him every day because our backup point guard quit," Howland said. "You didn't realize at the time how special it was until you look back and say, `Yeah, I used to get my butt kicked every day by the greatest point guard ever.'"
MONTANA: Travis DeCuire played for Chaminade (Hawaii) in 1990-91 before transferring to Montana.
MURRAY STATE: Matt McMahon played under Buzz Peterson at Appalachian State before serving as an assistant coach under him for a couple of universities (Tennessee and UNC Wilmington). His wife, Mary, played basketball for Furman.
NEVADA: Among Eric Musselman's teammates at San Diego was Mike Whitmarsh, who won a silver medal in beach volleyball at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
NEW MEXICO STATE: Chris Jans was head coach for three different junior colleges. Despite directing Bowling Green to a 20-win campaign on the heels of a 20-loss season, he was fired after one year with the Falcons after being caught on video drunk in a campus bar making inappropriate comments towards a young woman.
NORTH CAROLINA: Roy Williams' son, Scott, was a backup guard with the Tar Heels.
NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL: LeVelle Moton, known as "Poetry 'n Moton" when he played for NCCU in the mid-1990s, played four years professionally in Indonesia and Israel.
NORTH DAKOTA STATE: David Richman was the nation's winningest first-year coach at the NCAA Division I level with a 23-10 record in 2014-15.
NORTHEASTERN: Bill Coen spent three years working in the computer software industry before accepting his first coaching position. Coen played and coached under Tom Murphy, who won more than 600 games for Hamilton (N.Y.) College before becoming an assistant under his protege.
NORTHERN KENTUCKY: John Brannen led Marshall in scoring in 1996-97 when he was Southern Conference Tournament MVP.
OHIO STATE: One of Chris Holtmann's teammates with Taylor (Ind.) was Akron coach John Groce.
OKLAHOMA: Lon Kruger was selected in 12th round of 1970 MLB draft by the Houston Astros out of high school and in 21st round of 1974 MLB draft by the St. Louis Cardinals after graduating from Kansas State. He compiled a 1-6 pitching record in summer of '74 for St. Petersburg in Florida State League (Class A).
OLD DOMINION: Virginia's 1992 NIT title enabled Jeff Jones to become the only person to win NIT crowns as a player (Virginia guard in 1980) and as a coach. His father, Bob Jones, had been coach of Kentucky Wesleyan when it won the 1973 NCAA Division II championship. Jeff became the youngest head coach in ACC history (29) when he was appointed to the Cavaliers' position on April 16, 1990. He guided them to the nation's best start in 1992-93 (won first 11 outings) before they split their last 20 assignments.
OREGON: Dana Altman was the only coach in Creighton history to participate in at least five consecutive national postseason tournaments. The Bluejays appeared in either the NCAA playoffs or NIT in 12 consecutive years from 1998 through 2009.
PRAIRIE VIEW: Juco recruit Byron Smith was an All-SWC second-team selection with Houston as a junior and senior in the early 1990s before returning to his alma mater as an assistant coach under Clyde Drexler.
PURDUE: Matt Painter's father attended Big Ten Conference rival Indiana.
ST. JOHN'S: Chris Mullin, leading scorer for St. John's 1985 Final Four team as a senior, averaged 20.7 ppg, 4.3 rpg and 3.9 apg in 10 NCAA playoff games.
SAINT LOUIS: Travis Ford worked for a brokerage firm in Bowling Green, Ky., following his playing career with Kentucky after transferring from Missouri. His wife, Heather, was swimmer for the Wildcats. Ford's playing days ended in training camp with the Golden State Warriors, but his time in California landed him the role of Danny O'Grady in the movie "The Sixth Man."
SAINT MARY'S: Randy Bennett played for his father, Tom, at Mesa Community College before attending UC San Diego. At Mesa, Bennett helped his team to a 56-10 record and two Arizona J.C. championships.
SETON HALL: Kevin Willard played for his father, Ralph, at Western Kentucky and Pittsburgh. Kevin went on to become a coaching intern with the Boston Celtics under Rick Pitino, who was Kentucky's coach in 1989-90 when Ralph was an assistant there with Billy Donovan, Herb Sendek and Tubby Smith.
SYRACUSE: Jim Boeheim, an avid golfer, served as varsity golf coach for the Orange from 1967 until the program disbanded in 1973. He was an assistant basketball coach under Roy Danforth during that period. Boeheim, a three-year teammate of Syracuse All-American Dave Bing in the mid-1960s, played in the CBA for the Scranton Miners. Boeheim made 13-of-19 field-goal attempts (68.4%) in two 1966 NCAA playoff games for East Regional runner-up. On five occasions (1977-84-96-01-03), Boeheim guided the Orangemen to the Top 20 in a final AP poll after they were not ranked that high in the preseason.
TEMPLE: Fran Dunphy, in his first varsity start for La Salle, held Niagara's Calvin Murphy to eight field goals after Murphy averaged 38.2 points per game the previous season in 1967-68. Dunphy ended his college career in 1969-70 with a career-high 29 points against Miami (Fla.).
TENNESSEE: Texas' turnaround in 1998-99 (19-13 record after going 14-17 in 1997-98 under Tom Penders) enabled Rick Barnes to become the only active coach to take two different schools to the NCAA playoffs in his maiden voyage with them after they posted a losing mark the previous campaign. He previously achieved the feat with Providence in the late 1980s. Barnes posted the nation's best winning percentage by a first-year major college head coach in 1987-88 when he went 20-10 (.667) in his lone season with George Mason.
UTAH STATE: Craig Smith served as an assistant under Tim Miles at four colleges (Mayville State, North Dakota State, Colorado State and Nebraska).
VERMONT: John Becker coached two seasons at Gallaudet, the country's only four-year liberal arts college for the deaf and hearing impaired.
VILLANOVA: Jay Wright worked as an administrative assistant with the Philadelphia Stars football franchise, which captured the 1983 United States Football League championship. He married a former Villanova cheerleader.
VIRGINIA: Tony Bennett is the son of former DI coach Dick Bennett and brother of women's coach Kathi Bennett.
VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH: Mike Rhoades led Lebanon Valley (Pa.) to 1994 NCAA Division title and graduated as the college's all-time leading scorer.
VIRGINIA TECH: Brent "Buzz" Williams received his nickname while attending Navarro College, where he "buzzed" around the junior college basketball team so often the coach issued him the moniker.
WASHINGTON: Mike Hopkins, a high school teammate of LeRon Ellis in Santa Ana, Calif., in the late 1980s, was instrumental in convincing Ellis to transfer from Kentucky to join him at Syracuse.
WISCONSIN: Greg Gard served as an assistant coach under Bo Ryan at three colleges (Wisconsin-Platteville, UW-Milwaukee and the Badgers).
WOFFORD: Mike Young directed the Terriers to road victories at North Carolina and South Carolina in the last two seasons.
YALE: James Jones has a brother, Joe, who was an assistant coach at Villanova before becoming bench boss at another Ivy League member (Columbia).
Stars Burn Out: Premier Programs Missing in Action From NCAA Playoffs
At least 10 of the 37 schools appearing in excess of 50 NCAA playoff games failed to participate in the tourney each year since the field expanded to at least 64 teams in 1985, including 15 former Final Four schools this season. Fifteen is the average number of schools in this category over the last six years.
Nearly half of the "star schools" stayed home in 2004, including Houston when the Cougars were in the midst of a 17-year drought from 1993 through 2009. Following is a chronological list of big-name universities who were tourney outcasts since 1985:
1985 (14) - Cincinnati, Connecticut, Florida, Houston, Indiana, Kansas State, Louisville, Marquette, Oklahoma State, Texas, UCLA, Utah, Wake Forest, West Virginia
1986 (12) - Arkansas, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Florida, Houston, Kansas State, Marquette, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Texas, UCLA, Wake Forest
1987 (13) - Arkansas, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Louisville, Marquette, Maryland, Memphis State, Michigan State, Oklahoma State, Texas, Utah, Villanova, Wake Forest
1988 (12) - Cincinnati, Connecticut, Houston, Marquette, Michigan State, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Texas, UCLA, Utah, Wake Forest, West Virginia
1989 (15) - Cincinnati, Connecticut, Houston, Kansas, Kentucky, Marquette, Maryland, Michigan State, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Purdue, St. John's, Temple, Utah, Wake Forest
1990 (12) - Cincinnati, Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Marquette, Maryland, Memphis State, North Carolina State, Oklahoma State, Utah, Wake Forest, West Virginia
1991 (14) - Cincinnati, Florida, Illinois, Houston, Kansas State, Kentucky, Louisville, Marquette, Maryland, Memphis State, Michigan, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, West Virginia
1992 (11) - Florida, Illinois, Kansas State, Marquette, Maryland, North Carolina State, Notre Dame, Purdue, UNLV, Utah, Villanova
1993 (15) - Connecticut, Florida, Georgetown, Houston, Maryland, Michigan State, North Carolina State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Syracuse, Texas, UNLV, Villanova, West Virginia
1994 (13) - Houston, Iowa, Kansas State, Memphis, North Carolina State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, St. John's, UNLV, Utah, Villanova, West Virginia
1995 (11) - Duke, Houston, Iowa, Kansas State, Marquette, North Carolina State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, St. John's, UNLV, West Virginia
1996 (11) - Florida, Houston, Illinois, Michigan State, North Carolina State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, St. John's, UNLV, West Virginia
1997 (16) - Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Houston, Kansas State, Memphis, Michigan, Michigan State, North Carolina State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, St. John's, Syracuse, UNLV, West Virginia
1998 (14) - Florida, Georgetown, Houston, Iowa, Kansas State, Louisville, Marquette, Memphis, North Carolina State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Texas, Villanova, Wake Forest
1999 (12) - Georgetown, Houston, Illinois, Kansas State, Marquette, Memphis, Michigan, North Carolina State, Notre Dame, UNLV, Wake Forest, West Virginia
2000 (12) - Georgetown, Houston, Iowa, Kansas State, Marquette, Memphis, Michigan, North Carolina State, Notre Dame, Villanova, Wake Forest, West Virginia
2001 (14) - Connecticut, Houston, Kansas State, Louisville, Marquette, Memphis, Michigan, North Carolina State, Purdue, St. John's, UNLV, Utah, Villanova, West Virginia
2002 (15) - Arkansas, Georgetown, Houston, Iowa, Kansas State, Louisville, Memphis, Michigan, North Carolina, Purdue, Syracuse, Temple, UNLV, Villanova, West Virginia
2003 (14) - Arkansas, Georgetown, Houston, Iowa, Kansas State, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio State, St. John's, Temple, UCLA, UNLV, Villanova, West Virginia
2004 (18) - Arkansas, Georgetown, Houston, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas State, Marquette, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Purdue, St. John's, Temple, UCLA, UNLV, Villanova, West Virginia
2005 (15) - Arkansas, Georgetown, Houston, Indiana, Kansas State, Marquette, Maryland, Memphis, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Purdue, St. John's, Temple, UNLV
2006 (14) - Cincinnati, Houston, Kansas State, Louisville, Maryland, Michigan, Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, Purdue, St. John's, Temple, UNLV, Utah, Wake Forest
2007 (15) - Cincinnati, Connecticut, Houston, Iowa, Kansas State, Michigan, North Carolina State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, St. John's, Syracuse, Temple, Utah, Wake Forest, West Virginia
2008 (14) - Cincinnati, Florida, Houston, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina State, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, St. John's, Syracuse, Utah, Wake Forest
2009 (13) - Arkansas, Cincinnati, Florida, Georgetown, Houston, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas State, Kentucky, North Carolina State, Notre Dame, St. John's, UNLV
2010 (15) - Arizona, Arkansas, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Memphis, Michigan, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Oklahoma, St. John's, UCLA, Utah
2011 (10) - Arkansas, Houston, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, North Carolina State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Utah, Wake Forest
2012 (13) - Arizona, Arkansas, Houston, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, St. John's, UCLA, Utah, Villanova, Wake Forest
2013 (11) - Arkansas, Connecticut, Houston, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Purdue, St. John's, Utah, Wake Forest, West Virginia
2014 (15) - Arkansas, Georgetown, Houston, Illinois, Indiana, Marquette, Maryland, Notre Dame, Purdue, St. John's, Temple, UNLV, Utah, Wake Forest, West Virginia
2015 (12) - Connecticut, Florida, Houston, Illinois, Kansas State, Marquette, Memphis, Michigan, Syracuse, Temple, UNLV, Wake Forest
2016 (16) - Arkansas, Florida, Georgetown, Houston, Illinois, Kansas State, Louisville, Marquette, Memphis, North Carolina State, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, St. John's, UCLA, UNLV, Wake Forest
2017 (15) - Connecticut, Georgetown, Houston, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Memphis, North Carolina State, Ohio State, Oklahoma, St. John's, Syracuse, Temple, UNLV, Utah
2018 (16) - Connecticut, Georgetown, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisville, Marquette, Maryland, Memphis, Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, St. John's, Temple, UNLV, Utah, Wake Forest
2019 (15) - Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Georgetown, Illinois, Indiana, Memphis, North Carolina State, Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, UCLA, UNLV, Utah, Wake Forest, West Virginia
College Exam: Day #3 of One-and-Only NCAA Tournament Trivia Challenge
Emphasizing a "one-and-only" theme for a "one-and-only" event, following is Day 3 of a treasure-trove of tantalizing NCAA Tournament trivia questions from CollegeHoopedia.com (10 per day from Selection Sunday through the championship game) tracking the only coach, conference, player or school to be linked to a distinguished or dubious achievement (click here for answers or conduct research digesting historical morsels in CollegeHoopedia's year-by-year highlights):
1. Who is the only coach to lose as many as five games in the 20th Century to teams with double-digit seeds? Hint: Four of the defeats in this category were in consecutive years.
2. Name the only historically black college and university to win multiple NCAA Tournament games. Hint: It posted the first three HBCU victories in the early 1980s.
3. Who was the coach of the only University of Detroit team to win an NCAA playoff game until the Titans defeated St. John's in 1998? Hint: Detroit lost to an in-state rival in a regional semifinal four days after posting its first tournament victory. The coach of that squad is the only Seton Hall graduate to win an NCAA tourney game.
4. Name the only school with more than 30 NCAA Tournament appearances to compile a losing playoff record and never appear in the national championship game. Hint: It's the only school to finish more than 10 seasons ranked in an AP Top 10 since the wire service's first poll in 1949 to never win an NCAA Tournament title.
5. Name the only first-time entrant to be seeded better than fifth since the field expanded to at least 48 teams in 1980. Hint: The school reached the Final Four in its playoff debut.
6. Name the only conference to have three representatives at a single Final Four by winning regional finals against three members from another league. Hint: No player scored more than 20 points in the three Final Four games that year.
7. Who is the only coach with six or more NCAA playoff appearances to reach a regional final every time? Hint: His school is the only one to win back-to-back NCAA championships in its first two appearances in the tournament. His son was coach of a school in the same conference when the institution participated in the tourney for the initial time.
8. Name the only school to win at least one playoff game in a year it entered the tournament with a losing record after suffering 14 consecutive defeats during one stretch of the regular season. Hint: The school participated in the national championship game the previous year and was once runner-up in the NCAA Tournament and NIT in the same season. The school has also won just one playoff game since 1955, the season it finished with its worst overall record in a 53-year span and became only team ever to enter playoffs with a record of more than 10 games under .500.
9. Name the only school to have as many as seven different coaches compile losing NCAA playoff records. Hint: The school is more games under .500 in tournament play than any institution, but pulled off a first-round upset of a defending champion behind a star player who subsequently entered the coaching profession and compiled a 6-3 NCAA Tournament record with another university in the same state from 1989-90 through 1991-92.
10. Name the only school to advance to a regional semifinal in three consecutive campaigns despite having a double-digit seed each year. Hint: The school defeated teams from the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, C-USA, Pacific-10 and SEC during the NCAA playoffs in that span.
Southern Living: #1 Seed Virginia Among Late Arrivals to NCAA Dance Party
Ten power league members always classified as major colleges - with majority of them from the South - finished in the Top 20 of a final wire-service poll at least twice although they didn't make their initial NCAA appearance until after 1970. Virginia, a #1 seed for the second straight season, didn't appear at the NCAA party until the event's 38th year of existence. The Cavaliers probably wish they didn't appear in last year's event after getting upset by UMBC to become the first victim in tourney history of a #16 seed. Among the late-bloomer group, Nebraska is winless in the NCAA playoffs while Florida is a two-time NCAA champion.
Major School (Power League) 1st NCAA Tourney Star Player(s) in Playoff Debut Alabama (SEC) 1975 (0-1) Leon Douglas and T.R. Dunn Auburn (SEC) 1984 (0-1) Charles Barkley and Chuck Person Clemson (ACC) 1980 (3-1) Larry Nance Florida (SEC) 1987 (2-1) Vernon Maxwell and Dwayne Schintzius Georgia (SEC) 1983 (3-1) James Banks, Terry Fair and Vern Fleming Minnesota (Big Ten) 1972 (1-1) Jim Brewer, Clyde Turner and Dave Winfield Nebraska (Big Eight) 1986 (0-1) Brian Carr and Bernard Day Seton Hall (Big East) 1988 (1-1) Mark Bryant and John Morton South Carolina (ACC) 1971 (0-2) Kevin Joyce, Tom Owens, Tom Riker and John Roche Virginia (ACC) 1976 (0-1) Wally Walker **NOTE: Nebraska (Big Ten) and South Carolina (SEC) currently are members of other power conferences.
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