The Best NCAA Teams to never Win a Title (since 1990)

I wanted to do this last night but I had to prep for a job fair with an early date with my pillow. Besides, we'll be busy watching UConn and Butler tonight and wondering if Kemba Walker will add one more token to his legend (which I predict) or America will enjoy their gritty "underdog" making up for coming so close last year.

I'd rather take a quick look at those teams that for some reason never hoisted the title despite all their talent. After watching that Fab 5 documentary, it's clear that their legacy will include never winning an NCAA title but it doesn't overshadow how great they were or how great these teams are. 

Here we go (ranked by yours truly)

1. 1990-91 UNLV (34-1): The defending NCAA champs were better this year than they were in 1990. All 5 starters returned as Larry Johnson was named Nat'l Player of the Year. All-American Stacey Augmon and Greg Anthony would join Johnson as lottery picks that summer. They blew teams out with no mercy and carried a 45-game winning streak into the Final Four against Duke, the same team they blasted by 30 in the 1990 Final.

Watching that HBO doc on UNLV last month, it's chilling how Jerry Tarkanian believed his team would lose because they were overconfident. Sure enough they did as the same Duke team plus some freshman named Grant Hill beat them by 2. It's a fitting tribute that Sporting News still named this team one of the Top 10 of all time.

2. 1998-99 Duke (37-2): This one stings. The team that helped introduce me to Duke as a fan besides Grant Hill. 4 lottery picks, including National POY Elton Brand and Corey Maggette. The reason I even did this blog in the first place. The team that ran through college basketball like nobody's business.

I was all set to celebrate the greatest team since UNLV and Duke in the early 90's. All we had to do was beat UConn and Rip Hamilton. Long story short, I still swear Trajan Langdon was fouled at the end of regulation before his 3-pointer went up. And yeah, I'm bitter but at least it set up the arrival of Jay Williams the next season.

3. 1996-97 Kansas (34-2): I remember this team like yesterday. Everyone I was talking to as a kid said that Kansas was the overwhelming favorite. Jacque Vaughn and Raef Lafrentz were All-Americans, Scot Pollard came off the bench and Paul Pierce was a deadly sophomore wingman. There was no way they weren't going to win at 34-1 and the #1 team in the nation right?

Somebody forgot to tell Mike Bibby and Miles Simon that. Both of them led Arizona into that Sweet Sixteen matchup with Roy Williams' starstudded roster and beat them by 3 en route to the national title. The #1 Team in the nation didn't even reach the Final Four and taught me a valuable lesson - never bet on Kansas to win a big game. 

4. 1992-93 Michigan: Imagine that Chris Webber doesn't call timeout and didn't travel after getting that rebound. This was the best Fab 5 team and by all accounts, they should've beaten North Carolina like they nearly did earlier this season. Maybe they were too emotionally spent after beating Kentucky in the Final Four?

Or maybe they were just outcoached by Dean Smith and didnt have enough defense on Final Four MOP Donald Williams? Either way, Michigan had all the right pieces to win a title and didn't.

5. 1997-98 North Carolina (34-4): Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, Ed Cota (the most underrated PG of the last 15 years), Shammond Williams. I think I was more shocked they made it to the Final Four a year after Dean Smith retired but that team was just loaded. I remember watching that game close cause I had Utah in a tournament pool at my junior high and my mom worked with Andre Miller's mom.

Somehow Utah won that game in a huge upset. But I'm more happy I grew up in the mid-90's/early 2000's where college basketball had dominant teams with guys who stuck around for a few years and got better. Didn't even realize that 98 Carolina team was so loaded until recently.

6. 2005-06 UConn: Senior year of college, me and nearly everyone had UConn winning the tournament. Why not? Rudy Gay, Josh Boone, Hilton Armstrong, Rashad Anderson, Marcus Williams. The #1 overall seed 4 players from that team got drafted. All they had to do was beat this 11 seed in the Elite 8. 

Yeah that 11 seed was George Mason and they didn't back down in one of the best tournament games in a while. I remember freaking out when UConn's Denham Brown's reverse layup sent the game into OT and then driving home from Bible Study pissed that Anderson's game-winning 3 in OT bricked right.

***Special shout out to the 1982-83 Houston squad of Phi Slamma Jama, who would've probably beat NC State if Hakeem Olajuwon boxed out Lorenzo Charles, and the "nonexistent" 2008 Memphis squad who won more games in a season than anybody but couldn't make free throws to win a national title.***

Duke vs. Arizona - Flashback to the Future

Tomorrow night, Duke's gonna face Arizona in the Sweet 16 about an hour away from me. Unless somebody magically gave me $400 and helped with parking, looks like I'll be watching it from the casa. Earlier this week, former Duke guard and ESPN college analyst Jay Williams tweeted this is the first meeting between the schools since the 2001 national title game.

That game was huge for me as a Duke fan because I remember it like yesterday. Arizona ran through the Pac-10 easily and Duke was No. 1 most of the season. That was the team that helped solidify my fandom as I was debating if I'd apply there besides my first love, UCLA.

(Ironically, UCLA lost to Duke that year in the Sweet 16. For a minute, LA was buzzing about UCLA and USC meeting in the Elite 8. Duke ended up beating both of them.)

Shane Battier was a role model to me being a smart, Black athlete who had a lot of stuff said about him that folks said about me growing up. Jay Will was probably the best college point guard I've seen with his mix of IQ, speed and shooting. Course that didn't keep him from being a dummy in the NBA with that motorcycle (tell Kyrie Irving to be extra smart in vehicles!) And Chris Duhon was deadly as a freshman who made that backcourt one of my faves besides Earl Watson and Baron Davis.

When I used to play NBA Live 2000, I had a play called "Duke" where I'd take the PG and have him pull up for a 3 walking up court. They were heavy on the perimeter and between Jay Will, Duhon, Dunleavy and Battier jacking up 3's, it was bombs away all day. Ask Maryland who faced Duke four times that year and lost all 4, two of them in classic fashion.

Maryland had a 10-pt lead with a minute left in Cole Fieldhouse. Jay Will and Battier erased that and sent it to OT for the win. In the Final 4, Maryland was up 22 in the first half and I thought the game was over. Somehow Duke won by 11. The title game was mere formality.

Future pros in this game? Duke had Duhon, Jay, Battier, Mike Dunleavy Jr. and Carlos Boozer. Arizona had Richard Jefferson, Luke Walton, Gilbert Arenas. Surprisingly Loren Woods didn't last long in the pros even though he was a tall force in the paint. That's a star studded lineup of upperclassmen and freshmen we may never see again in a college final.

I remember that game because it was when Mike Dunleavy broke out with 18 2nd-half points to push the victory and the Duke jersey I bought was his #34. I was so hyped when they won that I wore my jersey everywhere I could that spring. And the irony is the best pros from that game ended up being 2nd round picks (Arenas - 2001, Boozer - 2002)

10 years later, we got another rematch. But outside of Nolan Smith and Kyrie Irving, I'm not a fan of too many guys on this team. Kyle Singler's regressed mightily from last year and despite being rated as highly as OJ Mayo, Derrick Rose, Eric Gordon and Kevin Love as a freshman, he'll barely get drafted. The Plumlee Brothers are nice but average swing men. Seth Curry is good and I'm already thinking he and Austin Rivers (Doc's son and the #1 kid in the country) will be nice next year.

I actually like Arizona more as a team. I covered Solomon Hill and Jordin Mayes closely when they went to high school out here. I saw Derrick Williams (above) play in an All-Star Game and show why he'd be a beast at the next level even though I'm shocked at HOW good he is as a future NBA lottery pick. I think Sean Miller's a great young coach. So it's almost like the tables are somewhat turned even though I'm rooting for Duke.

Here's hoping 10 years later we get a great game. And yes, I'll be wearing my jersey for extra luck.

Kiss the Rings - DUKE!

Congrats to the Champs! I've waited nine years to celebrate a title again and it feels sweet watching Duke celebrate.

Now you may wonder why I'm a fan. If you know my fandom - Duke basketball is right up there with UCLA.

It's rare seeing a Black dude openly root for Duke who didn't play on the team - the team epitomized Whiteness and 20 years ago UNLV (with their all-Black swagger) destroyed them. Then in 1991, Duke beat them and the Fab 5, both teams that most Black fans were HUGE fans of because they brought an urban flair to the game.

Throw in the fact that Duke has some of the most hated players in college basketball - Christian Laettner (who I hate), J.J. Redick, Greg Paulus (who I hated from Day 1) - and Duke doesn't tend to recruit great Black players (Nolan Smith was a rare All-American), most fans don't like them.

I'm a big fan of Duke because of the 1998-99 squad - one of the best teams never to win a title. Elton Brand, Will Avery, Corey Maggette, Trajan Langdon and Shane Battier captivated me and I was pissed when they lost to Rip Hamilton and UConn.

I'm a fan because I watched the 2000-01 squad win a title with Battier, Jay Williams, Carlos Boozer, Mike Dunleavy Jr. and Chris Duhon. One of my favorite squads ever (2 Wooden Award winners, 4 in the NBA b/c J. Will - a smart player - screwed up his career on that motorcycle)

I'm a fan because of Grant Hill and Bobby Hurley. Hill's the only Duke player to have a HOF worthy career in the NBA and Hurley was a cold point guard in college. who screwed up his NBA career because he didn't wear a seat belt.

I'm a fan because I seriously considered attending Duke primarily because I loved the basketball team, loved the prestige of the institution. I figured I'd fit in because higher learning was my style - BUT that Carolina weather was a turn off. Plus the year I would've been a senior was the infamous "rape scandal" that shocked the nation and I would've probably been in thick of the furor only to apologize later like I did.

(I wrote a comm paper describing the coverage of the incident - one of the last papers I wrote)

But I love the program. I respect Coach K as one of the game's best mentors. I love the class and grit Duke stands for as well as the great players who came from it.

Jon Scheyer and Kyle Singler plays with toughness and skill and both should be in the NBA at some point. Nolan Smith - who I saw play in HS - has an NCAA title to match his late father who won one at Louisville. And tonight, I'm happy as heck - time to dust off my Mike Dunleavy Jr. jersey.