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.***

There Will Be Madness (Bracketology Fails, Little East and Upsets)

I've been watching March Madness for 16 years and this year's version is one of the wackiest since 2000 when 8 of the top 12 teams (2 No. 1's, 3 No. 2's, 3 No. 3's) were gone after the first weekend and we had two No. 8 seeds in the Final Four. Granted we still have 3 No. 1's and all the No. 2's but here's who's still dancing: No. 11 VCU, No. 11 Marquette, No. 10 Florida State, and No. 12 Richmond.

VCU, a First Four team or Florida State will be an Elite Eight team while higher seeds Notre Dame, Syracuse and Pitt will be watching this weekend's games at home. I'll bury the Big East later but think about that. Who honestly had half of those teams advance?

That's the beauty of March. The surprise stories as well as the expected ones which help you almost forget your bracket. I remember past years watching VCU beat Duke with Eric Maynor and nearly beat UCLA the following year. Florida State beat Duke earlier this year with physical play and Marquette hasn't gone this far since I saw Dwyane Wade mess around and get a triple double on Kentucky in 03.

Speaking of my bracket, it looks good if you only count the East and West brackets. I lost a total of three teams, including two Sweet 16 picks. But if you click below and look at the right side, it's got more red than those Red Asphalt tapes they made us watch in driver's ed.

More reason for me to hate the South. Terrible luck picking teams. My Southeast bracket on the bottom right has been shot, including my Final Four pick Pittsburgh. I'm in the bottom half of most of my pools because I took more gambles than I should've and didn't predict the ones that happened (except for being 3rd in one ESPN pool)

Which leads me to the Big East, the 2nd biggest story of the tournament.

11 Teams in, half are gone by the start of the "3rd round" (by the way, is this another casualty of the First Four? Hate it.) and four more to follow. The best conference in America? I sure didn't think so this year when I saw teams besides UConn and Pitt. Syracuse was overrated, Notre Dame was nice but not elite. If St. John's didn't lose their 2nd best player to an ACL injury, they would've been a Sweet 16 team.

Let's all point and laugh at this ineptitude of overhype and comeuppance. If not for Kemba Walker's brilliance and Steve Lavin's resurgence, that conference would be a bigger joke this year. Five of the nine lost by 8 or more points and you can't blame Louisville for losing by one. Pitt's loss will go down as one of the most heartbreaking and surreal 8 seconds I've ever seen.

Big East? More like the Little East. Glad we kicked out the children so the big boys can keep dancing.

- Morehead State's Kenny Faried earned himself a trip to the NBA Draft with his two stellar games this weekend. Amazing rebounder and defender who'll make some team proud.

- Texas/Arizona lived up to the hype of maybe the best 2nd round (excuse me, 3rd round) game besides San Diego State and Temple. The first few hours of the 1st round were probably some of the best excitement I've seen in years.

- UCLA, Michigan and St. John's will be Top 10 teams next year, assuming nobody leaves. I'm proud of my Bruins for hanging tough with Florida after nearly blowing a big lead to Michigan State. Michigan's got a backcourt to watch for 2 years with Tim Hardaway Jr. and Darius Morris. And St. John's is bringing in another Top-5 recruiting class.

- Kansas is still alive. Surprise, surprise. Not as surprising as Wisconsin

- I'm happy for several LA kids I covered showing up big in the tournament. Jordan Hamilton (Texas), Derrick Williams (Arizona), DJ Gay and Kawhi Leonard (San Diego State), Morris (Michigan), and Tyler Honeycutt (UCLA) all repped the City of Angels proud.

Week 2 of the Madness coming up Thursday. Already looking forward to previewing Duke vs. Arizona - rematch of one of my favorite teen memories. The 2001 National Title Game.

Props to UConn and their streak

In college basketball, no number is more revered than 88 - the consecutive wins UCLA had from 1971-74. As a UCLA fan, that number is one of many. 11 - number of overall titles. 7 - number of straight titles. But it's one of the treasures that makes the John Wooden era so beloved.

The UConn women have now surpassed it. Two consecutive undefeated seasons + 9 victories to start the season and they've stamped their own mark on college basketball. They haven't lost since 2008 and yet, people want to compare it as weaker or not as great to the UCLA streak.

1st things 1st. UCLA's competition in the early 1970's was nowhere near as competitive as the game is now, especially on the West Coast. So that talk about UConn facing nobody is moot.

UCLA had dominant players in Bill Walton, Keith Wilkes and more. UConn had them in Tina Charles and Maya Moore. UCLA won games by an average of 23.5 points and won 74 of the last 75 games by comfortable margins. UConn won by an average of 33 points and beat 30 ranked opponents, trailing only 134 minutes.

Comparing the men's and women's game is silly and irrelevant. Yes, there aren't many great teams outside of Tennessee, UConn, Stanford, Baylor (or at least it doesn't seem like it.. Yes, they don't dunk or do anything flashy. Yes, they play boring, old-school, below-the-rim, low FG-shooting basketball. Yes, most dudes can beat a team of ladies. But dominance is dominance and you have to respect how they do it.

Winning every night isn't a matter of showing up and doing it easily. It's preparing every night and not having a misstep. It's doing it in March when they usually face better competition. They got tested against Baylor and Stanford (esp. in the 2nd half) and survived. Every year, they recruit the best players but winning programs isn't about talent - it's a mindset and head coach Geno Auriemma deserves plenty of credit for keeping his players ready.

John Wooden did this, Dean Smith did it. Mike Kryzewski does it, Bob Knight did it, and so does Pat Summitt. Every great coach wins not with the best players but the best schemes.

My only gripe with the women's game is that the lack of parity creates too many superstars quickly. Chamique Holdsclaw was the greatest female player ever til Diana Taurasi got started then along came Candace Parker and then came Maya Moore. Meanwhile Cheryl Miller is sitting back like "How can y'all forget me when I'm the mother of this dominant ish."

Pat Summitt is one of the greatest coaches of the college game, male or female. Geno Auriemma is a great coach in his own right. Maya Moore (41 pts) is just as good as any great female player the game has seen. And what UConn has done will stand in its own right just like UCLA's streak.

Nobody's going to forget or devalue what UCLA did just like nobody should devalue what UConn is doing. But comparing them by gender or competition cheapens what they did. I defer to the late legend Coach Wooden who admired the women's game and would be proud to see what the Huskies did.

A Great Day of Basketball

Just a Recap.

- Baylor upsets Kansas
- EDIT: VILLANOVA beats Marquette on a buzzer-beating lay-up that should've been the best Big East game of the night.
- Oklahoma upsets Oklahoma St
- West Virginia upsets Pitt.
- Lakers dominate San Antonio Spurs to clinch Pacific Division
- Westchester HS beats Fairfax HS 55-54 on a game-winning shot with 4 seconds left
- Inglewood HS and Marlborough HS (two teams left for dead in the CIF finals) advance to state regional final showdown.
- USC skates by Cal
- And finally…Syracuse beats UConn 127-117 in a game that went SIX OVERTIMES!!! They played a game and a half down in the great Madison Square Garden. All of those kids had heart but maybe none bigger than Syracuse's Jonny Flynn (34 pts, 11 dimes, played nearly all but three minutes) or UConn's AJ Price (33 pts, 10 dimes). Second-longest college bball game in history.

Did I mention that UConn tied the game with 1.1 seconds left in regulation and the game-winning 3-pointer was waved off?? OH MY GOODNESS!!!!

March 12, 2009 will go down in history for me as one of the greatest days of basketball I've seen. I can't wait for the NCAA Tournament to start Thursday cause I've already gone mad with basketball fever today!!