Not Good But Good Enough: Hampton Enters NCAA Tourney With Losing Mark

Hampton (16-17) became the 17th school in the last 23 years, 24th overall and fourth in the last four seasons to appear in the NCAA Tournament despite entering the playoffs with a losing record. Fellow MEAC member Coppin State '08 (16-20) and Liberty '13 (15-20 from the Big South) are the only schools entering a tourney with as many as 20 setbacks.

The only one of the sub-.500 schools to win two NCAA playoff games was Bradley. The Braves won twice in the 1955 tournament (69-65 over Oklahoma City and 81-79 over SMU) after losing 14 consecutive contests during one stretch in the regular season. Despite the pair of playoff victories, they finished with their worst overall record (9-20) in a 53-year span until going 8-20 in the 1990-91 campaign.

In 1950, Bradley won two games apiece in both the NCAA Tournament and NIT to reach the championship game of both events. The Braves lost against CCNY in each final to finish the season with a 32-5 record under coach Forddy Anderson. Bradley's coach in 1955 was Bob Vanatta. He was in his first of two seasons at the school after succeeding Anderson, who departed for Michigan State after guiding the Braves to a national second-place finish in 1954. Bradley is the only school to go from the Final Four one season to 20 defeats the next year.

Texas, winner of just one non-conference game in the 1973-74 campaign, is the only school with a losing overall record to secure an automatic bid by winning a regular-season league title. Following is a list of the 24 schools polluting the NCAA playoffs by entering the tourney sporting such an impoverished record:

School W-L Pct. Coach How Team Qualified
Bradley '55 7-19 .269 Bob Vanatta Independent
Oklahoma City '55 9-17 .346 Doyle Parrack Independent
George Washington '61 9-16 .360 Bill Reinhart Won Southern Conference Tournament
Central Florida '96 11-18 .379 Kirk Speraw Won TAAC Tournament
Fairfield '97 11-18 .379 Paul Cormier Won MAAC Tournament
Florida International '95 11-18 .379 Bob Weltlich Won TAAC Tournament
Florida A&M '99 12-18 .400 Mickey Clayton Won MEAC Tournament
Lehigh '85 12-18 .400 Tom Schneider Won East Coast Conference Tournament
Oakland '05 12-18 .400 Greg Kampe Won Mid-Continent Tournament
Cal Poly '14 13-19 .406 Joe Callero Won Big West Tournament
Liberty '13 15-20 .429 Dale Layer Won Big South Tournament
Coppin State '08 16-20 .444 Fang Mitchell Won MEAC Tournament
East Carolina '93 13-16 .448 Eddie Payne Won Colonial Tournament
Prairie View A&M '98 13-16 .448 Elwood Plummer Won SWAC Tournament
San Jose State '96 13-16 .448 Stan Morrison Won Big West Tournament
UNC Asheville '03 14-17 .452 Eddie Biedenbach Won Big South Tournament
Western Kentucky '12 15-18 .455 Ray Harper Won Sun Belt Tournament
Texas '74 12-14 .461 Leon Black SWC regular-season title
Montana State '86 14-16 .466 Stu Starner Won Big Sky Tournament
Florida A&M '04 14-16 .466 Mike Gillespie Won MEAC Tournament
Siena '02 16-18 .471 Rob Lanier Won MAAC Tournament
Jackson State '97 14-15 .482 Andy Stoglin Won SWAC Tournament
Missouri '78 14-15 .482 Norm Stewart Won Big Eight Tournament
Hampton '15 16-17 .485 Edward Joyner Jr. Won MEAC Tournament

NOTE: District 5 committee restricted to District 5 independents (only two in the district) to fill out 1955 bracket; this rule was changed for the 1956 playoffs.

Regular-season league records of conference tournament champions: