The Thrill is Gone: Elite Schools Go From NCAA Headlines to Heartaches

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, eight former Final Four participants - Holy Cross, Houston, New Mexico State, Oregon State, Princeton, San Francisco, Southern Methodist and Texas-El Paso - combined to go winless in the past 17 years.

DePaul, Oregon State and San Francisco each have won more than 20 NCAA tourney games but collaborated for only one win in the last 26 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 last eight years with only one appearance
Charlotte (11)	no appearance last 10 years; winless last 14 years
Clemson (11)	one victory last 18 years
DePaul (22)	appeared once last 15 years; one victory last 26 years
George Washington (11)	one victory last 21 years
Georgia (12)	one victory last 19 years
Holy Cross (12)	winless since 1953
Houston (19)	winless last 31 years
Idaho State (11)	winless last 38 years
Iowa (24)	two victories last 16 years
Minnesota (12)	one victory last 18 years
New Mexico State (20)	winless last 22 years
Old Dominion (11)	one victory last 20 years
Oregon State (16)	winless last 33 years
Penn (23)	one victory last 35 years
Pepperdine (13)	one victory last 33 years
Princeton (24)	winless last 17 years
San Francisco (16)	appeared once last 33 years
Santa Clara (11)	no appearance last 19 years
Seattle (11)	winless since 1964
Southern Methodist (11)	winless last 27 years
Texas-El Paso (17)	winless last 23 years
Utah State (20)	one victory last 45 years
Weber State (14)	winless last 16 years
Wyoming (15)	one victory last 28 years