Double Trouble: NCAA Losses Leave JT III Ailing More Than RG III in DC
Georgetown coach John Thompson III may have more difficulty recovering mentally from the Hoyas' opening-game setback against Florida Gulf Coast than QB Robert Griffin III will physically from knee injury to be ready for the Redskins' season opener.
JT III joined Bobby Cremins as the only coaches in NCAA Tournament history to be eliminated four straight seasons from the playoffs by opponents with double-digit seeds. Granted, seedings can be very misleading after the process was introduced in 1979. With more parity and balance than ever before, there isn't much difference between a No. 4 seed and a No. 13 seed.
But Thompson might need to be inoculated against teams with worse seeds. The Hoyas also lost under him in 2008 against #10 seed Davidson. Following is an alphabetical list of prominent coaches absorbing at least three NCAA Tournament defeats in a span of 10 years or fewer with the same school against opponents with double-digit seeds:
| Marquee Coach | School | Three or More Losses Against Double-Digit Seeded Opponents |
|---|---|---|
| Jim Boeheim | Syracuse | 1991/#15 Richmond, 2005/#13 Vermont, 2006/#12 Texas A&M and 2011/#11 Marquette |
| Dale Brown | Louisiana State | 1984/lost to #10 Dayton, 1985/#13 Navy, and 1991/#11 Connecticut |
| Bobby Cremins | Georgia Tech | 1986/#11 LSU, 1987/#10 LSU, 1988/#13 Richmond, 1989/#11 Texas and 1993/#13 Southern |
| Lou Henson | Illinois | 1983/#10 Utah, 1987/#14 Austin Peay State and 1990/#12 Dayton |
| Gene Keady | Purdue | 1985/#11 Auburn, 1986/#11 Louisiana State, 1990/#10 Texas, 1991/#10 Temple and 1995/#14 Wisconsin-Green Bay |
| Ralph Miller | Oregon State | 1980/#10 Lamar, 1984/#11 West Virginia and 1989/#11 Evansville |
| Lute Olson | Arizona | 1992/#14 East Tennessee State, 1993/#15 Santa Clara and 1995/#12 Ball State |
| Bo Ryan | Wisconsin | 2008/#10 Davidson, 2010/#12 Cornell and 2013/#12 Ole Miss |
| Wimp Sanderson | Alabama | 1983/#11 Lamar, 1989/#11 South Alabama, and 1990/#11 Loyola Marymount |
| Bill Self | Kansas | 2005/#14 Bucknell, 2006/#13 Bradley and 2011/#11 Virginia Commonwealth |
| Kevin Stallings | Vanderbilt | 2008/#13 Siena, 2010/#13 Murray State and 2011/#12 Richmond |
| Norm Stewart | Missouri | 1987/#13 Xavier, 1988/#11 Rhode Island, and 1990/#14 Northern Iowa |
| John Thompson III | Georgetown | 2008/#10 Davidson, 2010/#14 Ohio University, 2011/#11 Virginia Commonwealth, 2012/#11 North Carolina State and 2013/#15 Florida Gulf Coast |
| Billy Tubbs | Oklahoma | 1984/#10 Dayton, 1986/#12 DePaul and 1992/#13 Southwestern Louisiana |