Famine Relief: Duquesne Ends Long NCAA Tournament Appearance Dry Spell

If your RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) isn't satisfactory, then it's time to R.I.P. (Rest in Peace). That certainly was the case for Duquesne, a Rip Van Winkle of college basketball, until the Dukes woke up and secured its first NCAA playoff berth since losing an East Regional opener in in 1977. They promptly posted their first tourney triumph since 1969.

Stanford and Wisconsin, a pair of relatively recent Final Four schools, were tied with Brown for the longest dry spell in NCAA Tournament history for prior playoff participants until Harvard ended its 65-year drought in 2012. Following are the 12 schools - with Baylor, Iowa State, Wisconsin and Yale joining Duquesne in this year's event - to participate in the tourney at least once before enduring playoff appearance droughts of at least 37 years (length of dry spells denoted in parentheses):

School	Years Failing to Appear	Years Without a Victory
Harvard	1947 through 2011 (65)	Won first game in 2013.
Yale	1963 through 2015 (53)	Only victory in 2016 until upsetting Auburn in 2024.
Brown	1940 through 1985 (46)	Never won a playoff game.
Stanford	1943 through 1988 (46)	1943 through 1994 (52).
Duquesne	1978 through 2023 (46)	1970 through 2023 (54).
Wisconsin	1948 through 1993 (46)	1948 through 1993 (46).
Furman	1981 through 2022 (43)	Won only game in 1974 (48).
Air Force	1963 through 2003 (41)	Never won a playoff game.
Lafayette	1958 through 1998 (41)	Never won a playoff game.
Iowa State	1945 through 1984 (40)	1945 through 1985 (41).
Washington State	1942 through 1979 (38)	1942 through 1982 (41).
Baylor	1951 through 1987 (37)	1951 through 2009 (59).
Canisius	1958 through 1994 (37)	Hasn't won since 1957.
Miami (FL)	1961 through 1997 (37)	Won first game in 1999.

NOTE: Miami suspended its basketball program for 14 seasons from 1971-72 through 1983-84.