Famine Relief: Yale Bulldogs End 53-Year Exile From NCAA Tournament

March 5th, 2016 - 20:23

If your RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) isn't satisfactory, then it's time to R.I.P. (Rest in Peace). That certainly has been the case for Ivy League members other than Penn and Princeton when it comes to NCAA Tournament participation. Harvard was the Rip Van Winkle of college basketball, shackled by a 65-year exile, until the Crimson woke up in 2012 and secured its first NCAA playoff berth since losing two games in 1946. This season, Yale finally ended a 53-year NCAA tourney dry spell (out since 1962) although the Bulldogs' euphoria could be short-lived as they need to explain why captain Jack Montague withdrew from school a month before the conclusion of the regular season. The MIA Ivy connection also includes Brown, which is tied for third with a 46-year playoff absence after the Bears competed in the first-ever NCAA tourney game in 1939 (against Villanova).

Stanford and Wisconsin, a pair of relatively recent Final Four schools, are tied with Brown for the longest dry spells in NCAA Tournament history. Following are the 18 schools - including Baylor, Butler, Iowa State, Miami FL and Wisconsin - to participate in the tourney at least once before enduring playoff appearance droughts of at least 34 years (length of dry spells denoted in parentheses):

School Years Failing to Appear Years Without a Tourney Victory
Harvard 1947 through 2011 (65) Won first game in 2013
Yale 1963 through 2015 (53) Won first game in 2016
Brown 1940 through 1985 (46) Never won a playoff game
Stanford 1943 through 1988 (46) 1943 through 1994 (52)
Wisconsin 1948 through 1993 (46) 1948 through 1993 (46)
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
Drake 1972 through 2007 (36) Hasn't won since 1971
Saint Louis 1958 through 1993 (36) 1953 through 1994 (42)
Butler 1963 through 1996 (34) 1963 through 2000 (38)
Manhattan 1959 through 1992 (34) 1959 through 1994 (36)
Montana State 1952 through 1985 (34) Never won a playoff game

NOTES: Tulsa didn't win an NCAA playoff game from 1956 through 1993 (38 years). . . . Holy Cross (last victory in 1953) and Rice (1954) haven't won an NCAA Tournament game for extended periods. . . . Miami (Fla.) did not field a formal team from 1971-72 through 1984-85.