Famine Relief: Yale Failed to End 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 Harvard, the Rip Van Winkle of college basketball with a 65-year exile, until the Crimson woke up in 2012 and secured its first NCAA playoff berth since losing two games in 1946. Yale, another Ivy League member trying to end an NCAA tourney dry spell (out since 1962), would have been runner-up to Harvard in longest streak of playoff absence but the Bulldogs failed to beat the Crimson in a play-in game after a heart-breaking regular-season finale setback. One of the three schools tied for current runner-up is Brown, another Ivy member. Adding insult to injury for Yale was the NIT failing to offer the Bulldogs an invitation.

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 before Harvard ended its drought. Following are the 17 schools - with Baylor, Butler, Iowa State and Wisconsin joining Harvard in this year's event - 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
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.