The Thrill is Gone: New Mexico State Winless in Last 25 NCAA Tourneys

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, six former Final Four participants - New Mexico State, Oregon State, Princeton, San Francisco, Southern Methodist and Texas-El Paso - combined to go winless in the past 20 years. Houston ended a 33-year winless blemish.

DePaul, Oregon State and San Francisco each have won more than 20 NCAA tourney games but collaborated for only one win in the past 28 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 previous 10 years with only one appearance
Charlotte (11)	no appearance previous 12 years; winless previous 16 years
DePaul (22)	appeared once previous 17 years; one victory previous 28 years
George Washington (11)	one victory previous 23 years
Georgia (12)	one victory previous 21 years
Holy Cross (13)	posted first win since 1953 two seasons ago in play-in game
Idaho State (11)	winless previous 40 years
Minnesota (13)	one victory previous 20 years
New Mexico State (22)	winless previous 24 years
Old Dominion (11)	one victory previous 22 years
Oregon State (17)	winless previous 35 years
Penn (24)	one victory previous 37 years
Pepperdine (13)	one victory previous 35 years
Princeton (25)	winless previous 19 years
San Francisco (16)	appeared once previous 35 years
Santa Clara (11)	no appearance previous 21 years
Seattle (11)	winless since 1964
Southern Methodist (12)	winless previous 29 years
Texas-El Paso (17)	winless previous 25 years
Utah State (20)	one victory previous 47 years
Weber State (15)	winless previous 18 years
Wyoming (15)	one victory previous 30 years