Tourney Journey: What is Titlist UNC's Longest NCAA Tournament Drought?

April 19th, 2017 - 6:52

Champion North Carolina is among 20 universities never to miss the NCAA playoffs more than 10 straight seasons after their tournament debut. A total of 47 schools have appeared more than 20 times in the NCAA tourney through 2017 - Kentucky (57), North Carolina (48), UCLA (48), Kansas (46), Louisville (42), Duke (41), Indiana (39), Syracuse (38), Villanova (37), Notre Dame (36), Arizona (34), Connecticut (33), Texas (33), Marquette (32), Temple (32), Arkansas (31), Cincinnati (31), Michigan State (31), Ohio State (31), Georgetown (30), Illinois (30), Oklahoma (30), Brigham Young (29), Kansas State (29), Purdue (29), St. John's (29), Utah (29), Oklahoma State (28), West Virginia (28), Maryland (27), Michigan (27), Xavier (27), Memphis (26), Missouri (26), North Carolina State (26), Pittsburgh (26), Iowa (25), Princeton (25), New Mexico State (23), Penn (23), Wake Forest (23), Western Kentucky (23), Wisconsin (23), DePaul (22), Louisiana State (21), Saint Joseph's (21) and Virginia (21).

Notre Dame, compiling a losing record in the NCAA playoffs (37-39), is the only one of the 22 institutions with at least 30 appearances never to win a Final Four game. The Fighting Irish's only F4 trip was in 1978 when they lost in the national semifinals against Duke (90-86) before bowing in the national third-place contest against Arkansas (71-69).

Among the schools with more than 25 appearances, Kansas State was the only one other than Kentucky never to be shut out of the tourney as long as five years after its maiden voyage until K-State was denied 11 consecutive campaigns through 2007. DePaul, missing the last 13 years, has the longest active NCAA Tournament dry spell among the following 47 universities with more than 20 appearances:

Years School NCAA Debut Longest NCAA Drought Coach(es) During Playoff Dry Spell
3 Kentucky 1942 1989 through 1991 Eddie Sutton and Rick Pitino
5 UCLA 1950 1957 through 1961 John Wooden
5 Virginia 1976 2002 through 2006 Pete Gillen and Dave Leitao
6 Princeton 1952 1970 through 1975/2005 through 2010 Pete Carril/Joe Scott and Sydney Johnson
7 Brigham Young 1950 1958 through 1964 Stan Watts
7 Louisville 1951 1952 through 1958 Peck Hickman
7 Purdue 1969 1970 through 1976 George King and Fred Schaus
8 Syracuse 1957 1958 through 1965 Marc Guley and Fred Lewis
9 Kansas 1940 1943 through 1951 Phog Allen and Howard Engleman
9 Marquette 1955 1984 through 1992 Rick Majerus, Bob Dukiet and Kevin O'Neill
9 Ohio State 1939 1951 through 1959 Floyd Stahl and Fred Taylor
9 Villanova 1939 1940 through 1948 Alex Severance
10 Connecticut 1951 1980 through 1989 Dom Perno and Jim Calhoun
10 Memphis 1955 1963 through 1972 Dean Ehlers, Moe Iba and Gene Bartow
10 New Mexico State 1952 1980 through 1989 Weldon Drew and Neil McCarthy
10 North Carolina 1941 1947 through 1956 Tom Scott and Frank McGuire
10 North Carolina State 1950 1992 through 2001 Les Robinson and Herb Sendek
10 Notre Dame 1953 1991 through 2000 Digger Phelps, John MacLeod and Matt Doherty
10 Saint Joseph's 1959 1987 through 1996 Jim Boyle, John Griffin and Phil Martelli
10 Utah 1944 1967 through 1976 Jack Gardner, Bill E. Foster and Jerry Pimm
11 Duke 1955 1967 through 1977 Vic Bubas, Bucky Waters, Neill McGeachy and Bill E. Foster
11 Kansas State 1948 1997 through 2007 Tom Asbury, Jim Wooldridge and Bob Huggins
11 St. John's 1951 1962 through 1972 Joe Lapchick, Lou Carnesecca and Frank Mulzoff
11 Temple 1944 1945 through 1955 Josh Cody and Harry Litwack
12 Indiana 1940 1941 through 1952 Branch McCracken and Harry Good
12 Texas 1943 1948 through 1959 Jack Gray, Thurman Hull and Marshall Hughes
13 DePaul 1943 2005 through 2017 Dave Leitao, Jerry Wainwright and Oliver Purnell
13 Iowa 1955 1957 through 1969 Bucky O'Connor, Sharm Scheuerman and Ralph Miller
14 Cincinnati 1958 1978 through 1991 Gale Catlett, Ed Badger, Tony Yates and Bob Huggins
14 Maryland 1958 1959 through 1972 Bud Millikan, Frank Fellows and Lefty Driesell
14 Wake Forest 1939 1963 through 1976 Bones McKinney, Jack Murdock, Jack McCloskey and Carl Tacy
14 West Virginia 1955 1968 through 1981 Bucky Waters, Sonny Moran, Joedy Gardner and Gale Catlett
15 Michigan 1948 1949 through 1963 Ernie McCoy, Bill Perigo and Dave Strack
15 Pittsburgh 1941 1942 through 1956 Doc Carlson and Bob Timmons
16 Penn 1953 1954 through 1969 Howie Dallmar, Ray Stanley, Jack McCloskey and Dick Harter
17 Illinois 1942 1964 through 1980 Harry Combes, Harv Schmidt, Gene Bartow and Lou Henson
17 Oklahoma State 1945 1966 through 1982 Hank Iba, Sam Aubrey, Guy Strong, Jim Killingsworth and Paul Hansen
18 Arkansas 1941 1959 through 1976 Glen Rose, Duddy Waller, Lanny Van Eman and Eddie Sutton
18 Michigan State 1957 1960 through 1977 Forddy Anderson, John Benington, Gus Ganakas and Jud Heathcote
19 Western Kentucky 1940 1941 through 1959 Ed Diddle
21 Xavier 1961 1962 through 1982 Jim McCafferty, Don Ruberg, George Krajack, Dick Campbell, Tay Baker and Bob Staak
24 Arizona 1951 1952 through 1975 Fred Enke, Bruce Larson and Fred Snowden
24 Louisiana State 1953 1955 through 1978 Harry Rabenhorst, Jay McCreary, Frank Truitt, Press Maravich and Dale Brown
31 Georgetown 1943 1944 through 1974 Ken Eagles, Elmer Ripley, Buddy O'Grady, Harry Jeannette, Tommy Nolan, Tom O'Keefe, Jack Magee and John Thompson Jr.
31 Missouri 1944 1945 through 1975 George Edwards, Sparky Stalcup, Bob Vanatta and Norm Stewart
31 Oklahoma 1939 1948 through 1978 Bruce Drake, Doyle Parrack, Bob Stevens, John MacLeod, Joe Ramsey and Dave Bliss
46 Wisconsin 1941 1948 through 1993 Bud Foster, John Erickson, John Powless, Bill Cofield, Steve Yoder and Stu Jackson