Emphasizing a "one-and-only" theme for a "one-and-only" event, here is Day 11 of a treasure-trove of tantalizing NCAA Tournament trivia questions from CollegeHoopedia.com (10 per day from Selection Sunday through the championship game) tracking the only coach, conference, player or school to be linked to a distinguished or dubious achievement (click here for answers or conduct research digesting historical morsels in CollegeHoopedia.com's year-by-year highlights):

1. Who is the only one of the 60 or so two-time consensus first-team All-Americans since 1946 never to participate in the NCAA Tournament or the NIT? Hint: His school was a total of 10 games over .500 in Big Ten Conference competition in his junior and senior seasons. He never played on a team to win playoff series in his nine-year NBA career.

2. Who is the only player to score more than 20,000 pro points yet never reach the conference finals in the NBA playoffs after playing at least two seasons of varsity basketball at a major college and never participating in the NCAA Division I playoffs? Hint: The college he attended made its NCAA Tournament debut the first year after he left school early to become third pick overall in NBA draft.

3. Who is the only coach since the tourney field expanded to at least 48 teams to take two different universities to the playoffs when the schools appeared in the tournament for the first time? Hint: His last name begins with a "F" and he no longer is Division I head coach.

4. Name the only school with a losing record to secure an automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs by winning a regular-season conference title. Hint: The league started a postseason tournament two years later and the school in question has lost all six times it reached conference tourney championship game.

5. Name the only major university to have two graduates score more than 17,000 points in the NBA after playing at least three varsity seasons in college and failing to appear in the NCAA Tournament. Hint: The school has had three other players score more than 10,000 points in the NBA after never appearing in NCAA playoffs.

6. Name the only former titlist to have an all-time playoff record 10 games below the .500 mark. Hint: Longtime network broadcaster Curt Gowdy played in the tournament for the school.

7. Name the only state with three schools to compile tournament records at least nine games below .500. Hint: The three institutions from same state are members of different conferences.

8. Who was the only player shorter than Bobby Hurley, Duke's 6-0 guard, to play for a championship team and be selected as the Final Four Most Outstanding Player? Hint: There was another Final Four MOP who was also shorter than 6-0, but he played for a national third-place finisher in the mid-1950s.

9. Who is the only individual to play in an NCAA Tournament championship game and later coach his alma mater to a final? Hint: He served as an assistant to the coach with the most NCAA playoff victories and a college teammate is one of the winningest coaches of all time.

10. Name the only one of the schools with multiple national titles to have two teams participate in the NCAA playoffs as defending champions but lose their opening-round game. Hint: Both of the opening-round setbacks for the school when it was defending champion occurred in East Regional.

Answers (Day 11)

Day 10 Questions and Answers

Day 9 Questions and Answers

Day 8 Questions and Answers

Day 7 Questions and Answers

Day 6 Questions and Answers

Day 5 Questions and Answers

Day 4 Questions and Answers

Day 3 Questions and Answers

Day 2 Questions and Answers

Day 1 Questions and Answers

NCAA Tournament match-ups between members from the same power league such as Duke vs. Syracuse are relatively rare (28 of them) despite ACC members comprising the entire East and Midwest Regional finals two years ago. Last season, SEC rivals Florida and South Carolina met in the East Regional final. It was the first such confrontation for the SEC in a 31-year span.

The Big Ten Conference accounted for seven of the first 18 NCAA Tournament games pitting league members against each other but hasn't been involved in such a contest since 2000. Two campaigns ago marked the first time a league (ACC) generated three intra-conference playoff confrontations in a single tourney.

"It is better to be looked over than overlooked." - Mae West

It doesn't seem possible, but Tennessee's Rick Barnes never has earned acclaim as national coach of the year by a major award. Barnes isn't the only prominent coach nationally shunned by the voting class. Maryland named its court after Gary Williams, the school's all-time winningest coach who guided the Terrapins to the 2002 NCAA title during a span when he became the only mentor ever to defeat the nation's top-ranked team in four straight seasons (2000-01 through 2003-04). Surprisingly, Williams never was courted as national coach of the year by one of the major awards, joining other NCAA championship coaches such as Denny Crum, Billy Donovan, Joe B. Hall, Don Haskins, Rollie Massimino and Jim Valvano "shorted" by this dubious distinction.

Does this blemish exist because of smug power-league coaches or is the media more of a mess than even its fiercest critics believe? Leonard Hamilton, despite annoyance with CBS post-game questioning, left the following group this year with Florida State, but a total of 14 individuals received acclaim as national COY despite never reaching an NCAA playoff regional final - Rod Barnes, Perry Clark, Jim Crews, Keno Davis, Matt Doherty, Cliff Ellis, Eddie Fogler, Frank Haith, Marv Harshman, Todd Lickliter, George Raveling, Al Skinner, Charlie Spoonhour and Dick Versace. Unless Steve Harvey announced the "beauty-contest" results, following is an alphabetical list of high-profile retired coaches never receiving one of the five major national coach of the year awards since 1955 despite their significant achievements:

Dave Bliss - Compiled a total of 14 20-win seasons with three different schools.

Dale Brown - Led LSU to 15 consecutive postseason tournaments (1979 through 1993) en route to becoming the second-winningest coach in SEC history at the time (behind Adolph Rupp) in both overall and SEC games.

Vic Bubas - Guided Duke to NCAA Tournament Final Four appearances three times in a four-year span from 1963 through 1966.

Pete Carril - Never incurred a losing record in 29 seasons with Princeton from 1968 through 1996.

Gale Catlett - Went his first 23 seasons without a losing record with Cincinnati and West Virginia; participated in nine consecutive national postseason tournaments in the 1980s.

Denny Crum - Won 15 regular-season conference championships in the Missouri Valley and Metro in his first 23 seasons with Louisville; only coach to twice win conference and NCAA tournaments in the same year (1980 and 1986).

Don DeVoe - Compiled a total of 12 20-win seasons with three different schools.

Don Donoher - One of first 10 coaches to take his first three teams to the NCAA playoffs guided his first seven Dayton clubs to national postseason competition; posted double digits in victories all 25 seasons.

Billy Donovan - Two-time national championship coach (2006 and 2007) became Florida's all-time winningest mentor.

Lefty Driesell - One of only three different coaches to guide four different schools to the NCAA playoffs; captured conference tournament titles in four different leagues; only coach to win more than 100 games for four different schools en route to total of 786 victories; had 14 final Top 20 rankings.

Hugh Durham - One of only three coaches in NCAA history to win at least 225 games for two Division I schools, directing both Florida State and Georgia to the Final Four.

Bill C. Foster - Only six losing records in 25 seasons at the Division I level with UNC Charlotte, Clemson, Miami (FL) and Virginia Tech.

Jack Gardner - Only coach to direct two different schools to the Final Four at least twice apiece.

Pete Gillen - Remarkable run with Xavier (winning five Midwestern Collegiate Conference Tournament titles in six-year span from 1986 through 1991) before posting 20-win seasons with Providence in the Big East and Virginia in the ACC.

Joe B. Hall - Averaged 23 victories annually in 13 seasons with Kentucky, reaching championship game in either NCAA Tournament or NIT three times in a four-year span from 1975 through 1978.

Don Haskins - Captured four Western Athletic Conference Tournament championships with Texas-El Paso in a seven-year span from 1984 through 1990 while winning more than 20 games each of those seasons; compiled a total of 17 20-win campaigns.

Lou Henson - Compiled only one losing record in his last 22 years with Illinois and New Mexico State; finished in first division of the Big Ten Conference nine straight seasons.

Terry Holland - Averaged 20 victories annually in 21 seasons with Davidson and Virginia.

Harry Litwack - Finished third with Temple in three consecutive national postseason tournaments (1956 and 1958 in NCAA and 1957 in NIT). Posted only one losing record in 21 seasons with the Owls through 1973.

Rollie Massimino - Averaged more than 20 victories annually in the 1980s; participated in 14 consecutive national postseason tournaments with Villanova and UNLV before coaching at small-school level in Florida.

Ray Mears - Finished lower than third place in SEC standings with Tennessee just once in his final 14 seasons from 1964 through 1977.

Shelby Metcalf - Averaged 18.6 victories annually with Texas A&M in an 18-year span from 1971-72 through 1988-89.

Eldon Miller - Won more than 20 games with three different DI schools (Western Michigan, Ohio State and Northern Iowa).

Joe Mullaney - Reached the 20-win plateau nine straight seasons from 1958-59 through 1966-67, directing Providence to the NIT semifinals four times in the first five years of that stretch; won more than two-thirds of his games with the Friars decided by fewer than five points.

C.M. Newton - Posted at least 22 victories with Alabama six times in the last seven seasons of the 1970s.

Dave Odom - Won 20 or more games 10 times in a 14-year span from 1992-93 through 2005-06 with Wake Forest and South Carolina.

Ted Owens - Finished first or second in Big Eight Conference standings each of his first seven seasons with Kansas from 1965 through 1971.

Tom Penders - Won at least 20 games with three different schools (Rhode Island, Texas and George Washington) a total of 10 times in a 13-year span from 1987 through 1999 before winning more than 20 games three times in six seasons with Houston.

Jack Ramsay - Worst record in 11 seasons with St. Joseph's was an 18-10 mark.

Bo Ryan - Wisconsin's all-time winningest coach never finished lower than fourth in Big Ten Conference standings in 14 full seasons with the Badgers from 2001-02 through 2014-15.

Wimp Sanderson - Won five SEC Tournament titles with Alabama, including three in a row from 1989 through 1991.

Fred Schaus - Won Southern Conference Tournament championships each of his six seasons with West Virginia from 1955 through 1960 before posting winning records in Big Ten competition all six years with Purdue.

Roy Skinner - Compiled only one losing record in 16 seasons with Vanderbilt.

Billy Tubbs - Directed Oklahoma to 12 consecutive 20-win seasons, a Big Eight Conference best; took the Sooners to national postseason play his last 13 years with them before moving on to TCU and Lamar.

Jim Valvano - Guided Iona to a school-record 29 victories in 1979-80 before winning at least 18 games each of his last nine seasons with North Carolina State from 1982 through 1990.

Gary Williams - All-time winningest coach for Maryland directed 13 teams to Top 20 finishes in final polls, including a couple of them with Boston College.

Ned Wulk - All-time winningest coach for Arizona State finished atop conference standings in six of his first seven seasons with the Sun Devils.

Emphasizing a "one-and-only" theme for a "one-and-only" event, here is Day 9 of a treasure-trove of tantalizing NCAA Tournament trivia questions from CollegeHoopedia.com (10 per day from Selection Sunday through the championship game) tracking the only coach, conference, player or school to be linked to a distinguished or dubious achievement (click here for answers or conduct research digesting historical morsels in CollegeHoopedia's year-by-year highlights):

1. Who was the only athlete to lead his championship team in scoring in two Final Four games and pitch in the major leagues the same year? Hint: He was a guard for three consecutive Final Four teams and was selected to the All-NCAA Tournament team as a senior.

2. Name the only school with more than 1,300 victories in the 20th Century never to reach the Final Four. Hint: The school participated in the NCAA playoffs just once (1992) in last 40-plus years.

3. Name the only school to defeat a team three times in a season the opponent captured the NCAA title. Hint: The school also defeated the same conference foe three times the next season as defending national champion.

4. Name the only champion to win its two Final Four games by a total of more than 50 points. Hint: The titlist suffered its only loss that season against one of the Final Four victims.

5. Of the 35 Final Four Most Outstanding Players selected from 1946 through 1981 when there was a national third-place game, who was the only honoree to play for a fourth-place team? Hint: He never averaged as many as nine points per game in four NBA seasons.

6. Name the only school to lose in back-to-back years in the first round to different institutions going on to capture national titles those years. Hint: The school won a total of 47 games in the two seasons. The two defeats were in the middle of six consecutive playoff appearances for the school after it appeared in playoffs just once from 1939 through 1982.

7. Name the only year four teams arrived at the national semifinals with a composite winning percentage of less than 75 percent. Hint: The two schools that met in the national third-place game are traditional football powers. The college losing both of its Final Four games that year is the only national semifinalist to finish a season with as many as 14 defeats.

8. Who is the only player to score more than 60 points in a single playoff game and to score more than 43 points at least twice? Hint: Of the players who scored more than 235 playoff points and/or averaged more than 25 points per tournament game (minimum of three games), he is the only individual from the select group to have a losing playoff record. He is the only one of the top 25 playoff scorers never to reach Final Four.

9. Who is the only male player to score more than 44 points in a single Final Four game? Hint: He is the only player to twice convert more than 12 free throws without a miss in playoff game.

10. Who is the only player to score more than 400 points in his playoff career? Hint: The only individual to start in four straight Final Fours hit two last-second shots to help his team win East Regional final overtime games and is only player with at least 10 championship game free-throw attempts to convert all of them.

Answers (Day 9)

Day 8 Questions and Answers

Day 7 Questions and Answers

Day 6 Questions and Answers

Day 5 Questions and Answers

Day 4 Questions and Answers

Day 3 Questions and Answers

Day 2 Questions and Answers

Day 1 Questions and Answers

Whether or not he belonged in this year's tourney, the most illuminating item about Jim Boeheim ranking among the nation's all-time winningest coaches is the bespectacled "Baron of Upstate New York" assembled a stunning streak of nothing but winning records in his first 42 seasons with Syracuse. En route to more than 1,000 career wins, Boeheim's worst worksheet was 16-13 in 1981-82 when the NIT-bound Orange dropped four of its last five outings.

Adolph Rupp never had a losing record in 41 campaigns but did post one breakeven mark with Kentucky (13-13 in 1966-67). When assessing this topic, keep in mind the following mentors among the all-time biggest winners each had multiple non-winning seasons: Phog Allen (four non-winning records), Jim Calhoun (six), Lefty Driesell (four), Lou Henson (eight), Hank Iba (eight), Bob Knight (two), Mike Krzyzewski (four), Lute Olson (three), Dean Smith (two) and Eddie Sutton (two).

Boeheim boasts the best record among active coaches in close contests, winning more than 60% of games decided by fewer than six points. For now, he is atop the list of five major-college coaches in history with winning marks every year in college careers spanning more than 20 years.

Coach	Seasons	Campaign Closest to Non-Winning Record
Jim Boeheim	42	16-13 (Syracuse in sixth season in 1981-82)
*Jerry Tarkanian	31	16-12 (UNLV in eighth of 19 seasons with Rebels in 1980-81) and 19-15 (Fresno State in seventh of seven seasons with Bulldogs in 2001-02)
John Wooden	29	14-12 (UCLA in 12th of 27 seasons with Bruins in 1959-60)
Lou Carnesecca	24	17-12 (St. John's in 20th season in 1987-88)
Peck Hickman	23	13-12 (Louisville in 14th season in 1957-58)

*Tarkanian also compiled seven more winning records in as many seasons for two community colleges in California, where he won five consecutive state championships after notching a 14-13 mark in 1961-62 at Riverside City College to begin his coaching odyssey.

Three seasons ago, we learned anew why Kansas seeks to avoid Wichita State year upon year after the Shockers clobbered KU in the Midwest Regional. Ditto Notre Dame and Purdue with their frequent shunning this century of Butler, which took the Irish into overtime in the same regional before losing by only three points against the Boilermakers in second round in 2018. The results showed again why some major schools should be ashamed of themselves for ducking nearby quality opponents. Why in the world did they have to resort to a national tournament assignment hundreds of miles from their fan base to oppose each other?

In a "Days of Whine and Hoses" era when many cash-strapped athletic departments are begging for revenue, they still schedule numerous poorly-attended home games against inferior opponents. It defies logic as to why tradition-rich schools forsake entertaining non-conference contests with natural rivals (example: West Virginia vs. Marshall) while scheduling more than their share of meaningless "rout-a-matics" at home. Fans shouldn't have to wait for an entertaining contest such as Morehead State upsetting Louisville, 62-61, in the opening round of the 2011 playoffs or Florida Gulf Coast taking Florida State to the mat in 2017.

The normal intensity of an NCAA Tournament tilt escalates even more in "bragging rights" games between neighboring opponents such as Texas Tech vs. Stephen F. Austin in 2018 first round that rarely if ever tangle on the same floor unless forced to compete against each other by a postseason bracket. Essentially, it is a sad state of affairs for fans in Kansas to need to hope KU and Wichita State oppose each other every 20 to 25 years in the NCAA tourney for them to meet on the hardwood. Situation is magnified when KU plays first- and second-round outings in Wichita.

A classic example of the scheduling neglect was an intense 2001 West Regional matchup between Maryland and Georgetown. Of course, the Washington, D.C., area isn't the only region with a scheduling complex. As emotional as it was, the Hoya Paranoia-Terrapin Trepidation confrontation didn't stack up among the following top dozen intrastate contests in NCAA playoff history including a couple of Kentucky/Louisville duels before they started meeting on a regular basis:

1. 1961 NCAA Championship Game (Cincinnati 70, Ohio State 65 in OT)
Paul Hogue, a 6-9 center who hit just 51.8% of his free-throw attempts during the season, sank only two of 10 foul shots in his two previous contests before putting Cincinnati ahead to stay with a pair of pivotal free throws in overtime in a victory over previously undefeated Ohio State.

2. 1998 East Regional second round (North Carolina 93, UNCC 83 in OT)
UNC Charlotte forward DeMarco Johnson outplayed national player of the year Antawn Jamison of the Tar Heels, but Carolina got a total of 55 points from Shammond Williams and Vince Carter to withstand the 49ers' bid for an upset.

3. 1983 Mideast Regional final (Louisville 80, Kentucky 68 in OT)
The first meeting between in-state rivals Kentucky and Louisville in more than 24 years was memorable as the Cardinals outscored the Wildcats 18-6 in overtime to reach the Final Four. The next year in the same region's semifinals, UK erased a half-time deficit to upend the Cards, 72-67.

4. 1981 Midwest Regional semifinals (Wichita State 66, Kansas 65)
Mike Jones hit two long-range baskets in the last 50 seconds for Wichita State in the first game between the intrastate rivals in 36 years.

5. 1989 Southeast Regional first round (South Alabama 86, Alabama 84)
In an exciting intrastate battle, South Alabama erased a 16-point halftime deficit. Jeff Hodge and Gabe Estaba combined for 55 points for USA.

6. 1971 West Regional final (UCLA 57, Long Beach State 55)
The closest result for UCLA during the Bruins' 38-game playoff winning streak from 1967 to 1973 came when they had to erase an 11-point deficit despite 29 percent field-goal shooting to edge Jerry Tarkanian-coached Long Beach State.

7. 1971 Mideast Regional semifinals (Western Kentucky 107, Kentucky 83)
This year's game wasn't anything like when WKU, long regarded as poor country cousins by Kentucky, whipped the Wildcats in their first-ever meeting when All-American Jim McDaniels poured in 35 points for the Hilltoppers.

8. 1959 Mideast Regional semifinals (Louisville 76, Kentucky 61)
Second-ranked Kentucky (24-3) hit less than one-third of its field-goal attempts in blowing a 15-point lead against intrastate rival Louisville (19-12). The Cardinals had lost to Georgetown (KY) earlier in the season.

9. 1964 Midwest Regional first round (Texas Western 68, Texas A&M 62)
Jim "Bad News" Barnes took out his do-it-yourself kit and accounted for 61.8% of Texas Western's offense by scoring 42 points.

10. 1962 NCAA Championship Game (Cincinnati 71, Ohio State 59)
Ohio State All-American center Jerry Lucas wrenched his left knee in the national semifinals against Wake Forest, limiting his effectiveness against Cincinnati counterpart Paul Hogue in the Bearcats' 71-59 triumph in the final.

11. 1963 Mideast Regional final (Loyola of Chicago 79, Illinois 64)
Sparked by All-American Jerry Harkness' 33 points, Loyola's only meeting against the Illini in a 24-year span from 1955-56 through 1978-79 represented the Ramblers' lone win in their irregular series until 1984-85.

T12. 1974 East Regional first round (Furman 75, South Carolina 67)
Furman's Clyde Mayes collected 21 points and 16 rebounds to upend the Gamecocks' star-studded roster featuring Mike Dunleavy Sr., Alex English and Brian Winters.

T12. 1964 Midwest Regional final (Kansas State 94, Wichita 86)
All-American Dave Stallworth's 37 points and 16 rebounds weren't enough to prevent Wichita's loss against K-State.

Game-winning three-pointers at the buzzer from well beyond the arc enabled players from Loyola of Chicago and Michigan to join the striking list of storybook moments in NCAA playoff lore, making it time to shine light on many of those who previously made history. More than one-fourth of the NCAA Tournament's games were determined in overtime or in regulation by fewer than four points since the field expanded to at least 32 teams in 1975. Four riveting national finals in an eight-year span from 1982 through 1989 furnished memories etched indelibly in our minds because clutch players appeared impervious to pressure by producing in last-second situations.

Videos help us remember the buzzer beaters far beyond the actual moment. Butler's Gordon Hayward almost joined this group but his heave from near half-court rimmed out in 2010 national final against Duke. Hayward learned close only counts in hand grenades, horseshoes and drive-in movies. The following alphabetical list details numerous individuals who supplied a memorable field goal as time expired in an NCAA tourney tilt:

Gonzaga reached Sweet 16 of NCAA playoffs for the fourth consecutive campaign, joined this season by Loyola of Chicago and Nevada. After an average of four mid-level schools reached the Sweet 16 in a six-year span from 2006 through 2011, the last seven seasons could have cemented the premise about mid-major schools deserving additional at-large consideration. But that was before eight mid-level schools - Gonzaga, New Mexico, St. Bonaventure, Saint Louis, Saint Mary's, Southern Mississippi, UNLV and Virginia Commonwealth - were eliminated in games against power six conference members by an average of only four points in 2012, the Mountain West Conference flopped in 2013, only two mid-majors reached the Sweet 16 in 2014 and 2015, Northern Iowa and Stephen F. Austin frittered away last-minute leads against power-league opponents in 2016 and Rhode Island squandered a significant lead against Oregon.

Butler, Gonzaga, Virginia Commonwealth and Wichita State advancing to the Final Four this decade was invigorating, but the mid-major community missed out on a potential bonanza. Gonzaga reached the second weekend for the eighth time this Century. Following is a look at how at least one mid-major conference member advanced to a regional semifinal or beyond since the field was expanded to 64 teams in 1985:

Should I stay or should I go? It's a good thing universities play in mammoth arenas because the egos of their "Pompous Pilots" wouldn't fit any other place.

Much of the excess in the canonization of coaches is perpetuated by coaches-turned-television commentators who shamelessly fawn over their former colleagues. Instead, the analysts should be more concerned about encouraging mentors to spare fans the pious blather about school loyalty and the sanctity of a contract.

Granted, it's survival of the fittest amid the offer-you-can't-refuse backdrop. But in many instances, schools have been little more than convenient steppingstones for "larger-than-life" coaches along their one-way street to success. It's understandable in many instances why mercenaries are leaving the minute they're appointed because coaches are in a distasteful "hired-to-be-fired" vocation, where a pink slip is only one losing season or poor recruiting class away.

Nevertheless, it's a black eye on the sport when loyalty seems to have become too much of a one-way street. At times, it makes one wonder how the bench bosses can look themselves in the mirror. Five of Tulsa's six coaches in one stretch - Nolan Richardson, Tubby Smith, Steve Robinson, Bill Self and Buzz Peterson - abandoned ship for more prestigious positions despite each of them having at least three years remaining on their deals.

More than 70 different active coaches had at least three years remaining on their pacts when leaving for greener pastures. Four coaches in 2018 NCAA playoffs are among the following alphabetical list of mentors departing three or four schools before their contracts expired:

• Steve Alford - three years remaining on contract when he left Southwest Missouri State for Iowa; four when left Iowa for New Mexico, and 10 when left New Mexico for UCLA

• Trent Johnson - five years remaining on contract when he left Nevada for Stanford; one when left Stanford for Louisiana State, and two when left LSU for Texas Christian

• Lon Kruger - four years remaining on contract when he left Kansas State for Florida; five when left Florida for Illinois; four when left Illinois for the Atlanta Hawks, and two when left UNLV for Oklahoma

• Cuonzo Martin - four years remaining on contract when he left Missouri State for Tennessee; two when left Tennessee for California, and four when left Cal for Missouri

• Ritchie McKay - two years remaining on contract when he left Portland State for Colorado State; four when left Colorado State for Oregon State, and four when left Oregon State for New Mexico

• Kevin O'Neill - three years remaining on contract when he left Marquette for Tennessee; four when left Tennessee for Northwestern, and two when left Northwestern for the New York Knicks (assistant)

• Buzz Peterson - nine years remaining on contract when he left Appalachian State for Tulsa; four when left Tulsa for Tennessee; two when left Coastal Carolina for the Charlotte Bobcats (director of player personnel), and four when left Appalachian State again for UNC Wilmington

• Bill Self - two years remaining on contract when he left Oral Roberts for Tulsa; five when left Tulsa for Illinois, and five when left Illinois for Kansas

• Tubby Smith - three years remaining on contract when he left Tulsa for Georgia; six when left Georgia for Kentucky; four when left Kentucky for Minnesota, and three when left Texas Tech for Memphis

• Mark Turgeon - two years remaining on contract when he left Jacksonville State for Wichita State; nine when left Wichita State for Texas A&M, and four when left Texas A&M for Maryland

Deal or no deal? The length of contracts doesn't seem to carry any weight as a factor in the equation as long as your brain cells or ethical standards don't put any stock into length of an existing pact. Following is an alphabetical list detailing coaches such as Kermit Davis (departing Middle Tennessee State for Ole Miss) and Danny Hurley (Rhode Island for UConn) reportedly still having contractual obligations of more than five seasons when they left a school for greener pastures during their careers:

• Steve Alford (10 years remaining on contract) - left New Mexico (following 2012-13 season)/hired by UCLA
• Rick Barnes (6) - Clemson (1997-98)/Texas
• John Beilein (6) - Richmond (2001-02)/West Virginia
• Tony Bennett (6) - Washington State (2008-09)/Virginia
• Dave Bliss (6) - New Mexico (1998-99)/Baylor
• Mike Brey (7) - Delaware (1999-00)/Notre Dame
• John Calipari (10) - Massachusetts (1995-96)/New Jersey Nets
• Jeff Capel III (6) - Virginia Commonwealth (2005-06)/Oklahoma
• Tom Crean (9) - Marquette (2007-08)/Indiana
• Keith Dambrot (6) - Akron (2016-17)/Duquesne
• Kermit Davis (6) - Middle Tennessee State (2017-18)/Mississippi
• Jamie Dixon (7) - Pittsburgh (2015-16)/Texas Christian
• Matt Doherty (6) - Florida Atlantic (2005-06)/Southern Methodist
• Bryce Drew (7) - Valparaiso (2015-16)/Vanderbilt
• Larry Eustachy (6) - Utah State (1997-98)/Iowa State
• Dennis Felton (6) - Western Kentucky (2002-03)/Georgia
• Tim Floyd (6) - New Orleans (1993-94)/Iowa State
• Tim Floyd (8) - Iowa State (1997-98)/Chicago Bulls
• Travis Ford (7) - Massachusetts (2007-08)/Oklahoma State
• Billy Gillispie (8) - Texas A&M (2006-07)/Kentucky
• Brian Gregory (7) - Dayton (2010-11)/Georgia Tech
• Leonard Hamilton (7) - Miami (Fla.) (1999-00)/Washington Wizards
• Fred Hoiberg (8) - Iowa State (2014-15)/Chicago Bulls
• Chris Holtmann (8) - Butler (2016-17)/Ohio State
• Ben Howland (6) - Pittsburgh (2002-03)/UCLA
• Danny Hurley (6) - Rhode Island (2017-18)/Connecticut
• Jeff Lebo (8) - Chattanooga (2003-04)/Auburn
• Gregg Marshall (8) - Winthrop (2006-07)/Wichita State
• Thad Matta (9) - Xavier (2003-04)/Ohio State
• Fran McCaffery (7) - Siena (2009-10)/Iowa
• Sean Miller (9) - Xavier (2008-09)/Arizona
• Dan Monson (10) - Gonzaga (1998-99)/Minnesota
• Lute Olson (7) - Iowa (1982-83)/Arizona
• Buzz Peterson (9) - Appalachian State (1999-00)/Tulsa
• Skip Prosser (6) - Xavier (2000-01)/Wake Forest
• Oliver Purnell (6) - Clemson (2009-10)/DePaul
• Mike Rice Jr. (7) - Robert Morris (2009-10)/Rutgers
• Steve Robinson (7) - Tulsa (1996-97)/Florida State
• Kelvin Sampson (6) - Washington State (1993-94)/Oklahoma
• Shaka Smart (8) - Virginia Commonwealth (2014-15)/Texas
• Tubby Smith (6) - Georgia (1996-97)/Kentucky
• Mark Turgeon (9) - Wichita State (2006-07)/Texas A&M
• Brad Underwood (6) - Stephen F. Austin (2015-16)/Oklahoma State
• Will Wade (7) - Virginia Commonwealth (2016-17)/Louisiana State

"No, you never get any fun out of the things you haven't done." - Ogden Nash

Nobody said it was going to be easy for Buffalo, Marshall and UMBC as each of them posted their first-ever NCAA playoff victory. The preceding quote definitely rings true for Long Island because the Blackbirds still never have won an NCAA Tournament game after dropping a First Four contest this year. Following are universities competing in the NCAA playoffs the most but still possessing a defect because they are winless:

0-8 - Eastern Kentucky
0-7 - Belmont, Boise State, Long Island, Louisiana-Monroe and Nebraska

Emphasizing a "one-and-only" theme for a "one-and-only" event, here is Day 7 of a treasure-trove of tantalizing NCAA Tournament trivia questions from CollegeHoopedia.com (10 per day from Selection Sunday through the championship game) tracking the only coach, conference, player or school to be linked to a distinguished or dubious achievement (click here for answers or conduct research digesting historical morsels in CollegeHoopedia's year-by-year highlights):

1. Name the only coach to grace the NCAA playoffs in five decades. Hint: He achieved the feat with four different universities.

2. Who is the only player to score a team-high point total in his prominent school's first NCAA Tournament victory the same year he earned All-American honors as a quarterback for a national football champion? Hint: He later became executive director of the Pro Football Hall of Fame after coaching two different universities when they participated in the Rose Bowl.

3. Who is the only individual to be more than 10 games below .500 in his initial campaign as a major-college head coach and subsequently guide a team to a national championship? Hint: He won his last 10 NCAA Tournament games decided by fewer than five points. In his last two playoff appearances with the former titlist, it became the only school to receive at-large bids in back-to-back years with as many as 14 defeats entering the tourney.

4. Name the only school to be denied three NCAA Tournament berths because it was on probation. Hint: The three times the school didn't participate in the national playoffs because of NCAA probation were from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s.

5. Who was the only player to score more than 40 points in his first tournament game? Hint: The university left the Division I level for 28 years and was UCLA's first victim when the Bruins started a 38-game winning streak in the playoffs. He and his twin brother were infielders together with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

6. Name the only school to deploy just five players in an entire championship game. Hint: The school, participating in the playoffs for the first time that year, set a record for largest winning margin with a 69-point victory in its first-round game. The school is the only former NCAA champion never to compete against legendary coaches Bob Knight and Dean Smith.

7. Who is the only individual to go as many as 25 years between coaching teams in the NCAA Tournament? Hint: His first two playoff teams were eliminated in their tourney openers by eventual championship game participants.

8. Name the only school to have more than one two-time first-team All-American never reach the Final Four. Hint: One of the players is the only three-time first-team All-America to fail to appear in the NCAA playoffs. The school is the only top four seed to lose a first-round game by more than 20 points.

9. Who is the only player to have season scoring averages of fewer than 10 points per game in back-to-back years he was named to the All-NCAA Tournament team? Hint: His school reached the national championship game each season and had two different centers named Final Four Most Outstanding Player. Also, he is part of the only set of brothers to play together in two NCAA title games. One of their teammates became a marquee coach.

10. Who is the only individual to play for an NCAA basketball champion and in a major league baseball World Series? Hint: He was primarily a relief pitcher for six different teams in 13 big league seasons from 1975 through 1989.

Answers (Day 7)

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