Unfinished Business: X Never Has Marked Its Spot at Elusive Final Four

March 20th, 2016 - 22:25

Weep On It/Think On It/Sleep On It/Drink On It. That could be the motto for Xavier after the Musketeers remained a "Susan Lucci" school in Division I after another loss in the NCAA Tournament preventing them from reaching the Promised Land. Brigham Young, Missouri and Xavier are the only three schools participating in more than 25 NCAA Tournaments but never advancing to a Final Four. X exhibited traits where it showed potential of marking a spot at the national semifinals this year but the #2 seed in the East Regional was blindsided twice by Wisconsin three-point specialist Bronson "Mr. Big Shot" Koenig in the last 13 seconds.

Missouri has reached a regional final on four occasions but fell short in advancing to the Final Four. Boston College is another bridesmaid multiple times, losing three regional finals (1967, 1982 and 1994) in 18 tourney appearances (22-19 record) since the field expanded beyond eight teams in 1950.

Alabama (20-20) is the only school with a non-losing NCAA playoff record among the following list of five frustrated institutions in a quagmire because they've made a minimum of 20 appearances without reaching the Final Four:

School Tourney Appearances (Playoff Record Through 2016) Regional Final Losses
Utah State 20 (6-22 mark, .214) 1970
Brigham Young 29 (15-32, .319) 1951 and 1981
Missouri 26 (22-26, .458) 1976, 1994, 2002 and 2009
Xavier 26 (24-26, .480) 2004 and 2008
Alabama 20 (20-20, .500) 2004