The Thrill is Gone: Name Schools Go From NCAA Headlines to Heartaches
May 30th, 2012 - 8:03
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, nine former Final Four participants - Holy Cross, Houston, Minnesota, New Mexico State, Oregon State, Princeton, San Francisco, Southern Methodist and Texas-El Paso - combined to go winless in the past 14 years.
DePaul, Oregon State and San Francisco each have won more than 20 NCAA tourney games but collaborated for only one win in the last 23 years (DePaul over Dayton in double overtime in 2004). 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 Charlotte (11) no appearance last 7 years; winless last 11 years Clemson (11) one victory last 15 years Dayton (14) one victory last 22 years DePaul (22) appeared once last 12 years; one victory last 23 years George Washington (10) one victory last 18 years Georgia (11) one victory last 16 years Holy Cross (12) winless since 1953 Houston (19) winless last 28 years Idaho State (11) winless last 35 years Iowa (22) one victory last 13 years La Salle (11) one victory last 29 years Minnesota (11) winless last 15 years New Mexico State (19) winless last 19 years Old Dominion (11) one victory last 17 years Oregon State (16) winless last 30 years Penn (23) one victory last 32 years Pepperdine (13) one victory last 30 years Princeton (24) winless last 14 years San Francisco (16) appeared once last 30 years Santa Clara (11) no appearance last 16 years Seattle (11) winless since 1964 Southern Methodist (10) no appearance last 19 years; winless last 24 years Temple (30) one victory last 11 years Texas-El Paso (17) winless last 20 years Utah State (20) one victory last 42 years Virginia (17) one victory last 17 years Weber State (14) winless last 13 years Wyoming (14) one victory last 25 years