Get a Grip: Premier Programs Will Always Recover From Dry Spells
The sky is falling! The sky is falling! Chicken Little fans and willfully dense media members, sounding like end-of-the-world doom-and-gloomers from the Sequester Administration, can get on your nerves because of their lack of historical perspective.
Kansas' defeat at Texas Christian sandwiched between two more setbacks was disconcerting but Jayhawks fans shouldn't be on suicide watch as the Jayhawks strive for their fourth straight 30-win season. Plenty of premier programs recover from a reversal or two against an inferior opponent to return to elite status.
KU fans should remember that Wilt Chamberlain's final season in 1958 included one of the most amazing turnarounds in NCAA history. Nebraska, in the midst of 15 consecutive losing seasons, was clobbered at Kansas by 56 points (102-46) before upsetting the Jayhawks (43-41) four games later in Omaha. In the Cornhuskers' next outing, they defeated top-ranked Kansas State (55-48), a team that had overwhelmed them by a total of 46 points in two previous matchups. Nebraska never has won an NCAA Tournament game, making the Cornhuskers treasure the moment even more when they defeated NCAA champion-to-be Kansas in the regular season in 1988.
Cincinnati, compiling just one winning record in Metro Conference competition (8-6 in 1985) in 12 years from 1978 through 1989, is the only school to register a losing record in a season it won a road game against a conference rival that later became NCAA champion. The 12-16 Bearcats, notching a 5-7 Metro mark, won at Louisville (84-82) midway through the 1985-86 campaign when guard Roger McClendon poured in 24 of his 35 points in the second half. The Cardinals recovered from their only home-court loss that year and the embarrassment of squandering a 13-point, second-half lead against Cincinnati to wind up capturing the NCAA title.
Michigan State dominated the 1979 NCAA Tournament, handing each of its five playoff opponents, a quintet averaging 25.6 victories, their worst defeat of the year - Lamar (31-point margin), LSU (16), Notre Dame (12), Penn (34) and Indiana State (11). Consequently, most observers don't recall the glaring defect of the Magic Johnson-led Spartans earlier that season when they were defeated by four Big Ten Conference second-division teams (including three finishing the year at least four games below .500 in league competition). One of Michigan State's setbacks was by 18 points against perennial cellar dweller Northwestern, which had 35 consecutive losing league records from 1969 through 2003.
Florida '98 is the only school at least four games below .500 in league play to win on the road against a conference opponent (Kentucky) that wound up capturing the NCAA Tournament crown later that season. The Gators went on to become the only school to capture back-to-back NCAA titles despite losing a league game each year to an opponent with a conference mark at least four games below .500 (2006 and 2007).
In the aftermath of Miami (Fla.) becoming the first school to whip luminaries Duke and North Carolina by more than 25 points in the same season, following is a chronological list of the 11 schools at least four games under .500 in conference competition to defeat a league rival ending the season as NCAA titlist including four of them in an eight-year span from 2003 through 2010:
| Second-Division Team | Season | Overall (Losing League Record) | Upset Against Eventual NCAA Champion |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oregon State | 1938-39 | 13-11 (6-10 in PCC) | Beavers defeated Oregon, 50-31 |
| Oregon | 1958-59 | 9-16 (3-13 in PCC) | Ducks defeated California, 59-57 |
| Illinois | 1978-79 | 19-11 (7-11 in Big Ten) | Illini defeated Michigan State, 57-55 |
| Northwestern | 1978-79 | 6-21 (2-16 in Big Ten) | Wildcats defeated Michigan State, 83-65 |
| Wisconsin | 1978-79 | 12-15 (6-12 in Big Ten) | Badgers defeated Michigan State, 83-81 |
| Nebraska | 1987-88 | 13-18 (4-10 in Big Eight) | Cornhuskers defeated Kansas, 70-68 |
| Florida | 1997-98 | 14-15 (6-10 in SEC) | Gators won at Kentucky, 86-78 |
| Rutgers | 2002-03 | 12-16 (4-12 in Big East) | Scarlet Knights defeated Syracuse, 68-65 |
| South Carolina | 2005-06 | 23-15 (6-10 in SEC) | Gamecocks defeated Florida, 68-62 |
| Louisiana State | 2006-07 | 17-15 (5-11 in SEC) | Tigers defeated Florida, 66-56 |
| North Carolina State | 2009-10 | 20-16 (5-11 in ACC) | Wolfpack defeated Duke, 88-74. |
Two separate Nebraska teams in an eight-year span from 1958 through 1965 finished with an overall losing record despite knocking off a nationally top-ranked club during the same season. Following is a list of nine opponents finishing a campaign with a losing mark despite upending a #1 team (in reverse order):
South Carolina (15-16 record in 2009-10; fifth-place finish in Eastern Division of SEC; defeated Kentucky, 68-62, on 1-26-10 to snap a three-game losing streak in league competition for the Gamecocks)
Florida State (12-17 record in 2001-02; tied for seventh place in ACC; defeated Duke, 77-76, on 1-6-02 before the Seminoles lost 12 of their last 16 games)
Clemson (12-19 record in 2000-01; ninth-place/last-place finish in ACC; defeated North Carolina, 75-65, on 2-18-01 to snap an eight-game losing streak in league competition for the Tigers before they subsequently lost four more in a row)
Wake Forest (13-15 record in 1988-89; seventh-place finish in ACC; defeated Duke, 75-71, on 1-21-89 in the midst of a streak where the Deacons lost six of eight games)
Washington (11-16 record in 1978-79; tied for eighth place in Pacific-10; defeated UCLA, 69-68, on 2-22-79 as the Huskies lost 11 of their last 15 league games)
Nebraska (10-15 record in 1964-65; tied for sixth place in Big Eight; defeated Michigan, 74-73, on 12-12-64 before the Huskers lost 10 of their next 13 games)
Maryland (10-13 record in 1958-59; tied for third place in ACC; defeated North Carolina, 69-51, on 2-21-59 after the Terrapins lost six of their previous seven games)
Nebraska (10-13 record in 1957-58; tied for fourth place in Big Seven; defeated Kansas State, 55-48, on 3-3-58 for the Huskers' fourth straight league victory after dropping eight of their first nine)
Northwestern (9-13 record in 1953-54; tied for fifth place in Big Ten; defeated Indiana, 100-90, on 2-13-54 for second of five straight conference victories after the Wildcats lost eight of their previous nine outings)