Editor’s note: this list only includes seasons going back to ’84-’85, when the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams. 

28) ’00-’01 Stanford

After reaching the Final Four as a #3 seed in 1998, Stanford gained a reputation over the next several seasons as a paper tiger, continually getting upset in the tournament’s first weekend as a high seed. The one time they did advance to the Sweet 16 was in 2001 with this squad, which was arguably the most talented roster in program history. They were anchored by the Collins brothers, senior forward Jarron and junior center Jason, plus dynamic scoring guard Casey Jacobsen, who became the first player in school history to be named a 1st-Team All-American. A late December upset over then top-seeded Duke was the highlight of a regular season that started with 20 consecutive wins, and saw Stanford in the top five of the AP polls every week, including #1 overall seven times. As the top seed in the West regional, they cruised through UNC-Greensboro, Saint Joseph’s, and Cincinnati in the first three rounds to reach the Regional Finals against #3 seed Maryland in Anaheim. After huge performances in the first three rounds, Jacobsen slumped against the Terps, finishing with just 14 points on 4-of-11 shooting from the field, while the Collins twins struggled with foul trouble against the formidable Maryland front line. A 87-73 defeat against Maryland was by far Stanford’s biggest loss of the season, as their previous two defeats had been by a combined seven points. Both Collins brothers moved on to the NBA and it took Stanford seven years to make it back to the Sweet 16.

27) ’85-’86 St. John’s

Though by March they were looking strong enough to merit inclusion on this list, expectations were pretty low for St. John’s coming into the ’85-’86 season. Sure, they had reached the Final Four in ’84-’85, but star Chris Mullin had graduated and was now in the NBA, as was stalwart center Bill Wennington. Into the void stepped two more local star products, Walter “The Truth” Berry from Harlem and Mark Jackson from Brooklyn. They led the Johnnies to something no other team in school history has accomplished before or since, the Big East regular season and tournament titles, capping off a 29-4 regular season, a #4 spot in the AP polls (they were unranked in the pre-season), and a top seed in the NCAA Tournament. Berry was the Wooden Award winner while Jackson’s 9.1 assists per game led the nation but they ran into a buzzsaw in the tournament’s second round and his name was Chuck Person. The Auburn star dominated St. John’s with 27 points and 15 rebounds, almost single-handedly spurring an 81-65 upset blowout. Berry finished the game with 20 points but couldn’t handle Person defensively, and Jackson finished with 12 assists but just three points on 1-of-8 shooting from the field. Forgoing his senior season, Berry was a lottery pick later that summer but lasted just three years in the NBA before playing the rest of his pro career in Europe.

26) ’89-’90 Syracuse

A rare inclusion on this list that didn’t win its conference title in the regular season or tournament and entered the NCAA Tournament as a #2 seed, but that shows just how talented they were. There were six future NBA players on the roster, highlighted by senior All-American Derrick Coleman. Hyper skilled, senior-laden, and expertly coached, the Orange started the season #3 in the AP poll and eventually moved up to #1 for six consecutive weeks early in the season. They struggled some down the stretch, losing four conference games in a competitive Big East but still came into the NCAA Tournament looking dangerous a two seed. After blowing out Coppin State in the opening round, Syracuse barely survived #7 seed Virginia in the Round of 32, with a last-second blocked shot by Coleman securing a 63-61 win. In the Regional Semifinals, on the same Superdome court where they had played in the Final Four in 1987, Syracuse doomed themselves with poor free throw shooting, making just eight of 20 attempts from the foul line in an 82-75 loss to Minnesota. Coleman struggled in his final game as an amateur, shooting just 5-of-13 from the floor and 3-of-8 on free throws for 15 points. Just a few months later he was selected first overall by the Nets in the NBA Draft.

25) ’03-’04 St. Joseph’s

All throughout the ’03-’04 season, as they were compiling the best regular season campaign in school history, St. Joseph’s heard a cacophony of critics doubting their ability to win in the NCAA Tournament, where they’d finally face top tier talent. Sure, the Hawks, with a 27-0 record, became the first NCAA team to finish the regular season undefeated since UNLV in ’90-’91, and finished the year ranked #1 in the AP poll for the first time ever. But because they played in the mid-major Atlantic 10, only one of those wins came against a ranked team, and St. Joseph’s finished the season being stunned by Xavier in their opening game of the Atlantic 10 Tournament, in the quarterfinals. The Hawks were still granted a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and they defeated major conference opponents Texas Tech in the second round and Wake Forest in Regional Semifinals. Reigning Naismith winner Jameer Nelson firmly outplayed his point guard counterpoint Chris Paul in that game, finishing with 24 points and seven assists. He played terrifically in the Regional Finals against Oklahoma State as well, finishing with a near triple-double with 17 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists, but the Hawks otherwise struggled offensively and fell, 64-62. Nelson had a chance to tie the game at the end, but his pull-up jumper came up just short. St. Joseph’s has made just three NCAA Tournament appearances in the 16 years since, and has yet to return to the AP poll at any point. Both Nelson and his dynamic back court teammate Delonte West moved on to the NBA, where they faced off several times over the next several seasons as their respective Cavaliers and Magic teams became rivals.

24) ’91-’92 Ohio State

’91-’92 was supposed to be an all-time great season for Ohio State but instead they became a mere footnote in the arguable peak of their biggest rival, Michigan. Led by Lawrence Funderburke and All-American Jim Jackson, the two biggest recruits in the early days of coach Randy Ayers, the Buckeyes won 23 games, spent the entire season in the AP top 10, and cruised to the Big 10 title. They had swept their two regular season match-ups against the Wolverines, but by the time the arch rivals matched up again in the Southeast Regional Finals in Lexington, Kentucky, the freshman Fab Five had fully come of age. Chris Webber finished with 11 rebounds and a game high 23 points, including a tip-in late in regulation that forced overtime, where Michigan prevailed, 75-71. Jackson finished with 20 points in the game but also nine turnovers and soon after declared early for the NBA Draft, where he was selected fourth overall by the Mavericks. Ohio State slumped for the next few seasons, missing seven consecutive NCAA Tournaments, but eventually did reach the Final Four in 1999 under new coach Jim O’Brien.

23) ’08-’09 Oklahoma

A former star player at Duke, with whom he reached the Final Four in 1994, Jeff Capel had big shoes to fill when he took over as Oklahoma’s coach in 2006 at the age of 31. His two predecessors, Billy Tubbs and Kelvin Sampson, had both guided the Sooners to Final Four appearances, and the pressure was on the young Capel to keep the tradition alive. His efforts in ’08-’09 were boosted by the emergence of sophomore Blake Griffin, who would end the season winning every major individual accolade, including the Naismith Award, 1st-Team All-American, and the nation’s leading rebounder. Also featuring Blake’s older brother, Taylor, in the front court, Oklahoma finished the season 27-5. They were granted a #2 seed in the NCAA Tournament but done no favors by the selection committee, who slotted them into the South region, which was headlined by consensus title favorites North Carolina. Sure enough, the top two seeds met in the Regional Finals and despite 23 points and 16 rebounds from Griffin, the Sooners fell to the Tar Heels, 72-60. Griffin would soon be the top pick in the NBA Draft, with Taylor also getting selected in the second round. Two years later, Capel was fired by Oklahoma after back-to-back losing seasons.

22) ’16-’17 Kansas

It was a given that Kansas would appear multiple times on this list, as they’ve been a consistent title threat since the mid ’80s and therefore bound by probability to blow it at least sometimes. The most recent example was in ’16-’17, when the nation’s top recruited freshman, Josh Jackson, joined a lineup that already featured preseason All-Americans Devonte Graham and Frank Mason. The Jayhawks won 18 straight early on, including an upset of then #1 Duke, and then finished the regular season atop the AP poll themselves, with a 28-3 record. Mason won the Naismith Award while Jackson was Big 12 Rookie of the Year but an upset loss to TCU in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals would prove to be an omen. After averaging 96 points per game in their first three NCAA Tournament wins, over UC Davis, Michigan State, and Purdue, respectively, Kansas went ice cold in the Regional Finals against Oregon. With Jackson struggling with foul trouble, the Jayhawks shot just 35% from the field, including 5-of-25 on three-pointers, in a 74-60 upset loss. It was especially stunning that the Jayhawks lost the game in Kansas City, which is less than an hour’s drive from campus. Though they lost Jackson and Mason that summer to the NBA, Kansas rallied in ’17-’18, returning to the Final Four for the third time under coach Bill Self.

21) ’93-’94 Purdue

Every now and then, the purposefully indiscriminate manner in which teams are slotted into the NCAA Tournament bracket sets up an unfairly heavyweight Regional Finals match-up. Maybe the most egregious example came in 1994, when Purdue and Duke were the top two seeds in the Southeast Region but arguably also the two best teams in the country. They also featured maybe the nation’s two best players in Glenn Robinson and Grant Hill. While Duke was seeking its sixth Final Four appearance in a seven year stretch, this was a new level of expectations for the Boilermakers. Robinson led the nation in scoring at 30.3 points per game and earned the Wooden and Naismith awards while leading Purdue to a 26-4 record and the Big 10 title. It was difficult enough having to face Duke in the Regional Final in Knoxville, Tennessee but rendered even more arduous by Robinson suffering a strained back in their Sweet 16 victory over Kansas. The star forward struggled against the Blue Devils, finishing with a season low 13 points before fouling out. Even though Hill also had an off night with his own foul trouble (only 11 points and seven rebounds), Duke got a boost from Jeff Capel and Antonio Lang leading them to a 69-60 win. Robinson opted out of his senior season and was drafted first overall by the Bucks (Hill went third to Pistons). Purdue has returned to at least the Sweet 16 in eight NCAA Tournaments since this one, but have still yet to break through to the Final Four.

20) ’96-’97 Wake Forest

He would eventually reach six NBA Finals with the Spurs, winning five of them, but Tim Duncan failed to ever carry Wake Forest to the Final Four. In his freshman season, ’94-’95, he teamed up with All-American Randolph Childress to lead the Deacons to a #1 seed but they were upset in the Regional Semifinals by Oklahoma State. They made it a step further in ’95-’96, advancing to the Regional Final before losing to eventual national champion Kentucky, so expectations were at a fever pitch in ’96-’97 for a program that was then 35 years removed from its last Final Four trip. Duncan won the Naismith, Wooden, and Defensive Player of the Year awards in his junior season and led the nation in rebounding at 14.7 per game. But facing double teams and even triple teams during the entire contest, he struggled some in their second round NCAA Tournament face-off with Stanford. Duncan finished the game with 18 points and 20 rebounds, but only four of those points came in the second half, as Stanford rallied behind Brevin Knight for a stunning 72-66 win. It was a disappointing end to a stellar amateur career, as Duncan surprised no one by soon after declaring early for the NBA Draft. Wake Forest has struggled ever since and their Final Four drought is now 49 seasons and counting.

19) ’88-’89 Oklahoma

When Billy Tubbs took over as Oklahoma coach in 1980, the program was 32 years removed from its last NCAA Tournament appearance. By the end of the decade, not only were they fixtures in March Madness, they were consistently one of the best teams in the country and even reached the National Final in 1988, losing to conference rival Kansas. With three senior leaders returning from that ’87-’88 Final Four squad, including top scorer Stacey King and star point guard Mookie Blaylock, anything less than the first national title in program history would have been a disappointment for the ’88-’89 Sooners. They cruised through the regular season, winning 26 games, spending three weeks at #1 in the AP poll, and seeing King and Blaylock earn All-American honors. But the month of March turned into a disaster, starting with an upset loss to Missouri in the Big 8 Tournament final. Still a top seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Sooners had to survive an incredible scare in the first round, coming back from 17 points down just to avoid a monumental first round upset against #16 seed East Tennessee State. Oklahoma bounced back with an easy second round win over Louisiana Tech but were eliminated in the Regional Semifinals in a stunning 86-80 loss to Virginia. While Cavaliers freshman phenom Bryant Stith led all scorers with 28 points, Blaylock struggled, especially after an eye injury late in the first half that limited his vision for the remainder of the game.

18) ’99-’00 Duke

Long before Zion Williamson, R.J. Barrett, and Cam Reddish, Duke had another dynamic freshman trio in ’99-’00 with Jay Williams, Carlos Boozer, and Mike Dunleavy. Recruited to replenish a Final Four roster from ’98-’99 that lost four starters to the NBA Draft, the young trio teamed up with upperclassmen All-Americans Shane Battier and Chris Carrawell to lead Duke to the ACC regular season and tournament titles. The Blue Devils finished the season 27-4 but quietly racked up those wins against an abnormally weak ACC and easy overall schedule, winning just five games all season against teams ranked in the top 25. They were still atop the AP poll heading into the NCAA Tournament, where they were granted the top seed in the East Region. After wins over Lamar and Kansas in the first two rounds, Duke took on a team of destiny in the Regional Semifinals. Florida had survived an upset attempt from Butler in the first round thanks to a Mike Miller buzzer beater and eventually propelled all the way to the National Final as a #5 seed. The Gators made multiple comebacks to stun Duke, including scoring the last 13 points of the game in an 87-78 win. All three vaunted freshmen struggled for the Blue Devils, with Boozer fouling out early, Williams shooting just 6-of-20 from the field (and also fouling out late), and Dunleavy committing four turnovers while scoring just four points. They all returned in ’00-’01 looking for revenge (alongside a senior Battier) and found it, winning the third national championship of the Coach K era.

17) ’95-’96 Connecticut

An epic Big East Tournament final win over Allen Iverson and Georgetown capped an incredible ’95-’96 season for Ray Allen and Connecticut. They closed it out with 29 wins in their final 30 games, nine consecutive weeks in the AP top five, and Allen earning UPI Player of the Year. Following Regional Semifinals or Regional Final losses in 1990, 1991, 1994, and 1995, UConn fans were eager to see the team make its first Final Four appearance in program history. Instead, that honor went to their Sweet 16 opponent, Mississippi State. Led by unheralded shooting guard Darryl Wilson, who scored 27 points while defending Allen for most of the game, the #5 seeded Bulldogs came away with a 60-55 upset. Future lottery pick Erick Dampier added 15 points and four blocks for Mississippi State, while Allen struggled, shooting just 9-of-25 from the field as the Huskies shot 25.4% from the field as a team. Though Allen left that summer for the NBA and the ’96-’97 season ended without even an NCAA Tournament bid, Connecticut would soon after make their first Final Four and win the championship in 1999.

16) ’05-’06 Villanova

Sporting a hotshot young coach in Jay Wright, two All-American seniors in Randy Foye and Allan Ray, and a #1 seed for the first time in school history, Villanova seemed primed for big things in the 2006 NCAA Tournament. But it was a rough March for top seeds, with all four of them coming up short of reaching the Final Four. The Wildcats’ tormentor was Florida, more specifically Joakim Noah, who finished the game with 21 points, 15 rebounds, and five blocks, as the Gators easily advanced, 75-62. Ray and Foye struggled from the field all game, stifled by Florida’s pressure defense, as did sophomore guard Kyle Lowry and the rest of the Villanova roster. They shot just 24.7% from the field as a team, with Ray especially struggling, shooting 5-of-19, while Foye managed to score 25 points thanks to 10 free throw attempts. It was a rough end to a stellar season for Villanova, who spent all but one week in the AP top five and finished with a 25-4 record. Wright did lead them to the Final Four three years later and eventually to national titles in 2016 and 2018.

15) ’85-’86 North Carolina

Following back-to-back Final Four appearances in 1981 and 1982, winning the title in the latter behind a freshman Michael Jordan, North Carolina actually struggled for the remainder of the ’80s. Despite Jordan’s presence, the ’82-’83 and ’83-’84 teams were upset short of the Final Four, as was the ’84-’85 team, which lost in the Regional Final to #8 seed and eventual Cinderella champion Villanova. The entire starting lineup and sixth man returned to campus in ’85-’86, highlighted by eventual #1 overall pick Brad Daugherty. The Tar Heels won their first 21 games of the ’85-’86 season by an average margin of 26 points, and were #1 in the AP poll from late November through mid February. They started to struggle down the stretch, losing four of their last nine games and slipping to a #3 seed in the West Region of the NCAA Tournament. Though they still managed to reach the Sweet 16, North Carolina were blitzed there by Louisville, who was led by freshman star Pervis Ellison and eventually won the national title. It was ultimately part of a stretch of eight consecutive NCAA Tournaments where North Carolina fell in the Regional Semifinals or Regional Final, which they finally broke with a Final Four appearance in 1991.

“At the moment, it seemed like just a tough break for Indiana, but it was ultimately the beginning of the end for [Bobby] Knight’s reign in Bloomingdale.”

14) ’88-’89 Arizona
13) ’97-’98 Arizona

Though these two seasons came a decade apart for Arizona, they had a lot in common. Both disappointments came a year after a Final Four appearance, in the latter case a national title. Both featured a veteran, battle-tested team that was expected to build on, or at least repeat, that previous year’s success. And both cruised along in the regular season, with the ’88-’89 team finishing 27-3 and as the #1 team in the nation, while the the ’97-’98 team was 27-4 and #4. In 1989, they had the misfortune of facing an under-seeded UNLV team (#4 seed) in the Regional Semifinals, and Anderson Hunt gave the Runnin’ Rebels a 68-67 upset with a buzzer beating three-pointer. The game was a showdown between Arizona’s Wooden Award winner Sean Elliott and UNLV’s Defensive Player of the Year Stacey Augmon, with Elliott finishing with an impressive 22 points and 15 rebounds but Augmon making him work for everything. The Wildcats lost Elliott (as the third overall pick) and senior forward Anthony Cook (#24 pick) to the NBA Draft that summer, as well as senior guard Kenny Lofton (who was burned by Hunt on the winning shot) to the MLB, and struggled over the next few years. They made a surprise run to the championship in 1997 and came into ’97-’98 as an overwhelming title favorite thanks to the return of starters and future NBA draftees Mike Bibby, Miles Simon, Michael Dickerson, A.J. Bramlett, and Jason Terry. Following some tough losses early in the season, Arizona won 20 of their last 21 games and entered the tournament as a red-hot top seed. They defeated Nicholls State and Indiana State in the first two rounds by a combined 72 points, then cruised past Maryland in the Regional Semifinals. Their Regional Finals loss to Utah was one of the most stunning in Elite Eight history, not just for improbability but for the decisiveness, a 25-point win for the Utes. Coach Rick Majerus deployed an archaic triangle-and-two defense that completely discombobulated Arizona, holding them to 51 points after the team had averaged 90+ per game during the regular season. Bibby, Dickerson, and Simon were downright anemic from the field, shooting a combined 6-of-36 (16.7%), while Utah’s Andre Miller had a triple-double with 18 points, 14 rebounds, and 13 assists in the 76-51 victory. It was arguably the most disappointing loss in Arizona’s tournament history, even more so than their first round upset as a #2 seed in 1993.

12) ’15-’16 Michigan State

By far the highest ranked team on this list whose season ended in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Michigan State suffered easily the most shocking loss of the Tom Izzo era to end their ’15-’16 season. They were coming off a surprise run to the Final Four in 2015 as a #7 seed and entered ’15-’16 as a rarity in the modern age, a high profile team anchored by three NBA level talents who stayed in school through their senior season. Point guard Denzel Valentine was the best of the trio, an All-American, Naismith finalist, Wooden finalist, and winner of the AP National Player of the Year, Big 10 Player of the Year, and Big 10 Tournament MVP. They were #1 in the country for four weeks early in the season, then, after a slight mid-season slump, won 13 of their final 14 games and the Big 10 Tournament to secure a #2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. But they soon became just the eighth second seed to get upset in the first round of the tournament and it was in decisive fashion, in a 90-81 loss to Middle Tennessee. The Blue Raiders never trailed the entire game and shot an incredible 11-of-19 from three-point range. Valentine had 13 points and 12 assists but six turnovers while his senior back court mate, Bryn Forbes, shot just 4-of-12 from the field. It was only the fourth first round loss in Izzo’s 22 tournament appearances at the helm, and easily the most upsetting.

11) ’92-’93 Indiana

With a fifth Final Four appearance in 1992, three of which had previously ended with national titles, Bob Knight’s legacy at Indiana was still growing and the program seemed basically unstoppable for the foreseeable future. The ’92-’93 Hoosiers brought back almost the entire lineup from the ’91-’92 team that lost to Duke in the National Semifinals, including their top four scorers. Senior guard Calbert Cheaney was their superstar and wound up winning all the major awards, including the Wooden and the Naismith. They spent the entire season in the AP top five, including five weeks at #1, and almost swept a highly competitive Big 10, with just one loss coming in overtime at Ohio State. That schedule included two victories over Michigan, which featured the Fab Five as sophomores but also an early season loss to Kansas which would serve as a harbinger. Coming into the NCAA Tournament as the #1 overall seed, Indiana survived a scare from Xavier in the second round but otherwise coasted into the Regional Finals. They received a tough draw however, having to take on Kansas in a virtual road game for the Hoosiers in St. Louis, which is only about a four hour drive from the Jayhawks’ home digs in Lawrence. Kansas lacked star power but used their depth to shut down everyone on Indiana except for Cheaney, who finished with 22 points and nine rebounds, and senior point guard Greg Graham, who added 23 points. The other Hoosiers were basically non-entities, and Kansas shot just under 60% from the field to pull off the 83-77 upset. At the moment, it seemed like just a tough break for Indiana, but it was ultimately the beginning of the end for Knight’s reign in Bloomingdale. They made just one Sweet 16 appearance in his final seven seasons as head coach before he was dismissed in 2000 for assaulting one of his players during a practice.

10) ’93-’94 North Carolina

In a decade that featured future pro stars Rasheed Wallace, Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison, and Jerry Stackhouse, it was NBA also-rans Eric Montross and Donald Williams who led North Carolina to their one title of the ’90s in 1993. Their most disappointing finish came the next year, when Montross and Williams were joined by freshman phenoms Wallace and Stackhouse, rendering the Tar Heels as heavy favorites to repeat as champs in ’93-’94. The regular season was a minor disappointment, with four losses against unranked teams leading to a second place finish in the ACC behind Duke but North Carolina recovered to win the ACC Tournament, finish the season #1 in the AP poll, and enter the NCAA Tournament as the consensus favorites. This set up arguably the biggest second round upset in tourney history, with UNC losing 75-72 to #9 seed Boston College. The Eagles were led by senior center Bill Curley, who finished with 18 points and nine rebounds, and got a boost from UNC assists leader Derrick Phelps sitting out most of the second half after taking a hard foul from BC freshman Danya Abrams (this so incensed the normally composed Dean Smith that he stormed the court to confront Abrams and had to be restrained). Wallace missed a potential game-tying three-pointer at the buzzer to end the game but came back strong in 1995, earning NCAA Tournament All-Region honors (along with Stackhouse and Williams) while leading North Carolina back to the Final Four.

9) ’09-’10 Kansas

When we called Boston College’s defeat of North Carolina in 1994 arguably the biggest second round upset in NCAA Tournament history, this Kansas team is the reason we had to use the “arguably” qualifier. Featuring eight players who would eventually play in the NBA (though none of them have reached the All-Star level), this was likely the most talented roster in Bill Self’s tenure. Senior guard Sherron Collins and junior center Cole Aldrich were All-Americans, while prized recruit Xavier Henry came as advertised, finishing second on the team in scoring. They started the season #1 in the AP poll and ended the season in the same position. In between, they fell out of the top position just four times out of a possible 19, and never lower than #3. They also suffered just two losses while cruising to the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles. Then, in one March day in nearby Oklahoma City, it all became moot as the Jayhawks found themselves stunned in the NCAA Tournament second round by #9 seed Northern Iowa. Led by Ali Farokhmanesh, the Panthers held the lead for almost the entire game, holding off a furious rally from Kansas late to pull out the shocking win. Henry and Aldrich were soon NBA lottery picks while Collins went un-drafted but signed as a free agent with the Bobcats. Of this roster, the best NBA player turned out to be Markieff Morris, who earned a championship ring with the Lakers in 2020.

8) ’12-’13 Indiana

It comes as a surprise considering how much talent Bob Knight recruited and occasionally failed to lead to the Final Four, but this was the best Indiana team of the modern era to fall short in March Madness. It was easily the height of coach Tom Crean’s time at the helm, with junior Victor Oladipo and sophomore Cody Zeller leading the way. Both stars were named All-Americans, Oladipo was Defensive Player of the Year, and the highly hyped Hoosiers were #1 in the country for the first six weeks of the season and then again for essentially all of February. But as much as things changed at Indiana, there was still a holdover in store from the Knight era, where a Hoosiers team took the floor for a tournament game looking woefully unprepared for their specific opponent. In this case it was Syracuse in the Regional Semifinals, whom Indiana had last played in the National Final in 1987, the second title of Knight’s career. After averaging 78.6 points per game during the season and never scoring less than 56 in a single game, Indiana was completely shut down by the patented Orange zone defense in a 61-50 loss, shooting just 34% from the field. Oladipo played well but struggled with foul trouble, while Zeller slumped, shooting 3-of-10 from the field for 10 points. The star duo was selected #2 and #4 overall in the impending NBA Draft and Indiana missed the tournament altogether in ’13-’14.

7) ’02-’03 Arizona

Lute Olson’s 24 years at Arizona had plenty of impressive rosters, but his undeniably best streak of recruiting came in the aftermath of winning the national title in 1997. Starting with Richard Jefferson in ’98-’99, Olson went on a tear of culling top flight talent, with Luke Walton, Gilbert Arenas, Salim Stoudamire, Channing Frye, and Will Bynum following soon after. It crested in ’02-’03, when returning starters Stoudamire, Frye, and Bynum were joined by the dynamic freshman duo of Andre Iguodala and Hassan Adams. The Wildcats came into the season #1 in the AP poll and held that spot for 13 out of a possible 19 weeks. They lost just twice in the regular season but were stunned in the Pac-10 Tournament quarterfinals by UCLA. All five starters averaged double-digit scoring for Arizona, led by senior guard Jason Gardner, who was named 2nd-Team All-American, while Iguodala and Adams were strong presences off the bench. They were ultimately lucky to make it as far as they did in the NCAA Tournament, as the Wildcats survived a scare from #9 seed Gonzaga in the second round, just barely hanging on in double overtime by a final score of 96-95. Things seemed back on track in the Regional Semifinals, when they easily set aside Notre Dame 88-71, setting up a Regional Final match-up against Kansas. It was a battle of elite point guards, with Gardner looking strong but ultimately getting outplayed by Kansas’ Kirk Hinrich, who finished with 28 points, five rebounds, and five assists in a 78-75 upset. Arizona has been a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament just once since, in 2014, when they also lost in the Regional Finals.

6) ’18-’19 Duke

As we’ll reveal later in the list, this was not quite the greatest Duke team to fall short of the Final Four but it was certainly close. After losing his entire starting lineup from the year before to the NBA, Coach K didn’t rebuild, he reloaded, landing three of the nation’s top five recruits, plus the #13 recruit as a cherry on top. There were still questions early on about whether a team so heavily reliant on freshman was truly a title contender but Duke answered that early with wins in 14 of their first 15 games, including blowouts over top 10 opponents Kentucky, Texas Tech, and Auburn.  While R.J. Barrett and Cam Reddish did have some inconsistencies through the season, Zion Williamson exploded into the college ranks fully ready to dominate, up until a knee injury cost him three weeks of playing time right before the NCAA Tournament. He returned on time to help Duke win the ACC Tournament, finish the season at #1 in the AP poll and enter the NCAA Tournament with the top seed in the East region. After a first round romp over North Dakota State, the heavily favored Blue Devils had a difficult time for the rest of the tournament, just barely surviving upset bids from #9 seed Central Florida in round two and #4 seed Virginia Tech in the Regional Semifinals. Their luck finally caught up with them in the Elite Eight, where an upperclassmen-laden Michigan State team was able to neutralize everyone on the floor for Duke besides Williamson (who finished with 24 points and 14 rebounds) in a 68-67 upset win. Barrett had a couple chances to win or tie it for Duke but missed a go-ahead three-pointer with 12 seconds left, then a free throw with five seconds left that basically clinched the game. Williamson was soon the #1 overall pick in the NBA Draft, with Barrett and Reddish following him later in the lottery.

5) ’99-’00 Cincinnati

In a unique twist for this list, Cincinnati’s tournament failure can be directly tied to a late-season injury to their best player, Kenyon Martin. There was some other killer talent on this roster, highlighted by the freshman back court duo of Kenny Satterfield and DerMarr Johnson, but losing the reigning Naismith Award and Defensive Player of the Year winner was just too much to handle come March. After finishing the regular season 28-2 and #1 in the AP poll, Cincinnati was playing against Saint Louis in the Conference USA Tournament quarterfinals when Martin broke his leg about three minutes into the game. The shellshocked Bearcats lost that game and about a week later they were unceremoniously dumped out of the NCAA Tournament, losing in the second round as a #2 seed to #7 seed Tulsa, 69-61. The inexperienced Satterfield and Johnson struggled in the game, shooting a combined 4-of-19 from the field. It marked the fourth consecutive season that Bob Huggins’ Cincinnati squad had been knocked out of the NCAA Tournament in the second round despite being the higher seed each time. It was an especially unfortunate end to the collegiate career of Martin, who was on the roster for all four losses and could have declared early for the NBA but came back for his senior season only to break his leg at the worst possible time. There was a happy ending however, as Martin was still selected with the top pick in the 2000 NBA Draft and had a solid pro career, including two NBA Finals appearances with the Nets.

4) ’05-’06 Duke

Far from the most talented Duke team on paper, the ’05-’06 squad was however the most dominant in the regular season. They started the season ranked #1 in the AP poll, held that spot for 11 consecutive weeks until a late January loss to Georgetown, then regained it in early March after winning the ACC Tournament. This can at least partially be attributed to ’05-’06 being the last NCAA season before the NBA re-instituted a draft age eligibility rule, meaning that a glut of potential star freshmen were skipping school instead. Thus, Duke was a rarity in the 21st century, a dominant NCAA team led by two seniors, J.J. Redick, the Wooden Award and Naismith Award winner, and Shelden Williams, the Defensive Player of the Year. The duo had led Duke to the Regional Semifinals as a #1 seed a year prior but were upset at that point by Michigan State. A similar fate awaited them in 2006, when they were the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament but couldn’t advance past the Sweet 16. This time, they were knocked off by LSU, who had more athletic, NBA ready talent in Glen Davis and Tyrus Thomas. Redick shot a paltry 3-of-18 from the field in his final college game, finishing with just 11 points in the loss.

3) ’09-’10 Kentucky

All John Calipari did in his first year at Kentucky was build maybe the greatest and most controversial recruiting class of all time, with five star freshmen in John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Patrick Patterson, Eric Bledsoe, and Daniel Orton. Following the NBA age eligibility being re-instituted a few years prior, Calipari was the first coach to brazenly embrace rebuilding his roster year-after-year around obvious one-and-done talent. This was a sea change amongst major NCAA programs and it almost paid immediate dividends for Kentucky. They lost just two games the entire regular season, captured the SEC regular season and tournament titles, spent 19 straight weeks in the AP top five (though they were ranked #1 just once, in late January), and entered the NCAA Tournament as a top seed and the reputation as co-favorites with Kansas. Their first three tournament games were all blowouts, winning by an average of 25.3 points per game over East Tennessee State, Wake Forest, and Cornell, before running into #2 seed West Virginia in the Regional Final. The Wildcats missed their first 20 three-point attempts of the game and were hampered throughout by the Mountaineers’ pressure defense in a 73-66 upset loss. Perhaps most striking about the game was that Kentucky’s five star freshmen would soon after make history by all getting drafted in the first round while West Virginia had just one future NBA draftee, second round pick Devin Ebanks. Undaunted, Calipari continued with his recruiting strategy and quickly found success, leading a freshman-laden team to the Final Four in 2011 and then to a national title in 2012.

2) ’96-’97 Kansas

How good was Kansas during the ’96-’97 regular season? They never dipped below #2 in the AP poll and spent the final 15 weeks of the season at #1. They won 32 games, 23 of them by a double-digit margin and 14 of them by 20 points or more, including two in the Big 12 Tournament. They lost just one game and that was in double overtime against Missouri. They had a 1st-Team All-American in junior forward Raef Lafrentz and a 2nd-Team All-American in senior point guard Jacque Vaughn, and their second-leading scorer was future NBA superstar Paul Pierce. Unlike many of the other teams on this list, the Jayhawks didn’t even particularly struggle in their ultimate tournament loss, they just got outplayed. It’s no coincidence that they’re also the only team on this list that lost to the eventual NCAA champions, falling to Arizona in the Regional Semifinals. Pierce was terrific in the loss, with 27 points and 11 rebounds, but Vaughn struggled some with turnovers while Lafrentz took a while to get going with his shooting, and a late Kansas comeback fell just short, with Mike Bibby leading the way to an 85-82 Arizona upset. The game sent shockwaves through brackets across the country but would be almost forgotten just a couple weeks later when the Wildcats defeated two other top seeds, North Carolina and Kentucky, en route to the title. For these Kansas seniors, which also featured Scot Pollard and Jerod Haase in addition to Vaughn, they were the winningest class in school history, but also the first since 1981 to go four years without a Final Four appearance.

1) ’01-’02 Duke

A decade after they had repeated as champions in 1991 and 1992, it seemed like perfect symmetry for Duke and Coach Krzyzewski to repeat the feat in 2001 and 2002. Jay Williams, Carlos Boozer, Chris Duhon, and Mike Dunleavy were all holdovers from that ’00-’01 title team, while freshman Daniel Ewing and transfer Dahntay Jones solidified the roster. They started the season #1 in the AP poll and held that spot for eight straight weeks and 13 overall, never falling further than #3. Williams won the Naismith and Wooden awards and Dunleavy joined him on the All-American team. Their NCAA Tournament got off to a strong start, defeating Winthrop 84-37 followed by a tough but definitive win over Notre Dame. Duke fans likely weren’t losing sleep over Regional Semifinal opponent Indiana, and sure enough the Blue Devils were running away with it in the first half, opening up a 17 point lead. This dissipated in a hurry in the second half though, as Hoosiers star Jared Jeffries led a massive comeback. Indiana took their improbable first lead of the game with exactly one minute remaining setting up a wild finish. Trailing by four in the final seconds, Williams made an incredible offensive rebound, then nailed a three-pointer while being fouled. But his game tying free throw was off the mark, as was Boozer’s potential game winning tip-in, ending Duke’s season earlier than anyone expected. Indiana propelled all the way to the National Final from there, where they lost to Duke’s ACC rival Maryland. Few tears were shed for the Blue Devils and rightfully so, as they returned to the Final Four two years later and eventually won another championship in 2010.