Prior to pathetic playoff performance, Brandon Miller (Alabama) was outstanding as a freshman in becoming an NCAA consensus second-team All-American. But he fell short of first-team acclaim. Two years ago, Oklahoma State's Cade Cunningham achieved a distinction luminaries Mark Aguirre, Carmelo Anthony, Stephen Curry, Patrick Ewing, Phil Ford, Tyler Hansbrough, James Harden, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Bernard King, Alonzo Mourning, Shaquille O'Neal, Derrick Rose, Ralph Sampson and Russell Westbrook failed to do. Cunningham became an NCAA consensus first-team All-American as a freshman. He was the 25th yearling on the following chronological list in this rare-air category named first-team A-A:

Freshman First-Team All-American	Pos.	College	Year	Freshman All-American Recognition
Arnie Ferrin	F	Utah	1944	C1
Tom Gola	C-F	La Salle	1952	C1
Keith Lee	C	Memphis State	1982	C1, AP2
Wayman Tisdale	F-C	Oklahoma	1983	AP1, C1, USBWA1, UPI2, NABC3
Chris Jackson	G	Louisiana State	1989	AP1, UPI1, USBWA1, NABC2
Kenny Anderson	G	Georgia Tech	1990	NABC1, AP3
Kevin Durant	F	Texas	2007	AP1, NABC1, USBWA1
Greg Oden	C	Ohio State	2007	AP1, NABC2, USBWA2
Michael Beasley	F	Kansas State	2008	AP1, NABC1, USBWA1
Kevin Love	C	UCLA	2008	AP1, USBWA1, NABC2
DeMarcus Cousins	C	Kentucky	2010	AP1, NABC2, USBWA2
John Wall	G	Kentucky	2010	AP1, NABC1, USBWA1
Jared Sullinger	F-C	Ohio State	2011	AP1, NABC1, USBWA1
Anthony Davis	C	Kentucky	2012	AP1, NABC1, USBWA1
Jabari Parker	F	Duke	2014	USBWA1
Jahlil Okafor	C	Duke	2015	AP1, NABC1, USBWA1
D'Angelo Russell	G	Ohio State	2015	AP1, NABC1, USBWA1
Ben Simmons	F-G	Louisiana State	2016	NABC1, USBWA1, AP2
Lonzo Ball	G	UCLA	2017	AP1, NABC1, USBWA1
Deandre Ayton	C	Arizona	2018	AP1, NABC1, USBWA1
Marvin Bagley III	F-C	Duke	2018	AP1, NABC1, USBWA1
Trae Young	G	Oklahoma	2018	AP1, NABC1, USBWA1
R.J. Barrett	G	Duke	2019	AP1, NABC1, USBWA1
Zion Williamson	F	Duke	2019	AP1, NABC1, USBWA1
Cade Cunningham	G	Oklahoma State	2021	AP1, NABC1, USBWA1

Although the event is in its ninth decade, there are attractive power school match-ups never to have occurred in NCAA Tournament. Long before we ever heard of coronavirus, the potentially entertaining intra-sectional playoff contests between storied programs never to take place in the NCAA playoffs included:

• Georgetown vs. Indiana
• Georgetown vs. Michigan
• Georgetown vs. UCLA
• Michigan vs. St. John's
• North Carolina vs. St. John's
• Notre Dame vs. St. John's
• Notre Dame vs. UCLA
• Notre Dame vs. Villanova
• St. John's vs. UCLA
• Syracuse vs. UCLA

North Carolina A&T appeared in the NCAA playoffs the most times (nine) without winning a tournament game until prevailing in 2013 First Four. But N.C. A&T still has a long way to go to join the ranks of "quick-exit" schools such as battered Brigham Young, the only institution with as many as 20 opening-round reversals in NCAA tourney.

Connecticut, after absorbing nine opening-round losses in 17 years from 1951 through 1967, had the most opening-round setbacks for an extended period. But the Huskies didn't incur an opening-round reversal for 28 years until suffering two in a recent five-year span before leaving again early in back-to-back recent playoffs. Similarly, St. John's suffered eight opening-round losses in a 20-year stretch from 1973 through 1992.

Maryland was the first school to incur at least 10 NCAA Tournament defeats but never absorb an opening-round setback until the Terrapins lost to Santa Clara in 1996. Mizzou's loss against former Big Eight/Big 12 rival Oklahoma, eight years after toothless Tigers were embarrassed by Norfolk State despite being favored by more than 20 points, left them among the following schools most prone to sustaining an opening-round NCAA tourney defeat:

After Richmond shocked Jim Boeheim-coached Syracuse in 1991 and Santa Clara kayoed Lute Olson's Arizona squad in 1993, the next three #15 seed victories over #2 seeds came at the hands of historically-black colleges and universities - Coppin State over South Carolina in 1997, Hampton over Iowa State in 2001 and Norfolk State over Missouri in 2012.

However, no HBCU institution has reached the Sweet 16 and the last 13 representatives in non-preliminary round contests have a losing margin of 26.4 points since Norfolk State's success. Perceived in most quarters as picking-on-patsies fodder, the truth about black crime in basketball is that it's a big sin many fans don't know or can't recall the high degree of success historically-black colleges and universities enjoyed at the small-college level. For instance, Norfolk State appeared in the NCAA Division II Tournament 10 times in a 12-year span from 1984 until finishing third in the 1995 tourney. But most of these HBCU institutions currently are imprisoned at the NCAA Division I level, where they are little more than indentured servants doing the bidding of their major-university masters almost always getting whipped on the road during non-conference competition.

What many observers should know is seven different historically black colleges and universities advancing to the NCAA DI level captured a total of nine NAIA and NCAA College Division Tournament championships in a 21-year span from 1957 through 1977 (Tennessee State from 1957 through 1959, Grambling '61, Prairie View A&M '62, Winston-Salem State '67, Morgan State '74, Coppin State '76 and Texas Southern '77). Coppin State is the lone school in this group to go on and post a triumph in the NCAA Division I playoffs.

Winson-Salem State saw what life looked like on the DI side of the fence and abandoned ship after only one season. All but two of the 25 HBCUs endured at least one season with 20 defeats in a six-year span from 2003-04 through 2008-09. The pair that emerged unscathed during that stretch were Hampton (worst record was 13-17 in 2003-04) and Norfolk State (11-19 in 2006-07).

Despite both leagues prevailing in the same year for the first time in 2021, conference members from the Mid-Eastern Athletic and Southwestern Athletic have won only 10% of their NCAA Division I Tournament games after Howard University and Texas Southern each succumbed by more than 20 points this year. Alcorn State registered the first three of the following modest total of 14 HBCU wins in the DI tourney versus non-HBCU competition (eight in preliminary-round competition; SWAC's Texas Southern matched up against MEAC's North Carolina Central in First Four in 2018) since the SWAC and MEAC moved up to the Division I level in 1979-80 and 1980-81, respectively:

1980 Midwest First Round: #8 Alcorn State 70 (Baker/Smith team-high 18 points), #9 South Alabama 62 (Rains 22)
1983 Midwest Preliminary Round: Alcorn State 81 (Phelps 18), Xavier 75 (Fleming 16)
1984 Midwest Preliminary Round: Alcorn State 79 (Phelps 21), Houston Baptist 60 (Lavodrama 14)
1993 West First Round: #13 Southern (LA) 93 (Scales 27), #4 Georgia Tech 78 (Mackey 27)
1997 East First Round: #15 Coppin State 78 (Singletary 22), #2 South Carolina 65 (McKie 16)
2001 West First Round: #15 Hampton 58 (Williams 16), #2 Iowa State 57 (Rancik/Shirley 10)
2004 Preliminary Round: Florida A&M 72 (Woods 21), Lehigh 57 (Tempest 13)
2010 Preliminary Round: Arkansas-Pine Bluff 61 (Smith 14), Winthrop 44 (Corbin 13)
2012 West First Round: #15 Norfolk State 86 (O'Quinn 26), #2 Missouri (Dixon 22)
2013 Preliminary Round: North Carolina A&T 73 (Underwood 19), Liberty 72 (Marshall 22)
2015 Preliminary Round: Hampton 74 (Chievous/Johnson 15), Manhattan 64 (Richards 17)
2021 Preliminary Round: Texas Southern 60 (Walker III 19), Mount St. Mary's 52 (Chong Qui 14)
2021 Preliminary Round: Norfolk State 54 (Hawkins 24), Appalachian State 53 (Forrest 18)
2022 Preliminary Round: Texas Southern 76 (Etienne 21), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (67 (Tennyson 18)

If upper-crust elite schools smugly look down their noses, they might find their opponents boast the upper hand by looking down the barrel of a gun or in the eye of a blinking Owl (Florida Atlantic). Just ask former NCAA champions Virginia and Arizona plus #1 seed Purdue after they were upset by mid-majors Furman, Princeton and Fairleigh Dickinson, respectively. The Boilermakers have been eliminated by bottom-of-the-bracket opponents each of the last three years.

In 2013, two mid-major at-large entrants reached a regional final (La Salle and Wichita State) after also failing to capture a regular-season league title like UR. Generous doses of humility frequently occur. Nine years ago, #3 seeds Duke and Syracuse were embarrassed by Mercer and Dayton, respectively. They joined Marquette among 20 former national champions losing multiple times in the tourney against members of lower-profile conferences seeded five or more places worse than the major university currently a member of one of the consensus power-six leagues.

Kansas has a high of seven such setbacks as a total of 12 former NCAA titlists have lost three or more such contests. Four years ago, Baylor joined KU and four other power-league members (Florida, Georgetown, Indiana and Vanderbilt) in losing playoff games in back-to-back seasons thus far in the 21st Century against mid-major foes with double-digit seeds. In the wake of ACC's mediocre campaign again, has part-time ACC commish/publicist Jay Bilas mentioned on ESPN about 14 ACC members collectively having been victimized by such illegal mid-major aliens crossing over power-league border as much as any power alliance? Would Bilas, also seemingly serving as NCAA executive director in absentia, and other self-anointed national experts have advocated for FAU, FDU, Furman, New Mexico State, Princeton, Richmond and Saint Peter's as at-large entrants if they didn't win their postseason conference tournaments?

Who did they play (mid-majors in NCAA playoff competition) and who did they beat (power-league members seeded five or more slots better)? Well, a total of 95 different lower-profile schools and current members of 24 different mid-major conferences (all but Northeast) have won 172 such games since seeding was introduced in 1979. The nation's fans simply don't bow down at the power-league altar worshiping mediocrity. The mid-major schools with the most "David vs. Goliath" playoff victories cited in the following list are Richmond and Gonzaga with seven apiece:

ACC (34 defeats against mid-major opponents seeded five or more places worse) - Boston College (lost against #12 seed Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2005); Clemson (#13 Southwest Missouri State in 1987 and #11 Western Michigan in 1998); Duke (#11 Virginia Commonwealth in 2007, #15 Lehigh in 2012 and #14 Mercer in 2014); Florida State (#13 Middle Tennessee State in 1989); Georgia Tech (#13 Richmond in 1988 and #13 Southern in 1993); Louisville (#12 Ball State in 1990, #12 Butler in 2003 and #13 Morehead State in 2011); Miami (#11 Loyola of Chicago in 2018); North Carolina (#9 Penn in 1979, #14 Weber State in 1999 and #11 George Mason in 2006); North Carolina State (#14 Murray State in 1988); Notre Dame (#14 UALR in 1986, #11 Winthrop in 2007 and #11 Old Dominion in 2010); Pittsburgh (#10 Kent State in 2002, #13 Bradley in 2006 and #8 Butler in 2011); Syracuse (#7 Navy in 1986, #11 Rhode Island in 1988, #15 Richmond in 1991, #13 Vermont in 2005 and #11 Dayton in 2014); Virginia (#12 Wyoming in 1987, #12 Gonzaga in 2001, #16 UMBC in 2018, #13 Ohio University in 2021 and #13 Furman in 2023); Wake Forest (#13 Cleveland State in 2009)

BIG EAST/including AAC member Cincinnati from previous league configuration (21) - Cincinnati (lost to #12 Harvard in 2014 and #7 Nevada in 2018); Connecticut (#11 George Mason in 2006, #13 San Diego in 2008 and #12 New Mexico State in 2022); Creighton (#11 Rhode Island in 2017); DePaul (#12 New Mexico State in 1992); Georgetown (#10 Davidson in 2008, #14 Ohio University in 2010, #11 Virginia Commonwealth in 2011 and #15 Florida Gulf Coast in 2013); Marquette (#12 Tulsa in 2002 and #12 Murray State in 2019); Providence (#12 Pacific in 2004 and #11 Dayton in 2015); St. John's (#10 Gonzaga in 2000 and #11 Gonzaga in 2011); Seton Hall (#7 Western Kentucky in 1993 and #11 Gonzaga in 2016); Villanova (#14 Old Dominion in 1995 and #10 Saint Mary's in 2010)

BIG TEN (34) - Illinois (lost to #14 Austin Peay State in 1987, #12 Dayton in 1990, #14 Chattanooga in 1997, #12 Western Kentucky in 2009 and #8 Loyola of Chicago in 2021); Indiana (#14 Cleveland State in 1986, #13 Richmond in 1988, #11 Pepperdine in 2000 and #13 Kent State in 2001); Iowa (#14 Northwestern State in 2006 and #12 Richmond in 2022); Maryland (#12 College of Charleston in 1997); Michigan (#11 Loyola Marymount in 1990 and #13 Ohio University in 2012); Michigan State (#14 Weber State in 1995, #11 George Mason in 2006 and #15 Middle Tennessee State in 2016); Minnesota (#12 Middle Tennessee State in 2017); Nebraska (#14 Xavier in 1991 and #11 Penn in 1994); Ohio State (#12 Utah State in 2001, #9 Wichita State in 2013, #11 Dayton in 2014 and #15 Oral Roberts in 2021); Purdue (#11 Virginia Commonwealth in 2011, #12 UALR in 2016, #13 North Texas in 2021, #15 Saint Peter's in 2022 and #16 Fairleigh Dickinson in 2023); Wisconsin (#12 Southwest Missouri State in 1999, #11 Georgia State in 2001, #7 UNLV in 2007, #10 Davidson in 2008 and #12 Cornell in 2010)

BIG 12 (27) - Baylor (lost to #14 Georgia State in 2015 and #12 Yale in 2016); Iowa State (#15 Hampton in 2001 and #14 UAB in 2015); Kansas (#9 Texas-El Paso in 1992, #8 Rhode Island in 1998, #14 Bucknell in 2005, #13 Bradley in 2006, #9 Northern Iowa in 2010, #11 Virginia Commonwealth in 2011 and #7 Wichita State in 2015); Kansas State (#11 Tulane in 1993, #13 La Salle in 2013, #13 UC Irvine in 2019 and #9 Florida Atlantic in 2023); Oklahoma (#13 Southwestern Louisiana in 1992, #13 Manhattan in 1995, #13 Indiana State in 2001, #11 Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2006 and #12 North Dakota State in 2014); Oklahoma State (#12 Princeton in 1983, #10 Temple in 1991 and #12 Tulsa in 1994); Texas (#11 Northern Iowa in 2016 and #14 Abilene Christian in 2021); Texas Tech (#11 Southern Illinois in 2002); West Virginia (#14 Stephen F. Austin in 2016)

PACIFIC-12 (22) - Arizona (lost to #14 East Tennessee State in 1992, #15 Santa Clara in 1993, #12 Miami of Ohio in 1995, #11 Wichita State in 2016, #13 Buffalo in 2018 and #15 Princeton in 2023); California (#12 Wisconsin-Green Bay in 1994 and #13 Hawaii in 2016); Oregon State (#10 Lamar in 1980, #11 Evansville in 1989 and #12 Ball State in 1990); Southern California (#13 UNC Wilmington in 2002); Stanford (#14 Siena in 1989 and #10 Gonzaga in 1999); UCLA (#12 Wyoming in 1987, #13 Penn State in 1991, #12 Tulsa in 1994, #13 Princeton in 1996 and #12 Detroit in 1999); Utah (#10 Miami of Ohio in 1999 and #11 Gonzaga in 2016); Washington State (#12 Penn in 1980)

SEC (36) - Alabama (lost to #11 Lamar in 1983, #11 South Alabama in 1989, #10 Kent State in 2002 and #12 Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2005); Auburn (#12 Richmond in 1984); Florida (#12 Creighton in 2002, #12 Manhattan in 2003, #8 Butler in 2011 and #15 Oral Roberts in 2021); Georgia (#14 Chattanooga in 1997 and #11 Southern Illinois in 2002); Kentucky (#7 UAB in 1981, #11 Middle Tennessee State in 1982, #9 UAB in 2004 and #15 Saint Peter's in 2022); Louisiana State (#13 Navy in 1985 and #11 UAB in 2005); Mississippi (#13 Valparaiso in 1998); Mississippi State (#12 Eastern Michigan in 1991, #12 Butler in 2003, #7 Xavier in 2004 and #12 Liberty in 2019); Missouri (#13 Xavier in 1987, #11 Rhode Island in 1988, #14 Northern Iowa in 1990, #15 Norfolk State in 2012 and #15 Princeton in 2023); South Carolina (#15 Coppin State in 1997 and #14 Richmond in 1998); Tennessee (#12 Southwest Missouri State in 1999, #7 Wichita State in 2006, #11 Loyola of Chicago in 2018 and #9 Florida Atlantic in 2023); Vanderbilt (#13 Siena in 2008, #13 Murray State in 2010 and #12 Richmond in 2011)

NOTES: Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State were members of the Big Eight until 1997. Mizzou left the Big 12 for SEC in 2013. . . . Notre Dame was an independent in 1986. . . . Florida State, Louisville and Tulane were members of the Metro Conference in 1989, 1990 and 1993, respectively. . . . Butler was a member of the Horizon League in 2003 and 2011. . . . Dayton was a member of the Midwestern Collegiate in 1990. . . . DePaul was a member of the Great Midwest in 1992. . . . Texas-El Paso and Utah were members of the WAC in 1992 and 1999, respectively. . . . Marquette and Louisville were members of Conference USA in 2002 and 2004, respectively. . . . Tulsa was a member of Missouri Valley in 1994 and 2002. . . . Xavier was a member of Midwestern Collegiate in 1987 and 1991 and Atlantic 10 in 2004. . . . Boston College was a member of the Big East in 2005. . . . Defeats for Maryland (ACC), Louisville (Big East), Pittsburgh (Big East) and Syracuse (Big East) came when they were members of another power league.

You're supposed to expect the unexpected but no unbiased observer with a pulse promoted idea in the preseason that Furman would eventually upend ACC powerhouse Virginia for the Cavaliers' third "bottom-of-bracket" reversal in last five NCAA Tournaments, Princeton would kayo another Western dignitary and pint-sized FDU DII transfers would frustrate massive Zach Edey (7-4). In the first six years of the NCAA tourney seeding process from 1979 through 1984 when the playoff field ranged from 40 to 53 teams, the bottom of the bracket racket included a total of 13 No. 1 and 2 seeds losing their openers. Notwithstanding the misleading media's spin, the NCAA tourney hasn't been saturated with authentic upsets since the playoff field expanded to at least 64 teams in 1985. On the other hand, there were only five years in that span failing to provide a first-round shocker from the bottom of the bracket (1994, 2000, 2004, 2007 and 2017).

Teams seeded 13th or worse defeated teams seeded among the top four in a regional a total of 64 times in the last 38 tourneys after the Paladins emerged victorious in opening-round game this year. At least Kentucky's stunning reversal last year against Saint Peter's wasn't as ugly as a couple of sorry SEC setbacks when Navy overwhelmed LSU by 23 points in 1985 and Siena smothered Vanderbilt by 21 in 2008.

Arizona's similar shocking defeat against Santa Clara in 1993 materialized despite the Wildcats reeling off 25 unanswered points in a stretch bridging the last five minutes of the first half and the first five minutes of the second half. Gary Waters is the only coach to win two opening-round games in this category while in charge of two different schools (Kent State in 2001 and Cleveland State in 2009).

Until Virginia's 1 vs. 16 debacle five years ago, Michigan State was the only #2 seed to lose its playoff opener after spending a portion of the regular season atop the AP national poll. Following is a rundown of the first 64 first-round knockouts by the bottom of the bracket (#13 through #16 seeds) since the NCAA field expanded to at least 64 teams in 1985:

#16 seed (2 victories)

Year	#16 Seed Winner	Coach	#1 Seed Loser	Score
2018	Maryland-Baltimore County	Ryan Odom	Virginia	74-54
2023	Fairleigh Dickinson	Tobin Anderson	Purdue	63-58

#15 seed (11 victories)

Year	#15 Seed Winner	Coach	#2 Seed Loser	Score
1991	Richmond	Dick Tarrant	Syracuse	73-69
1993	Santa Clara	Dick Davey	Arizona	64-61
1997	Coppin State	Ron "Fang" Mitchell	South Carolina	78-65
2001	Hampton	Steve Merfeld	Iowa State	58-57
2012	Lehigh	Dr. Brett Reed	Duke	75-70
2012	Norfolk State	Anthony Evans	Missouri	86-84
2013	Florida Gulf Coast	Andy Enfield	Georgetown	78-68
2016	Middle Tennessee State	Kermit Davis Jr.	Michigan State	90-81
2021	Oral Roberts	Paul Mills	Ohio State	75-72 (OT)
2022	Saint Peter's	Shaheen Holloway	Kentucky	85-79 (OT)
2023	Princeton	Mitch Henderson	Arizona	59-55

#14 seed (21 victories)

Year	#14 Seed Winner	Coach	#3 Seed Loser	Score
1986	Arkansas-Little Rock	Mike Newell	Notre Dame	90-83
1986	Cleveland State	Kevin Mackey	Indiana	83-79
1987	Austin Peay State	Lake Kelly	Illinois	68-67
1988	Murray State	Steve Newton	North Carolina State	78-75
1989	Siena	Mike Deane	Stanford	80-78
1990	Northern Iowa	Eldon Miller	Missouri	74-71
1991	Xavier	Pete Gillen	Nebraska	89-84
1992	East Tennessee State	Alan LeForce	Arizona	87-80
1995	Weber State	Ron Abegglen	Michigan State	79-72
1995	Old Dominion	Jeff Capel Jr.	Villanova	89-81 (3OT)
1997	Tennessee-Chattanooga	William "Mack" McCarthy	Georgia	73-70
1998	Richmond	John Beilein	South Carolina	62-61
1999	Weber State	Ron Abegglen	North Carolina	76-74
2005	Bucknell	Pat Flannery	Kansas	64-63
2006	Northwestern State	Mike McConathy	Iowa	64-63
2013	Harvard	Tommy Amaker	New Mexico	68-62
2014	Mercer	Bob Hoffman	Duke	78-71
2015	UAB	Jerod Haase	Iowa State	60-59
2015	Georgia State	Ron Hunter	Baylor	57-56
2016	Stephen F. Austin	Brad Underwood	West Virginia	70-56
2021	Abilene Christian	Joe Golding	Texas	53-52

#13 seed (32 victories)

Year	#13 Seed Winner	Coach	#4 Seed Loser	Score
1985	Navy	Paul Evans	Louisiana State	78-55
1987	Southwest Missouri State	Charlie Spoonhour	Clemson	65-60
1987	Xavier	Pete Gillen	Missouri	70-69
1988	Richmond	Dick Tarrant	Indiana	72-69
1989	Middle Tennessee State	Bruce Stewart	Florida State	97-83
1991	Penn State	Bruce Parkhill	UCLA	74-69
1992	Southwestern Louisiana	Marty Fletcher	Oklahoma	87-83
1993	Southern (La.)	Ben Jobe	Georgia Tech	93-78
1995	Manhattan	Fran Fraschilla	Oklahoma	77-67
1996	Princeton	Pete Carril	UCLA	43-41
1998	Valparaiso	Homer Drew	Mississippi	70-69
1999	Oklahoma	Kelvin Sampson	Arizona	61-60
2001	Indiana State	Royce Waltman	Oklahoma	70-68 (OT)
2001	Kent State	Gary Waters	Indiana	77-73
2002	UNC Wilmington	Jerry Wainwright	Southern California	93-89 (OT)
2003	Tulsa	John Phillips	Dayton	84-71
2005	Vermont	Tom Brennan	Syracuse	60-57 (OT)
2006	Bradley	Jim Les	Kansas	77-73
2008	San Diego	Bill Grier	Connecticut	70-69 (OT)
2008	Siena	Fran McCaffrey	Vanderbilt	83-62
2009	Cleveland State	Gary Waters	Wake Forest	84-69
2010	Murray State	Billy Kennedy	Vanderbilt	66-65
2011	Morehead State	Donnie Tyndall	Louisville	62-61
2012	Ohio University	John Groce	Michigan	65-60
2013	La Salle	John Giannini	Kansas State	63-61
2016	Hawaii	Eran Ganot	California	77-66
2018	Buffalo	Nate Oats	Arizona	89-68
2018	Marshall	Dan D'Antoni	Wichita State	81-75
2019	UC Irvine	Russell Turner	Kansas State	70-64
2021	North Texas	Grant McCasland	Purdue	78-69 (OT)
2021	Ohio University	Jeff Boals	Virginia	62-58
2023	Furman	Bob Richey	Virginia	68-67

Unless you're busy hoarding toilet paper for next pandemic, hoping Plagiarist Biledumb makes it up steps of Air Farce One again or cowering in fetal position from college basketball version of Orson Welles' War of the Worlds, it's your opportunity to start taking online tests for 23 quarantined days symbolic of normal time frame from Selection Sunday to Monday evening championship contest.

We need something to occupy our minds during quarantine from much of the invective-infected #MessMedia. Emphasizing a "one-and-only" theme for a "one-and-only" event, here is Day 5 of a treasure-trove of tantalizing NCAA Tournament trivia questions from CollegeHoopedia.com 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 is the only player to score more than 30,000 points in his pro career after never appearing in NCAA playoffs? Hint: He is the only former major-college player to become NBA Most Valuable Player after failing to participate in NCAA Tournament. He was 0-2 in the NIT, where he lost his final college game by 41 points, before leaving college for the pros with one season of eligibility remaining.

2. Who is the only person to play for an NBA championship team before coaching an NCAA titlist? Hint: He was a backup to an NBA all-time great after being the leading scorer and rebounder for a team winning an NIT crown.

3. Who became an NCAA playoff coach after being the only player in history to participate with two different schools in the NCAA championship game? Hint: One of the teams he played for was undefeated. He coached two different schools in the tourney.

4. Who is the only coach to engineer a turnaround featuring an NCAA playoff appearance in his first full season at a new job although the school compiled a record of more than 20 games below .500 the previous year? Hint: It was his only year as coach at the school.

5. Name the only mid-major conference to have two different members reach a regional semifinal as at-large teams in the same year, beating opponents from the Big East, Big 12 and SEC in the process. Hint: Two other members of the same league achieved the feat in the previous seven years. Only two of its current members haven't won playoff games when seeded five or more places worse than a major university currently a member of one of the current consensus top six leagues since seeding started in 1979.

6. Name the only former NCAA Tournament champion not to win at least one playoff game since capturing the title. Hint: It's the first NCAA champion to have black players in its starting lineup and is the only school to win the NCAA playoffs and NIT in the same year. The school is also the only former major college to win a Division I Tournament championship.

7. Name the school with the most playoff games decided by one or two points (four) on its way to a championship. Hint: It was the first school to need six victories to claim the national crown and is the only school to have two different coaches capture a national championship after compiling a losing record in their first seasons as a major-college head coach.

8. Who is the only coach to win his first 12 tournament games decided in overtime or by fewer than six points in regulation? Hint: His first of three NCAA championship game teams had four players become NBA first-round draft choices.

9. Name the only state to have more than six different schools reach the Final Four. Hint: The state went 31 years between its two national championships.

10. Name the only person to coach two different universities in back-to-back years when each school made its initial playoff appearance. Hint: He reached the national championship game with one of the schools.

Answers (Day 5)

Day 4 Questions and Answers

Day 3 Questions and Answers

Day 2 Questions and Answers

Day 1 Questions and Answers

Unless you're busy hoarding toilet paper prior to next pandemic or cowering in fetal position from college basketball version of Orson Welles' War of the Worlds, it's your opportunity to start taking online tests for 23 quarantined days symbolic of normal time frame from Selection Sunday to Monday evening championship contest.

Emphasizing a "one-and-only" theme for a "one-and-only" event, here is Day 4 of a treasure-trove of tantalizing NCAA Tournament trivia questions from CollegeHoopedia.com 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 conference to have five different members win the national championship although it has only one title in the previous 24 years. Hint: One of the five members to capture a title didn't participate in the NCAA playoffs from 1948 through 1993. The league came within eight points of going 0-11 in the tournament in 1995 and 1996.

2. Name the only conference to have all of its current members win at least one NCAA Tournament game in the 1990s. Hint: It's the only league to have all of its current members participate in at least 10 NCAA playoff games.

3. Who is the only coach to have more than 15 of his teams appear in the playoffs but none reach the Final Four? Hint: He has the worst record in NCAA Tournament history for any coach with at least 25 decisions and was also 1-5 in the NIT. He has more victories as a pitcher in the College World Series for his alma mater than basketball Final Four appearances. He is the only coach with more than 700 victories never to advance to the national semifinals.

4. Who is the only retired major college coach with more than 700 victories never to reach Final Four? Hint: He is the only coach to go at least 20 years between NCAA Tournament appearances with same school.

5. Who is the only coach to leave an NCAA champion before the next season for another coaching job? Hint: He is the only coach to earn a trip to the Final Four in his first college season despite finishing the season with at least 10 defeats. He is also the only coach to reach the NCAA final after finishing fourth or lower in regular-season conference standings. Moreover, he is one of just two coaches, both were also NBA head coaches, to take two different schools to the NCAA playoff championship game.

6. Who is the only coach to direct teams to the NCAA Final Four and the NBA Finals and compile a winning NCAA playoff career record? Hint: His son coached at three Division I schools, taking two of them to the NCAA playoffs.

7. Name the only school to become NCAA champion despite losing five home games during the regular season. Hint: The school didn't participate in nine consecutive NCAA Tournaments and twice in a four-year span in the mid-1970s lost a first-round game after reaching the national final the previous season.

8. Name the only coach of an NCAA titlist to previously play major league baseball. Hint: The Hall of Famer's 18-year college head coaching career was all at one university.

9. Who is the only coach to compile NCAA playoff records at least three games above .500 at two different schools (minimum of five victories at each school) before Rick Pitino arrived at Louisville? Hint: The coach earned a doctorate.

10. Name the only school to have six different coaches take the university to the Final Four. Hint: Of the schools winning at least two national championships, it's the only one in the select group to go more than 25 years between titles.

Answers (Day 4)

Day 3 Questions and Answers

Day 2 Questions and Answers

Day 1 Questions and Answers

At least LeBron James didn't win Will Smith slap-happy woke award for vilifying law enforcement. Deceased Kobe Bryant, who didn't study film making in college because he went straight to the NBA from high school, won an Oscar five years ago for "best animated short" (Dear Basketball). Six years ago, former Saint Mary's guard Mahershala Ali became the first Muslim actor to win an Oscar and also won an Academy Award for his best supporting actor role as a Miami drug dealer named Juan in Moonlight. Among his credits was role as Remy Danton in House of Cards. Ali, named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2019, secured his second Academy Award for Supporting Actor stemming from his portrayal of Dr. Don Shirley in Green Book.

Ali, previously known as Hershal Gilmore, averaged 3.6 points and 1.1 rebounds per game from 1992-93 through 1995-96 under coach Ernie Kent including 7 ppg as a senior. Said one of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century according to New York Times: "When I graduated, I no longer thought of myself as an athlete. Honestly, I kind of resented basketball by the end of my time there. I'd see guys on the team get chewed up, spat out, and I was personally threatened with being shipped off to the University of Denver. All in the name of wins and productivity."

While Plagiarist Biledumb tries to remain cogent as "windy" presidential actor by sniffing hair trying to ascend Stair Farce One, no one including Chris Rock seems to boast the credentials satisfying everyone to host the overtly-political Oscars these days although Dr. Fraudci probably craves the visibility. Nonetheless, legendary Oscar Robertson would definitely be accurate in a rambling, self-absorbed speech to describe their game as inferior to his era. In deference to woke-inundated Oscar Awards this past weekend, following is an alphabetical list of movie actors/directors nominees who "had game" as well-rehearsed college basketball players before becoming famous entertainers:

DAVID ADKINS, Denver
Comedian known as Sinbad had a show by that name on the Fox Network and was a lead actor in the movie Houseguest. He vaulted to TV prominence as a co-star on the hit series A Different World and later briefly hosted Vibe, a late-night talk show.

Adkins averaged 4.2 ppg and 4.4 rpg for Denver in his varsity career from 1974-75 through 1977-78 when the Pioneers were classified as a major-college independent. He shot at least 50% from the floor all four seasons.

LLOYD VERNET "BEAU" BRIDGES, UCLA
Actor with the hit movie Fabulous Baker Boys among his credits. He is the son of Lloyd Bridges and brother of Jeff Bridges.

The 5-9 guard averaged 0.6 ppg and 1.4 rpg for UCLA's 1960-61 freshman team compiling a 20-2 record. He was a frosh teammate of Fred Slaughter, the starting center for the Bruins' first NCAA championship team in 1964.

DONNIE BURKS, St. John's
Boyish-appearing Burks was known for his performances in Broadway musicals (Hair, The American Clock and The Tap Dance Kid). His roles in several movies earned favorable reviews - The Pawnbroker, Shaft and Without a Trace. He had an American soul album (The Swingin' Sound of Soul) released in Europe and was manager of a band called Entourage.

Playmaker averaged 7.6 ppg and 1.9 rpg from 1960-61 through 1962-63 under coach Joe Lapchick after playing in high school under Lou Carnesecca. Burks appeared in 1961 NCAA Tournament against Wake Forest squad featuring All-American Len Chappell and eventual network analyst Billy Packer.

JIM CAVIEZEL, Bellevue (Wash.) Community College
Former Gap model played Jesus in Mel Gibson-directed The Passion of the Christ (2004) and was in Bobby Jones Stroke of Genius the same year. Also played the part of Slovnik in GI Jane (1997) with Demi Moore, Private Wit in Thin Red Line (1998), Catch in Angel Eyes (2001) with Jennifer Lopez, and Ashley Judd's husband in High Crimes (2002) with Morgan Freeman. In the TV drama Person of Interest on CBS, he played the role of Reese, a former member of the elite Special Forces who is now drinking heavily and at the end of his rope in New York City.

Bellevue coach Ernie Woods called Caviezel the hardest worker he had in 30 years. Caviezel's younger brother, Tim, played for the University of Washington, averaging 3.6 ppg in 1990-91 as a freshman and 4.2 ppg in 1991-92 as a sophomore before transferring to Long Beach State. Tim, a 6-7 swingman, subsequently transferred again to Western Washington, where Jim's wife, Kerri, ranks among the career leaders in five statistical categories for the women's basketball squad.

"Basketball taught me to train for every possible situation but always stay in the moment," Caviezel said.

CHEVY CHASE, Haverford (Pa.)
After a one-year stint on Saturday Night Live, Chevy quit to move to Los Angeles. Following mixed success in a variety of films, he became one of the biggest box-office draws in the U.S. in the 1980s with hits such as Caddyshack and National Lampoon's Vacation. One of his popular movie roles was as "Fletch" when he played for the Los Angeles Lakers in a dream sequence.

Chase was a JV basketball and soccer player as a freshman in 1962-63 before transferring to Bard (N.Y.).

MIKE CONNORS, UCLA
Real name of Armenian-descent actor, who had a hit TV series (Mannix) is Kerker J. Ohanian.

The 6-1, 180-pounder, nicknamed "Touch," averaged 4.6 ppg for UCLA's 1946-47 freshman squad compiling a 15-3 record.

JAMES DEAN, Santa Monica City College (Calif.)
Cultural icon of teenage disillusionment died at the age of 24 on September 30, 1955, in crash in his Porsche Spyder, which he owned for nine days. Social estrangement depicted by Dean was expressed in the title of his most celebrated film (Rebel Without a Cause/1955). After his demise, he became the first actor receiving a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Actor stemming from his role in East of Eden

"He was concise, authoritative, perceptive and alert to all that was around him (on the court)," community coach Samuel Crumpacker said. By the time Indiana native's freshman year was over, he transferred to UCLA to major in theater arts. "He was not a rebel," said Jim Grindle, a high school basketball teammate when Dean was the squad's leading scorer in all three sectional games his senior season. "Jimmy was an ordinary person with a tremendous amount of talent. A very good athlete."

DANE DiLIEGRO, New Hampshire
Actor as the Predator in the film Prey (2022).

The 6-9 DiLiegro averaged 6.9 ppg and 7.4 rpg from 2007-08 through 2010-11, leading the Wildcats in rebounding average all four seasons. His brother, Ross, was a seldom-used forward with Syracuse from 2003-04 through 2006-07.

MICHAEL CLARKE DUNCAN, Kankakee (Ill.) Community College/Alcorn State
Former bodyguard appeared in four films with Bruce Willis: Armageddon (1998; cast as Bear), Breakfast of Champions (1999), The Whole Nine Yards (2000) and Sin City (2005; cast as Manute, a powerful mobster). Breakout role occurred when he earned an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe nomination in The Green Mile. Voiced a dog Sam in Cats & Dogs (2001) and played Colonel Attar, a gorilla, in Planet of the Apes (2001). Starred alongside his friend, The Rock, in The Scorpion King (2002) and was the criminal mastermind behemoth Kingpin in Daredevil (2003).

The 6-5 Duncan was a teammate of eventual Chicago State coach Kevin Jones with Kankakee's 31-4 squad in 1980-81 before enrolling at Alcorn State under coach Davey Whitney. An excerpt in the Braves' 1983-84 media guide said: "He adds size, speed and excellent jumping ability to the roster. A very hard worker, he'll add tremendous depth to the bench." After dropping out of college because of family problems, he spent several years digging ditches for a gas company in his hometown of Chicago. "He was a tough, physical player," Whitney told CBSSports.com. "He was undersized and didn't weigh much back then, but he was very strong and powerful. He was just tough. He'd knock guys around."

TIMON KYLE DURRETT, Alcorn State
Played role of Davis West in "Queen Sugar," a drama premiering in 2017 on Oprah Winfrey's OWN network.

The 6-6 Durrett averaged 1.8 ppg and 1.4 rpg in 12 contests in 1995-96, making 9-of-11 field-goal attempts.

BILL ENGESSER, Southern California
Film actor's roles included Jerry Reed's bodyguard in Gator (1976), Richard/"Bigfoot" in The Secrets of Isis (1975), Krakow the Werewolf in House on Bare Mountain (1962) and a bit part as a man in a gym in The Nutty Professor (1963).

Seven-foot-plus Engesser collected eight points and five rebounds in four basketball games in 1958-59.

TRAVON FREE, Long Beach State
After trying stand-up comedy, he commenced a comedy-writing career that saw him write for The Daily Show and Full Frontal with Samantha Bee. For a while, he was the only black writer on staff at the Daily Show, eventually winning two Emmys. He worked on movie called "Two Distant Strangers," earning him an Oscar for "Best Live Action Short Film," at the 2021 Academy Awards. An untitled action feature he wrote (romantic spy thriller set in Africa) starring Idris Elba was purchased at auction by Apple TV+.

The 6-7 Free averaged 2.9 ppg and 2.3 rpg from 2003-04 through 2006-07 (medical redshirt in 2005-06). He made both of his field-goal attempts in four minutes of action in 2007 NCAA playoff setback against Tennessee. Free is one of the first bisexual players in NCAA history to come out of the closet.

DON GIBB, New Mexico/San Diego
Best known for his roles as the hulking, dimwitted outrageous fraternity brother "Ogre" in several installments of the Revenge of the Nerds film series, as Kumite fighter Ray Jackson in Bloodsport and as Leslie "Dr. Death" Krunchner on the HBO sitcom 1st & Ten. He left acting and went into the brewing business as co-owner of "Trader Todd's Adventure Beer. "

The 6-4 Gibb scored five points in two UNM basketball games in 1972-73 before transferring to USD and averaging 5 ppg plus 2.9 rpg with the Toreros in 1975-76 and 1976-77.

LOUIS GOSSETT JR., New York University
The son of a porter and maid, he turned to acting in high school after a leg injury temporarily impeded his hopes for a basketball career. Following his Broadway debut at 17, he attended NYU on an athletic scholarship while continuing to perform on TV and the stage. He won an Emmy in 1977 for his role in the TV miniseries Roots-Part I before winning an Oscar in 1982 as supporting actor in the box-office hit An Officer and a Gentleman.

Gossett played for NYU's freshman squad in the late 1950s.

JEROD HAYNES, Idaho
Actor and producer known for Project Blue Book (2019), The Village (2019) and Native Son (2019).

Chicago native was starter much of 2004-05 season when he finished runner-up for the Vandals in assists with 3 apg.

JASON JANEGO, Bucknell
Cofounder and co-president of RADiUS-TWC, the boutique arm of the Weinstein Company that was the first studio division dedicated to both multi-platform video on demand (VOD) and theatrical distribution. In February 2014, its film 20 Feet From Stardom won the Oscar for best documentary (feature). The company's first hit was 2012's Bachelorette.

Janego averaged 1.3 ppg from 1991-92 through 1993-94 under coach Charlie Woollum.

DENNY MILLER, UCLA
Miller became the first blond Tarzan in Tarzan, the Ape Man (1959), which lifted most of its footage from earlier Johnny Weissmuller movies. "Playing Tarzan is like being in a circus," says the 6-4 Miller on his web site. "Go ride that elephant, play with that chimp, swing on that vine. It's a terrific job for a guy who grew up to be a kid." Miller was a regular on Wagon Train in the early 1960s as Duke Shannon (his name was then Scott Miller) and played Juliet Prowse's husband in the TV series Meet Mona McClusky in 1965. For years, he was the "Gorton Fisherman," appearing in numerous commercials in his yellow rain gear.

Denny (7.4 ppg and 5.3 rpg in only eight games) and his brother Kent (7.2 ppg, 8.3 rpg) Miller were on the same Bruins squad in 1958-59 (16-9 record under coach John Wooden) as teammates of decathlete Rafer Johnson and eventual Hall of Fame coach Denny Crum. Denny Miller spent three years in the U.S. Army between averaging 4 ppg in 1954-55 and 3.1 ppg and 2.3 rpg in 1957-58.

NYAMBI NYAMBI, Bucknell
His most prominent acting role has been Samuel (Senegalese waiter) as original cast member of CBS sitcom "Mike and Molly." Played law firm investigator Jay DiPersia in the CBS All Access legal drama The Good Fight since 2017.

Played for Bucknell from 1997-98 through 2000-01. His most productive season was as a freshman when he collected 12 points and 7 assists in 17 games.

PAUL ROBESON, Rutgers
World renowned orator and baritone was a 6-3, 215-pound two-way end who finally was named to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1995. Valedictorian when he graduated in 1919, learned to speak 15 languages and forge a glorious international career as a singer and actor. Earned law degree from Columbia, financing way through school by playing pro football with the Akron Pros and Milwaukee Badgers (scored two touchdowns). Robeson, son of a runaway slave, was an outspoken antifascist and champion of racial equality and socialist causes who remained enough of a supporter of the Soviet Union to get him blacklisted on Broadway. Founder of the Progressive Party played roles in 11 films and established works such as The Emperor Jones and Show Boat and became the first black to play Othello with a white cast.

Robeson was a center for Rutgers' basketball team.

LEON ROBINSON, Loyola Marymount
Goes by the stage name "Leon." He was a lover-boy idol in Waiting to Exhale, and played a similar character in Tim Reid's acclaimed Once Upon a Time ... When We Were Colored. Robinson was the ruthless killer, Kinette, in Cliffhanger and was Derice, the sweet and charming captain of the Jamaican bobsled team, in the surprise comedy hit, Cool Runnings. Leon appeared as a football teammate of Tom Cruise in All the Right Moves, and was the leading man as New York high school hoop sensation Earl (The Goat) Manigault in Above the Rim. Leon starred opposite Robin Givens in the TV mini-series, The Women of Brewster Place and was cast as Jesus in Madonna's controversial 1989 music video Like a Prayer. Received critical acclaim for his portrayal of two legendary singers in made-for-TV movies: David Ruffin in the 1998 NBC miniseries The Temptations and Little Richard in the self-titled 2000 NBC production based on the life of the rock-and-roll pioneer.

Robinson lettered for the Lions in 1978-79 when he averaged 2.9 ppg and 1.4 rpg. The Bronx native also attended Orange Coast Community College (Calif.).

NED ROLSMA, Iona/Tennessee-Martin
In CBS' "How I met Your Mother," he played the recurring bit role of Marcus Eriksen, brother of Marshall Eriksen (Jason Segel), one of the lead characters.

Seven-footer averaged 2.6 ppg and 1.8 rpg from 1997-98 through 2001-02.

RaMELL ROSS, Georgetown
Oscar-nominated cinematographer and director for his first movie, a 2018 documentary called Hale County This Morning, This Evening.

The 6-5 Ross averaged 1.7 ppg for the Hoyas from 2000-01 through 2004-05. Participated in 2001 NCAA playoffs (vs. Hampton as teammate of eventual players Mike Sweetney and Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje) and 2005 NIT.

LAMMAN RUCKER, Duquesne
Began his career on daytime soap operas As the World Turns and All My Children before roles in Tyler Perry films Why Did I Get Married? (2007), Why Did I Get Married Too? (2010) and Meet the Browns (2008), plus its TV adaptation. In 2016, Rucker began starring as Jacob Greenleaf in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama series, Greenleaf. He also had a recurring guest spot on the fourth and final season of the hit UPN sitcom, Half & Half.

The 6-3 Rucker grabbed four rebounds in eight games in 1993-94.

TOM SELLECK, Southern California
Television and movie star won an Emmy in 1984 for his work in Magnum, P.I. He had a two-year stint (1974-75) on The Young and the Restless. His big-screen career got a major boost with the box-office hit Three Men and a Baby in 1987.

Selleck was a 6-4, 200-pound forward for Southern California. After serving as captain of the basketball team at Los Angeles Valley Community College, he scored four points in seven games for the Trojans in 1965-66 and was scoreless in three games in 1966-67. Excerpt from USC's school guide: "Agile and quick performer who adds depth on front line. Business administration major is good jumper with fine mobility. Rapidly improving shooter has impressed coaches with his hustle in practice. Needs to work on defense."

RON SHELTON, Westmont (Calif.)
Writer-director is synonymous with sports movies such as The Best of Times (high school football/1986), Bull Durham (minor league baseball/1988), White Men Can't Jump (street basketball/1992), Cobb (major league baseball/1994), Blue Chips (college basketball/1994), Tin Cup (golf/1996) and Play It to the Bone (boxing/1999). One of his non-sports films, Blaze, became a personal milestone for him as he went on to marry one of the stars, Toronto-born Lolita Davidovich. In Blue Chips, actor Nick Nolte was coach Pete Bell, who broke the rules in order to get the players he needed to remain competitive. "I played pickup into my 40s, right up until the time I made White Men Can't Jump," Shelton said. "I knew the game. I just loved that world."

Shelton scored 1,420 points in the mid-1960s, finishing the 20th Century among his alma mater's top 10 career scorers. He went on to play five seasons of Organized Baseball as a second baseman in the Baltimore Orioles' minor league system.

RON TAYLOR, Southern California
Best known for his roles as Lothar in The Rocketeer (1991) and Roc in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994). He also played Al, the tall police detective whose face is never seen, in The Naked Gun (1988) and on the TV series Police Squad. Nicknamed "Tiny Ron," the seven-footer also appeared on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in the role of the Hupyrian alien Maihar'du.

Three-year USC letterman in the late 1960s was a second-round choice by Seattle in the 1969 NBA draft (18th pick overall). He played three seasons in the ABA before competing professionally in Austria in the 1970s before starting his film career.

SINQUA WALLS, San Francisco
Breakthrough role in 2012 as Sir Lancelot in ABC fantasy series Once Upon a Time. He played the role of Shawn in the TV series Power and was cast in Clint Eastwood's biopic The 15:17 to Paris about the thwarted 2015 Thalys train attack. Walls has portrayed Don Cornelius in BET's American Soul, a fictionalized drama series based on long-running TV dance show Soul Train. Previously, he was known for appearing in Friday Night Lights and The Secret Life of the American Teenager.

Played in five games for USF in 2005-06.

MIKE WARREN, UCLA
Television star portrayed Officer Bobby Hill on hit series Hill Street Blues. Also appeared in the following movies: The Kid Who Loved Christmas (1990), Heaven is a Playground (1991), Buffalo Soldiers (1997) and After All (1999).

The 5-11, 160-pound guard averaged 16.6 ppg in 1965-66 as a sophomore, 12.7 in 1966-67 as junior and 12.1 in 1967-68 as senior under coach John Wooden. He was an All-NCAA Tournament selection in 1967 and 1968 when the Bruins won national titles by combining for a 59-1 record. Warren was named to Converse and Helms All-American squads as a junior. In his senior season, he was named to the 10-man United States Basketball Writers Association All-American team and was a third five selection on the Associated Press and United Press International All-American squads. Selected by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 14th round of 1968 NBA draft. Excerpt from school guide: "Named on the Academic All-American first team. One of UCLA's all-time great ballhandlers as well as being an outstanding driver and jump shooter."

DENZEL WASHINGTON, Fordham
Oscar award-winning actor Denzel Washington earned rave reviews for his performance as a high school football coach in Remembering the Titans. Most Hollywood buffs remember Washington's performances as a regular on the TV drama series St. Elsewhere while becoming a critically-acclaimed screen actor and major box-office draw in the 1990s with his performances in hit films Malcolm X, The Pelican Brief, and The Preacher's Wife. The hits continued with Man on Fire (2004).

But what the most ardent moviegoer doesn't know, let alone remember, is that Washington was a walk-on freshman basketball player for Fordham under coach P.J. Carlesimo. Washington probably was acting when he said "he had game" in describing his basketball ability in an interview about his movie role as the father of the nation's No. 1 player in director Spike Lee's 1998 release He Got Game.

SEAN WHITESELL, Northern Iowa
The "Oz" producer and co-executive producer of "The Killing" is a brother of talent agent/WME co-CEO Patrick Whitesell and former Loyola of Chicago coach and current Buffalo mentor Jim Whitesell. Sean began his career acting with notable roles including a recurring character on HBO's Oz (portrayed cannibalistic inmate Donald Groves until character's execution) and appearances on Homicide: Life On the Street.

Walk-on with nickname "S" collected two points and three rebounds with UNI in six games in 1982-83.

KEEDAR WHITTLE, Norfolk State
Comedian and cast member of the hit BET comedy, "Hell Date." Actor known for Inglorious Kill Dogs (2014), Future Man (2017) and Life After Beth (2014). Portrayed Sean in AMC's The Walking Dead and Nino in four episodes of the CW's One Tree Hill.

J.C. product collected 14 points and 10 rebounds in nine games as a 6-8 forward in 2000-01.

IAN WHYTE, Iona/Clarion (Pa.)
Carved out a career as film baddie (including playing part of iconic Predator in Sci Fi action film Alien vs. Predator). In 2010, Whyte played Sheikh Sulieman in Clash of the Titans. Portrayed various characters in the HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones.

The 7-1 Whyte collected 9 points and 10 rebounds in 17 games for Iona in 1990-91 and 1991-92 before transferring to Clarion, where he averaged 6 ppg and 5.3 rpg in 1992-93 and 1993-94.

There is a tendency to overindulge at an all-you-can-eat buffet. Anyone digesting the following assortment of incisive facts on the 68 NCAA Division I Tournament coaches should find that variety is the spice of this occasionally irreverent smorgasbord. Remember: If a morsel isn't appetizing, don't be a glutton for punishment in trying to comprehend what makes the coaching community tick. Just proceed directly to the next tidbit. Sooner or later, there's bound to be a factoid you can savor. Florida Atlantic's Dusty May and UC Santa Barbara's Joe Pasternack - student managers under Indiana coach Bob Knight - are among the following 2023 playoff mentors:

ALABAMA: Detroit-area prep coach Nate Oats joined Bobby Hurley's Buffalo staff directly with junior college recruit Justin Moss in 2013 before Moss became Mid-American Conference Player of the Year the next season and one year before center Raheem Johnson aligned with the Bulls as another J.C. signee. Moss and Johnson played under Oats at Romulus H.S.

ARIZONA: Tommy Lloyd's son, Liam, averaged 1.5 ppg for Grand Canyon the previous two seasons before transferring to Northern Arizona and averaging 6 ppg plus 2.2 apg as a starter. During the construction of their home in Spokane while Gonzaga's associate head coach, his family lived in the childhood residence of Zags legend and Hall of Famer John Stockton. Lloyd, known for his international recruiting, spent several months backpacking on several continents before commencing his coaching career in the late 1990s.

ARIZONA STATE: Bobby Hurley appeared in the 1994 feature film Blue Chips, where he played for the Indiana team under coach Bob Knight. Hurley was a Duke teammate of Northwestern coach Chris Collins in 1992-93.

ARKANSAS: Among Eric Musselman's teammates at San Diego was Mike Whitmarsh, who won a silver medal in beach volleyball at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Musselman played on same high school team as former NBA player Scott Roth and former NFL Pro Bowl punter Tom Tupa. Musselman's wife, Danyelle, is a former on-air personality and anchor for ESPN, FOX Sports, and the NFL Network. He and his father, Bill, were first father-son combination to both become NBA head coaches.

AUBURN: As an undergraduate at Boston College, Bruce Pearl was Tom Davis' administrative assistant before serving as an assistant coach under Davis at Stanford and Iowa.

BAYLOR: Scott Drew served as coach of an Athletes In Action (AIA) squad touring Croatia and Bosnia in the summer of 1997.

BOISE STATE: Leon Rice's son, Max, is the Broncos' runner-up in scoring this season with 13.9 ppg.

UC SANTA BARBARA: Joe Pasternack III was a student manager for Indiana under coach Bob Knight. Pasternack's brother-in-law, Roxy Bernstein, is a college basketball play-by-play announcer for ESPN.

COLGATE: Matt Langel played under coach Fran Dunphy with Penn before serving as an assistant coach under him at Penn and Temple. As a senior in 1999-00, Langel was the Quakers' runner-up in scoring and assists for an NCAA playoff team.

COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON: One of Pat Kelsey's teammates with Wyoming as a freshman in 1993-94 was Theo Ratliff, who played 16 seasons in the NBA with nine different franchises. After transferring back home to Cincinnati to play with Xavier, one of his teammates was James Posey, who played 12 seasons in the NBA with seven different franchises.

CONNECTICUT: One of Dan Hurley's assistants at previous pitstops Wagner and Rhode Island was brother Bobby Hurley, an All-American guard for Duke's back-to-back NCAA titlists in 1991 and 1992 and current Arizona State coach.

CREIGHTON: Following graduation from Northern Iowa, Greg McDermott played one season of professional basketball in Switzerland. McDermott led the Panthers in field-goal shooting three consecutive seasons from 1985-86 through 1987-88 when he was a combined 59.5% from the floor. He ranked 16th in the nation in that category as a junior.

DRAKE: Darian DeVries' brother, Jared, played in the NFL with the Detroit Lions.

DUKE: Jon Scheyer was raised in his father's Jewish religion and became a Bar Mitzvah. Scheyer was known as the "Jewish Jordan" and his Illinois high school state championship squad (Glenbrook North; prep alma mater of Northwestern coach and fellow Blue Devils guard Chris Collins) is the nation's only one known to have included an all-Jewish starting lineup. He received a scholarship offer from then Marquette coach Tom Crean as an eighth-grader before playing in high school under former Illini coach Bruce Weber's brother.

FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON: Tobin Anderson's top two scorers - pint-sized Demetre Roberts and Grant Singleton - tagged along with him from St. Thomas Aquinas College NY after the Spartans finished their 2021-22 season as an NCAA Division II Tournament East Region finalist.

FLORIDA ATLANTIC: Dusty May was hired by athletic director Brian White, the brother of then-Florida coach and May's boss Mike White. May's assistant coach Todd Abernethy is the son of Tom Abernethy, a starting forward for the nation's last undefeated team (Indiana in 1975-76).

FURMAN: Bob Richey has won more than 20 games five times in his six seasons with the Paladins.

GONZAGA: Mark Few never was a head coach at any level before inheriting that position after Dan Monson departed for Minnesota. Few was an assistant for two different Oregon high schools before becoming an aide with the Zags under Dan Fitzgerald and Monson. Few's wedding vows in 1994 were exchanged with Rev. Norm Few, the father of the groom.

GRAND CANYON: Bryce Drew's brother-in-law is Casey Shaw, a second-round draft choice by the Philadelphia 76ers in 1998 out of Toledo.

HOUSTON: Kelvin Sampson was a three-year baseball letterman for Pembroke (N.C.) State.

HOWARD UNIVERSITY: Kenny Blakeney co-founded a fashion accessory company named Sportin' Styles.

ILLINOIS: Brad Underwood, as a juco recruit, took a visit to Oklahoma State, where his player host at the time was current Kansas bench boss Bill Self. Underwood's son, Tyler, played sparingly under his father with OSU and the Illini.

INDIANA: Mike Woodson was head coach for Hoosiers Big Ten Player of the Year Jared Jeffries with the New York Knicks in 2011-12 (4.4 ppg and 3.9 rpg). Woodson's daughter, Alexis, played volleyball one season for IU. Woodson was an assistant coach for six different NBA franchises.

IONA: Rick Pitino averaged more assists per game (5.6) than points (4.7) in his two-year playing career with Massachusetts. Al Skinner, Boston College's all-time winningest coach, was captain of the 1973-74 UMass squad led in assists by Pitino for the second straight season.

IOWA: Fran McCaffery is believed to have been the youngest coach (28 years old) ever to take a team to the NCAA Tournament when he directed Lehigh to the 1988 playoffs. His wife, the former Margaret Nowlin, ranks among the top scorers in Notre Dame history. She was the catalyst behind the first-ever NCAA women's appearance by the Irish in 1992 and was named MVP of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference Tournament that year. Margaret served as an assistant coach at her alma mater in 1996-97.

IOWA STATE: T.J. Otzelberger was an assistant coach with the Cyclones under his three predecessors - Greg McDermott, Fred Hoiberg and Steve Prohm. Otzelberger's wife, Alison Lacey, was a three-time All-Big 12 Conference selection for ISU women's basketball program.

KANSAS: Bill Self served as an assistant on the Big Eight Conference coaching staffs of Larry Brown (Kansas) and Eddie Sutton (Oklahoma State). Self, an Oklahoma State alumnus, played in the Big Eight against Maryland coach Mark Turgeon (Kansas) and top two NBA draft picks Steve Stipanovich (2nd selection overall in 1983/attended Missouri), Wayman Tisdale (2nd in 1985/Oklahoma) and Danny Manning (1st in 1988/Kansas). Self, Oklahoma's High School Player of the Year over Tisdale in 1980-81, directed Oral Roberts to the nation's best winning percentage among independent schools in 1996 (18-9) and 1997 (21-7). San Antonio Spurs CEO R.C. Buford was a groomsman in Self's wedding.

KANSAS STATE: Jerome Tang earned his bachelor's degree via online learning with Charter Oak State College. His father is half Black and half Chinese and his mother is Indian.

KENNESAW STATE: One of Amir Abdur-Rahim's 13 siblings is Shareef Abdur-Rahim, an All-American forward with California as a freshman in 1995-96 when averaging 21.1 ppg and 8.4 rpg.

KENT STATE: Rob Senderoff is Jewish and a member of Temple Beth Shalom. He was a student assistant coach in college at Albany (N.Y.).

KENTUCKY: John Calipari lettered two years for UNC-Wilmington before transferring to Clarion (Pa.) State.

LOUISIANA: Bob Marlin won more than 20 games each of his five seasons as coach at Pensacola (Fla.) Junior College from 1990-91 through 1994-95, including a 31-5 record in 1993 for the NJCAA champion. One of his assistants during his J.C. stint was eventual UALR coach Steve Shields..

MARQUETTE: When Shaka Smart graduated, he was the career assists leader for Kenyon College, a liberal arts school in Ohio.

MARYLAND: Kevin Willard played under his father, Ralph, at Western Kentucky and Pittsburgh. Kevin went on to become a coaching intern with the Boston Celtics under Rick Pitino, who was Kentucky's coach in 1989-90 when Ralph was an assistant there with Billy Donovan, Herb Sendek and Tubby Smith.

MEMPHIS: Penny Hardaway's son, Jayden, averaged 3.3 ppg for the Tigers the past four seasons. Hardaway's nickname stems from his grandmother calling him "Pretty" with a southern drawl, thus sounding like "Penny."

MIAMI (FLA.): Providence product Jim Larranaga spent one season as player-coach for a professional team in Belgium. He had six former assistants serving as a Division I head coach in 2005-06. Larranaga's high school teammates in New York City included eventual South Carolina All-American Kevin Joyce (two years ahead of him).

MICHIGAN STATE: Tom Izzo was a teammate in high school (Iron Mountain, Mich.) and college (Northern Michigan) of former Detroit Lions coach Steve Mariucci. Izzo, a running back, and Mariucci, a quarterback, were the best men in each others' weddings.

MISSISSIPPI STATE: Chris Jans was head coach for three different junior colleges. Despite directing Bowling Green to a 20-win campaign on the heels of a 20-loss season, he was fired after one year with the Falcons after being caught on video drunk in a campus bar making inappropriate comments towards a young woman.

MISSOURI: Dennis Gates' wife, Jocelyn, was the Senior Associate Athletic Director at Boston College. Unlike most of his colleagues, Gates continued to don a suit during coronavirus-impacted season and thereafter.

MONTANA STATE: Danny Sprinkle was Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year with the Bobcats in 1995-96 (9.8 ppg and 43.7 3FG%) before earning all-league honors the next season (13.7 ppg and 48.8 3FG%).

NEVADA: Steve Alford amassed the fourth-best career free-throw percentage in Division I history at the time (89.8% with Indiana from 1983-84 through 1986-87). His father, Sam Alford, led the NAIA in free-throw shooting in 1963-64 with a mark of 91.2% for Franklin (Ind.).

UNC ASHEVILLE: In addition to being a three-year starter in basketball for Milligan (Tenn.), Mike Morrell was a two-time all-league selection in golf.

NORTH CAROLINA STATE: Kevin Keatts joined Rick Pitino's staff directly with George Mason transfer Luke Hancock in 2011. Hancock had played for him at Hargrave Military Academy (Va.). The next season, forward Montrezl Harrell aligned with the Cardinals after the Hargrave product de-committed from Virginia Tech following coach Seth Greenberg's firing.

NORTHERN KENTUCKY: Darrin Horn achieved the rare distinction of scoring his team's first points of the season four consecutive campaigns with the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers from 1991-92 through 1994-95.

NORTHWESTERN: Chris Collins was a Duke teammate of Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley in 1992-93.

ORAL ROBERTS: Paul Mills is the son of a pastor in the Houston-area community of Aldine, Tex. After graduating from college, he got a job as a bond analyst with a bank, moonlighting as coach at a local Christian Academy.

PENN STATE: Micah Shrewsberry was an assistant under Brad Stevens for Butler's back-to-back NCAA playoff runner-ups in 2010 and 2011.

PITTSBURGH: Jeff Capel III, who played professionally in France, was the youngest head coach in Division I at 27 when he was appointed bench boss at Virginia Commonwealth in 2002-03.

PRINCETON: Mitch Henderson, a 1994 MLB draft choice in 29th round by the New York Yankees as an outfielder, was a research associate for Lendx Corporation in San Francisco before entering the coaching profession.

PROVIDENCE: Ed Cooley was a three-year team captain for Stonehill (Mass.).

PURDUE: Matt Painter's father attended Big Ten Conference rival Indiana.

RUTGERS: Steve Pikiell played with his brother, Tim, for Connecticut under coach Jim Calhoun in 1989-90 and 1990-91.

SAINT MARY'S: Randy Bennett played for his father, Tom, at Mesa Community College before attending UC San Diego. At Mesa, Bennett helped his team to a 56-10 record and two Arizona J.C. championships.

SAN DIEGO STATE: Brian Dutcher's contract buyout is only $1 million, not in the $6 million range for any other college, if he has a chance to coach his alma mater (Minnesota). His three sisters and wife also attended Minnesota, where his father, Jim, coached for 11 seasons from mid-1970s to mid-1980s and still resides.

SOUTHEAST MISSOURI STATE: Brad Korn (6-9) played for Southern Illinois in five NCAA Tournament games against power-conference opponents from 2002 through 2004 (playoff high of 15 points against Alabama as a senior).

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: Andy Enfield (Johns Hopkins MD '91) set the all-time NCAA career free-throw percentage record (92.5%; 431-of-466). His wife, Amanda Marcum, is a Maxim cover girl.

TENNESSEE: Texas' turnaround in 1998-99 (19-13 record after going 14-17 in 1997-98 under Tom Penders) enabled Rick Barnes to become the only active coach to take two different schools to the NCAA playoffs in his maiden voyage with them after they posted a losing mark the previous campaign. He previously achieved the feat with Providence in the late 1980s. Barnes posted the nation's best winning percentage by a first-year major college head coach in 1987-88 when he went 20-10 (.667) in his lone season with George Mason.

TEXAS: Rodney Terry has coached for a total of seven different high schools and colleges in the Longhorn State.

TEXAS A&M: Brent "Buzz" Williams received his nickname while attending Navarro College, where he "buzzed" around the junior college basketball team so often the coach issued him the moniker.

TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI: Steve Lutz played and coached in junior college.

TEXAS CHRISTIAN: Jamie Dixon, an All-SWC second-team selection as a senior with TCU, was a seventh-round NBA draft choice of the Washington Bullets in 1987. In 1983-84, he was a freshman teammate of former NBA guard and head coach Scott Brooks (coached Washington Wizards for five seasons from 2016-17 to 2020-21).

TEXAS SOUTHERN: Johnny Jones is the only individual in LSU history to play and coach with the Tigers at the Final Four. He achieved the feat in a six-year span. Jones averaged 3.3 ppg as a freshman guard for LSU's 31-5 team in 1981 and later was an assistant coach for the Tigers for 12 seasons (reached national semifinals in 1986). They were eliminated both years by the eventual national champion (Indiana in 1981 and Louisville in 1986). Jones was a high teammate in DeRidder, La., of ex-McNeese State coach Dave Simmons and former UCLA/11-year NBA player Mike Sanders.

UCLA: Mick Cronin's father, Harold "Hep" Cronin, compiled more than 400 victories as a high school coach in the greater Cincinnati area. Hep also scouted for the Atlanta Braves and was chiefly responsible for them selecting Cincy product Drew Denson as their No. 1 draftee in 1984 (19th overall pick).

UTAH STATE: Ryan Odom was a college teammate of Longwood coach Griff Aldrich at Hampden-Sydney (Va.)

VERMONT: John Becker coached two seasons at Gallaudet, the country's only four-year liberal arts college for the deaf and hearing impaired.

VIRGINIA: Tony Bennett is the son of former DI coach Dick Bennett and brother of former Indiana and Illinois State women's coach Kathi Bennett.

VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH: Mike Rhoades led Lebanon Valley (Pa.) to the 1994 NCAA Division III title and graduated as the college's all-time leading scorer.

WEST VIRGINIA: In 1976-77, forward Bob Huggins led the fledgling Eastern Collegiate Basketball League in free-throw shooting with a mark of 84.4% for the Mountaineers. He wanted to play professionally but turned to coaching after a woman accidentally steered her car into the path of his ten-speed on a hilly street with the handlebars snapping his knee. Huggins, one of the top 10 high school scorers in the history of the state of Ohio, directed Akron to the nation's best winning percentage among independent schools in 1988 (21-7) and 1989 (21-8).

XAVIER: Sean Miller was Big East Conference Freshman of the Year in 1987-88 with Pittsburgh (9.3 ppg, 5.8 apg, 85.1 FT%). He has the only two single-season free-throw shooting figures higher than 90% in Pitt history (.914 in in 1988-89 and .905 in 1990-91).

There has been a quarantine for scoring outbreaks in NCAA Tournament thus far this Century. What's really alarming to playoff pundits is there hasn't been an NCAA playoff game since 1998 where an individual scored at least 40 points and opponent had team-high scorer with at least 30 points.

The only playoff game in history when each squad had a player score more than 40 points was Kentucky beating Notre Dame in 1970 regional semifinals. It doesn't seem possible, but Irish All-American guard Austin Carr erupted for at least 45 points in three NCAA tourney defeats in 1970 and 1971.

A couple of relatively-obscure guards - Michigan's Garde Thompson (career scoring average of 7.2 ppg) and Fairleigh Dickinson's Elijah Allen (10 ppg) - are included among the 13 NCAA playoff shootouts - three in 1990 - when an individual scored at least 40 points while an opponent had team-high scorer with at least 30 points:

Year (Tourney Round)	Result of Playoff Game When Player Scored At Least 40 and Foe Tallied At Least 30
1953 (National Third)	Washington 88 (Bob Houbregs game-high 42), Louisiana State 69 (Bob Pettit team-high 36)
1961 (National Third)	St. Joseph's 127 (Jack Egan 42), Utah 120 (Billy McGill 34)****
1970 (Regional Semifinals)	Kentucky 109 (Dan Issel 44), Notre Dame 99 (Austin Carr 52)
1970 (Regional Third)	Iowa 121 (Chad Calabria/John Johnson 31), Notre Dame 106 (Austin Carr 45)
1971 (Regional Third)	Houston 119 (James "Poo" Welch 38), Notre Dame 106 (Austin Carr 47)
1984 (Second Round)	#10 seed Dayton 89 (Roosevelt Chapman 41), #2 Oklahoma 85 (Wayman Tisdale 36)
1987 (First Round)	#9 Michigan 97 (Garde Thompson 33), #8 Navy 82 (David Robinson 50)
1988 (First Round)	#8 Auburn 90 (Chris Morris 36), #9 Bradley 86 (Hersey Hawkins 44)
1989 (Second Round)	#5 North Carolina State 102 (Rodney Monroe 40), #4 Iowa 96 (Ed Horton 32)**
1990 (First Round)	#10 Texas 100 (Travis Mays 44), #7 Georgia 88 (Alec Kessler 33)
1990 (Regional Final)	#4 Georgia Tech 93 (Dennis Scott 40), #6 Minnesota 91 (Willie Burton 35)
1990 (Regional Final)	#1 UNLV 131 (Stacey Augmon 33), #11 Loyola Marymount 101 (Greg "Bo" Kimble 42)
1998 (First Round)	#2 Connecticut 93 (Richard "Rip" Hamilton 30), #15 Fairleigh Dickinson 85 (Elijah Allen 43)

**Double Overtime.
****Four Overtimes.

In 1963, St. Joseph's became the only school to win back-to-back NCAA tourney contests despite an individual opponent erupting for at least 40 points. Two years ago, Purdue guard Carsen Edwards became the ninth different all-in-vain scoring machine to be on the losing end despite supplying at least 40 points in a single playoff game. In addition to the five players acknowledged in summary above, following is a list including Edwards and three other such all-for-naught individuals:

Year (Tourney Round)	Result of NCAA Playoff Game When Player on Losing Team Scored At Least 40 Points
1963 (First Round)	St. Joseph's 82 (Steve Courtin 21), Princeton 81 (Bill Bradley 40)*
1963 (Regional Semifinals)	St. Joseph's 97 (Jim Boyle/Tom Wynne 23), West Virginia 88 (Rod Thorn 44)
1976 (Regional Final)	Michigan 95 (Rickey Green 23), Missouri 88 (Willie Smith 43)
2019 (Regional Final)	Virginia 80 (Kyle Guy 25), Purdue 75 (Carsen Edwards 42)*

*Overtime.