As Good As It Got: Entering NCAA Tournament With Longest Winning Streaks

Gonzaga entered Sweet 16 of NCAA Tournament this year boasting a school-record winning streak (32). The Zags should know the fact numerous other teams had the daunting task of capturing the NCAA championship or watch even longer school-record winning streaks come to a halt. While misguided #MessMedia maintains its intellectually-lazy streak of disparaging Christian-based schools from Liberty to ORU, the following alphabetical list of schools had still existing all-time DI winning streaks of at least 25 consecutive victories broken during the NCAA playoffs:

School Streak Date Ended Opponent Score NCAA Tourney Round
Butler 26 4-5-10 Duke 61-59 Championship Game
College of Charleston 25 3-12-99 Tulsa 62-53 East Regional First
Columbia 32 3-20-51 Illinois 79-71 East Regional First
Davidson 25 3-30-08 Kansas 59-57 Midwest Regional Final
Duke 32 3-29-99 Connecticut 77-74 Championship Game
Florida 30 4-5-14 Connecticut 63-53 National Semifinals
Houston 32 3-22-68 UCLA 101-69 National Semifinals
Indiana 34 3-22-75 Kentucky 92-90 Mideast Regional Final
Indiana State 33 3-26-79 Michigan State 75-64 Championship Game
Kentucky 38 4-4-15 Wisconsin 71-64 National Semifinals
Loyola Marymount 25 3-19-88 North Carolina 123-97 West Regional Second
Marquette 39 3-18-71 Ohio State 60-59 Mideast Regional Semifinals
Memphis 27 3-26-09 Missouri 102-91 West Regional Semifinals
Ohio State 32 3-25-61 Cincinnati 70-65 Championship Game
Rutgers 31 3-27-76 Michigan 86-70 National Semifinals
Stephen F. Austin 29 3-23-14 UCLA 77-60 South Regional Second
Temple 25 3-21-58 Kentucky 61-60 National Semifinals
UNLV 45 3-30-91 Duke 79-77 National Semifinals
Wichita State 35 3-23-14 Kentucky 78-76 Midwest Regional Second

College Exam: Day #13 of One-and-Only NCAA Tournament Trivia Challenge

Unless you're busy hoarding toilet paper 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 13 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.com's year-by-year highlights):

1. Who is the only team-leading scorer of a Final Four team to go scoreless when the school was eliminated from championship contention at the national semifinals? Hint: He was a center who along with four teammates averaged between 11 and 12.5 points per game.

2. Who is the only player to twice lead the nation in scoring average while playing for teams advancing to the Final Four? Hint: He is the only team-leading scorer to twice be more than 10 points below his season scoring mark when his school was eliminated at the Final Four.

3. Name the only school to lose two national championship games by at least 18 points after leading the finals at halftime. Hint: The two opponents, 17 years apart, combined to win 66 of 68 games those seasons.

4. Name the only school to make as many as eight consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances from the year it participated in the event for the first time. Hint: The school's last playoff victory wasn't during this streak, but it later handed UCLA its first West Regional defeat in 14 years.

5. Name the only school to lose as many as 15 opening-round games in the NCAA Tournament. Hint: The university also lost a first-round game in 1984 after winning a qualifying round contest when playoff field was 53 teams.

6. Who is the only athlete to collect more than 3,000 major league hits, including 465 homers, after playing the entire basketball game for a school when it appeared in the NCAA Tournament for the first time. Hint: The outfielder appeared in 12 All-Star Games and two World Series after never playing in minors.

7. Who is the only player to have a single-digit point total in a national semifinal game and then increase his output by more than 20 points in the championship game? Hint: The center for two years between two three-time consensus first-team All-Americans shot just over 40% from the floor for the season entering title game where he had a game-high and career-high point total.

8. Who is the only player to have a decrease of more than 25 points from his national semifinal game scoring total to his championship game output? Hint: He was a member of the first undefeated NCAA champion and subsequently became an NBA first-round draft choice.

9. Name the only school to defeat two eventual Final Four teams by double-digit margins in their conference tournament. Hint: The school was handily eliminated in the NCAA playoffs by one of the two Final Four teams it decisively defeated in their league tourney.

10. Name the only school to reach the NCAA championship game in back-to-back seasons it was defeated by double-digit margins in its conference tournament. Hint: The school swept its home-and-home series in regular-season conference competition against the teams defeating it in league tourney.

Answers (Day 13)

Day 12 Questions and Answers

Day 11 Questions and Answers

Day 10 Questions and Answers

Day 9 Questions and Answers

Day 8 Questions and Answers

Day 7 Questions and Answers

Day 6 Questions and Answers

Day 5 Questions and Answers

Day 4 Questions and Answers

Day 3 Questions and Answers

Day 2 Questions and Answers

Day 1 Questions and Answers

State Delegates: Striking Percentage of All-Americans Were In-State Recruits

If you are qualified and gotten more interested these days in the vanguard of state-by-state All-American blackboard information than bored by which state petty presidential politicians are apologizing in, then campaign with the following strategic delegate knowledge: A surprisingly high percentage of half of 16 non-foreigner All-Americans named by AP, NABC and USBWA this season are homegrown in-state products.

A total of 12 states have each accounted for at least 20 All-Americans beyond their borders - New York (91), Illinois (64), Pennsylvania (50), Indiana (44), California (42), New Jersey (40), Maryland (27), Texas (25), Georgia (24), Ohio (24), North Carolina (21), Michigan (20) and Missouri (20). This season, Oklahoma State's Cade Cunningham and Gonzaga's Drew Timme helped Texas moved into eighth place in the all-time A-A supply-chain lead regarding out-of-state recruits. Following is an alphabetical list of states supplying players who were from or attended high school (some before attending prep school) in a state other than where they earned All-American recognition while attending a four-year university.

Alabama (11) - Kentucky's DeMarcus Cousins (2010), Jacksonville's Artis Gilmore (1970 and 1971), Kentucky State's Travis Grant (1972), Colorado State's Bill Green (1963), Memphis State's Larry Kenon (1973), Southern Illinois' Joe C. Meriweather (1975), Louisville's Allen Murphy (1975), Kansas' Bud Stallworth (1972), Texas Southern's Ben Swain (1958), Southwestern Louisiana's Andrew Toney (1980) and Indiana's D.J. White (2008)

Alaska (2) - Duke's Trajan Langdon (1998 and 1999) and Carlos Boozer (2002)

Arizona (5) - Duke's Mark Alarie (1986), Duke's Marvin Bagley III (2018), Gonzaga's Brandon Clarke (2019), Marquette's Markus Howard (2019 and 2020) and Brigham Young's Joe Richey (1953)

Arkansas (9) - Oklahoma State's James Anderson (2010), Texas Western's Jim Barnes (1964), Gonzaga's Frank Burgess (1961), San Diego State's Michael Cage (1984), Memphis State's Keith Lee (1982-83-84-85), Minnesota's Quincy Lewis (1999), Seattle's Eddie Miles (1963), Kentucky's Malik Monk (2017) and Memphis State's Dexter Reed (1977)

California (42) - UNLV's Stacey Augmon (1991), Oregon's Greg Ballard (1977), Oregon State's Fred Boyd (1982), Arizona State's Joe Caldwell (1963), Oregon State's Lester Conner (1982), New Mexico's Michael Cooper (1978), Penn's Howie Dallmar (1945), Boston College's Jared Dudley (2007), Brigham Young's John Fairchild (1965), Kansas' Drew Gooden (2002), Utah State's Cornell Green (1962), Texas' Jordan Hamilton (2011), Arizona State's James Harden (2009), Brigham Young's Mel Hutchins (1951), Arizona's Stanley Johnson (2015), Oregon State's Steve Johnson (1980 and 1981), Arizona's Steve Kerr (1988), Weber State's Damian Lillard (2012), Oregon's Stan Love (1971), Oregon State's John Mandic (1942), Utah's Billy McGill (1960 through 1962), Utah's Andre Miller (1998 and 1999), Arizona's Chris Mills (1993), Duke's DeMarcus Nelson (2008), Notre Dame's Kevin O'Shea (1947 through 1950), Oregon State's Gary Payton (1990), Kansas' Paul Pierce (1998), Kentucky's Tayshaun Prince (2001 and 2002), UNLV's J.R. Rider (1993), Creighton's Paul Silas (1962 through 1964), Arizona's Miles Simon (1998), Boston College's Craig Smith (2005 and 2006), Brigham Young's Michael Smith (1988), Temple's Terence Stansbury (1984), Oregon's Vic Townsend (1941), Vanderbilt's Jan van Breda Kolff (1974), Utah's Keith Van Horn (1996 and 1997), Kansas' Jacque Vaughn (1995 through 1997), Arizona's Derrick Williams (2011), Portland State's Freeman Williams (1977 and 1978), Kansas' Jeff Withey (2013) and Utah's Delon Wright (2015)

Colorado (9) - Utah's Art Bunte (1955 and 1956), Purdue's Joe Barry Carroll (1979 and 1980), Iowa's Chuck Darling (1952), Nevada's Nick Fazekas (2006 and 2007), Wyoming's Bill Garnett (1982), Notre Dame's Pat Garrity (1998), Wyoming's Harry Jorgensen (1955), Kansas' Mark Randall (1990) and North Carolina State's Ronnie Shavlik (1955 and 1956)

Connecticut (12) - Boston College's John Bagley (1982), Dartmouth's Gus Broberg (1940 and 1941), Massachusetts' Marcus Camby (1996), Providence's Kris Dunn (2016), UCLA's Rod Foster (1981 and 1983), Duke's Mike Gminski (1978 through 1980), Providence's Ryan Gomes (2004), Niagara's Calvin Murphy (1968 through 1970), Seattle's Frank Oleynick (1975), Villanova's John Pinone (1983), Rhode Island's Sly Williams (1978 and 1979) and Michigan's Henry Wilmore (1971 and 1972)

Delaware (1) - Temple's Terence Stansbury (1984)

District of Columbia (13) - Seattle's Elgin Baylor (1957 and 1958), Syracuse's Dave Bing (1965 and 1966), Notre Dame's Austin Carr (1970 and 1971), Utah's Jerry Chambers (1966), Duke's Johnny Dawkins (1985 and 1986), Syracuse's Sherman Douglas (1988 and 1989), Iowa's Luka Garza (2020 and 2021), San Francisco's Ollie Johnson (1965), North Carolina's Bob Lewis (1966 and 1967), Syracuse's Lawrence Moten (1995), Kansas' Thomas Robinson (2012), Duke's Jim Thompson (1934) and Providence's John Thompson Jr. (1964)

Florida (18) - Duke's Grayson Allen, North Carolina's Joel Berry (2018), Houston's Otis Birdsong (1977), Duke's Vernon Carey Jr. (2020), North Carolina's Vince Carter (1998), North Carolina State's Chris Corchiani (1991), Oklahoma State's Joey Graham (2005), Georgia Tech's Tom Hammonds (1989), Illinois' Derek Harper (1983), Wake Forest's Frank Johnson (1981), Vanderbilt's Will Perdue (1988), Villanova's Howard Porter (1969 through 1971), Kansas State's Mitch Richmond (1988), Duke's Austin Rivers (2012), Louisville's Clifford Rozier (1994), Ohio State's D'Angelo Russell (2015), Minnesota's Mychal Thompson (1977 and 1978) and Kansas' Walt Wesley (1966)

Georgia (24) - California's Shareef Abdur-Rahim (1996), Virginia's Malcolm Brogdon (2015 and 2016), Providence's Marshon Brooks (2011), Marquette's Jae Crowder (2012), North Carolina's Hook Dillon (1946 and 1947), Florida State's Toney Douglas (2009), Tennessee's Dale Ellis (1982 and 1983), Louisville's Pervis Ellison (1989), Southern Illinois' Walt Frazier (1967), Oklahoma's Harvey Grant (1988), Clemson's Horace Grant (1987), Grambling's Charles Hardnett (1961 and 1962), Utah's Merv Jackson (1968), Tennessee's Reggie Johnson (1980), Mississippi State's Jeff Malone (1983), Kentucky's Jodie Meeks (2009), Baylor's Davion Mitchell (2021), Auburn's Mike Mitchell (1978), Clemson's Tree Rollins (1977), Kentucky State's Elmore Smith (1971), Kentucky's Bill Spivey (1950 and 1951), Florida State's Al Thornton (2007), Kentucky's Kenny Walker (1985 and 1986) and North Carolina's Al Wood (1980 and 1981)

Idaho (1) - Brigham Young's Roland Minson (1951)

Illinois (64) - Ohio State's Keita Bates-Diop (2018), Minnesota's Jim Brewer (1973), Seattle's Charley Brown (1958 and 1959), Villanova's Jalen Brunson (2018), Indiana's Quinn Buckner (1974 through 1976), Iowa's Carl Cain (1956), Penn's Corky Calhoun (1973), Detroit's Bob Calihan (1939), West Virginia's Jevon Carter (2018), Kansas' Sherron Collins (2009 and 2010), Wisconsin's Bobby Cook (1947), Kentucky's Anthony Davis (2012), Indiana's Archie Dees (1957 and 1958), Detroit's Bill Ebben (1957), Marquette's Bo Ellis (1975 through 1977), California's Larry Friend (1957), William & Mary's Chet Giermak (1950), Michigan's Rickey Green (1976 and 1977), Indiana's A.J. Guyton (2000), Wisconsin's Ethan Happ (2017 and 2019), Notre Dame's Tom Hawkins (1958 and 1959), Michigan's Juwan Howard (1994), Kentucky's Dan Issel (1969 and 1970), Wisconsin's Frank Kaminsky (2015), Central Missouri's Earl Keth (1938), Minnesota's Tom Kondla (1967), Notre Dame's Moose Krause (1932 through 1934), Iowa's Ronnie Lester (1979 and 1980), Oklahoma A&M's Bob Mattick (1954), Marquette's Jerel McNeal (2009), Colorado's Cliff Meely (1971), Dartmouth's George Munroe (1942), Iowa's Don Nelson (1961 and 1962), Wisconsin's Ab Nicholas (1952), Duke's Jahlil Okafor (2015), Duke's Jabari Parker (2014), Valparaiso's Alec Peters (2017), Houston's Gary Phillips (1961), Kansas State's Jacob Pullen (2011), Murray State's Bennie Purcell (1952), Wisconsin's Don Rehfeldt (1950), Notre Dame's Eddie Riska (1941), Marquette's Doc Rivers (1982 and 1983), Wyoming's Flynn Robinson (1965), Kansas' Dave Robisch (1971), Memphis' Derrick Rose (2008), Michigan's Cazzie Russell (1964 through 1966), Duke's Jon Scheyer (2010), Evansville's Jerry Sloan (1965), Purdue's Forrest Sprowl (1942), Notre Dame's Jack Stephens (1955), Indiana's Isiah Thomas (1981), Wisconsin's Alando Tucker (2007), Ohio State's Evan Turner (2010), Kentucky's Tyler Ulis (2016), Wichita State's Fred VanVleet (2014), Marquette's Dwyane Wade (2003), Arkansas' Darrell Walker (1983), Marquette's Lloyd Walton (1976), Marquette's Jerome Whitehead (1978), Cincinnati's George Wilson (1963), Kansas' Julian Wright (2007), Arizona's Michael Wright (2001) and Georgia Tech's Rich Yunkus (1970 and 1971)

Indiana (44) - Michigan State's Chet Aubuchon (1940), Tennessee State's Dick Barnett (1958 and 1959), Xavier's Trevon Bluiett (2018), Cincinnati's Ron Bonham (1963 and 1964), Denver's Vince Boryla (1949), Louisville's Junior Bridgeman (1975), Wyoming's Joe Capua (1956), Memphis' Rodney Carney (2006), East Tennessee State's Tom Chilton (1961), Kentucky's Louie Dampier (1966 and 1967), North Carolina State's Dick Dickey (1948 and 1950), Kentucky's LeRoy Edwards (1935), Arizona's Jason Gardner (2002 and 2003), Western Michigan's Harold Gensichen (1943), Virginia's Kyle Guy (2018 and 2019), Florida's Joe Hobbs (1958), Georgia Tech's Roger Kaiser (1960 and 1961), Wyoming's Milo Komenich (1943), Texas' Jim Krivacs (1979), Kansas' Clyde Lovellette (1950 through 1952), Kentucky's Kyle Macy (1978 through 1980), North Carolina's Sean May (2005), Drake's Willie McCarter (1969), Tennessee State's Porter Merriweather (1960), North Carolina State's Vic Molodet (1956), North Carolina's Eric Montross (1993 and 1994), Texas Christian's Lee Nailon (1998), Kentucky's Cotton Nash (1962 through 1964), Ohio State's Greg Oden (2007), Kentucky's Jack Parkinson (1946), Duke's Mason Plumlee (2013), Louisville's Jim Price (1972), Northwestern's Ray Ragelis (1951), North Carolina State's Sam Ranzino (1950 and 1951), Cincinnati's Oscar Robertson (1958 through 1960), Michigan State's Scott Skiles (1986), Wake Forest's Jeff Teague (2009), Ohio State's Deshaun Thomas (2013), Tennessee's Gene Tormohlen (1959), North Carolina State's Monte Towe (1974), Michigan's John Townsend (1937 and 1938), Southern California's Ralph Vaughn (1940), UCLA's Mike Warren (1967 and 1968) and North Carolina's's Tyler Zeller (2012)

Iowa (8) - North Carolina's Harrison Barnes (2012), Creighton's Ed Beisser (1943), Kansas' Nick Collison (2003), Kansas' Kirk Hinrich (2002 and 2003), Creighton's Kyle Korver (2003), Kansas' Raef LaFrentz (1997, Creighton's Doug McDermott (2012 through 2014) and 1998) and Carleton's Wayne Sparks (1937)

Kansas (7) - Kentucky's Bob Brannum (1944), Kentucky's Willie Cauley-Stein (2015), Vanderbilt's Matt Freije (2004), Army's Dale Hall (1945), Colorado's Jack Harvey (1940), Villanova's Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (2021) and Oklahoma's Gerry Tucker (1943 and 1947)

Kentucky (19) - Navy's Buzz Borries (1934), Florida State's Dave Cowens (1970), Cincinnati's Ralph Davis (1960), Tennessee Tech's Jimmy Hagan (1959), Alabama's Jerry Harper (1956), Tennessee's Allan Houston (1992 and 1993), Virginia's Jeff Lamp (1980 and 1981), Tennessee's Chris Lofton (2006 through 2008), Louisiana State's Rudy Macklin (1980 and 1981), Duke's Jeff Mullins (1963 and 1964), Ohio State's Arnie Risen (1945), Ohio State's D'Angelo Russell (2015), Tennessee's Danny Schultz (1964), Furman's Frank Selvy (1952 through 1954), Army's Mike Silliman (1966), Xavier's Hank Stein (1958), Cincinnati's Tom Thacker (1963), Duquesne's Jim Tucker (1952) and South Carolina's Grady Wallace (1957)

Louisiana (14) - Texas' D.J. Augustin (2008), Creighton's Benoit Benjamin (1985), Baylor's Jared Butler (2020 and 2021), Duke's Chris Duhon (2004), Houston's Louis Dunbar (1974), Iowa State's Marcus Fizer (2000), Vanderbilt's Shan Foster (2008), Houston's Elvin Hayes (1966 through 1968), Villanova's Kerry Kittles (1995 and 1996), Georgetown's Greg Monroe (2010), Kentucky's Cotton Nash (1962 through 1964), Oklahoma's Hollis Price (2003), Jacksonville's James Ray (1980) and Kentucky's Rick Robey (1977 and 1978)

Maryland (27) - Virginia's Justin Anderson (2015), Boston College's John Austin (1965 and 1966), Kansas State's Michael Beasley (2008), Wyoming's Charles Bradley (1981), North Carolina State's Kenny Carr (1976 and 1977), San Francisco's Quintin Dailey (1982), Notre Dame's Adrian Dantley (1975 and 1976), Michigan's Hunter Dickinson (2021), Texas' Kevin Durant (2007), Syracuse's C.J. Fair (2014), Duke's Danny Ferry (1988 and 1989), North Carolina's Joseph Forte (2001), Washington's Markelle Fultz (2017), Connecticut's Rudy Gay (2006), Notre Dame's Jerian Grant (2015), Kansas' Tony Guy (1982), Villanova's Josh Hart (2016 and 2017), Davidson's Fred Hetzel (1963 through 1965), North Carolina's Ty Lawson (2009), North Carolina State's Rodney Monroe (1991), Indiana's Victor Oladipo (2013), Duke's Nolan Smith (2011), Virginia Tech's Dale Solomon (1982), Saint Joseph's Delonte West (2004), North Carolina State's Hawkeye Whitney (1980), Georgetown's Reggie Williams (1987) and Pittsburgh's Sam Young (2009)

Massachusetts (14) - Rutgers' James Bailey (1978 and 1979), Villanova's Michael Bradley (2001), Notre Dame's Bonzie Colson (2017), Georgetown's Patrick Ewing (1982 through 1985), Rhode Island State's Chet Jaworski (1939), Yale's Tony Lavelli (1946 through 1949), Oregon's Ron Lee (1974 through 1976), Marshall's Russell Lee (1972), Rhode Island State's Stan Modzelewski (1942), Connecticut's Shabazz Napier (2014), Iowa State's Georges Niang (2015 and 2016), Ohio State's Scoonie Penn (1999 and 2000), Michigan's Rumeal Robinson (1990) and Providence's Jimmy Walker (1965 through 1967)

Michigan (20) - Duke's Shane Battier (2000 and 2001), Dayton's Bill Chmielewski (1962), Syracuse's Derrick Coleman (1989 and 1990), New Mexico's Mel Daniels (1967), Memphis' Chris Douglas-Roberts (2008), Arizona's Bob Elliott (1977), Canisius' Larry Fogle (1974), Iowa State's Jeff Grayer (1988), Texas Western's Bobby Joe Hill (1966), Florida's Al Horford (2007), Kansas' Josh Jackson (2017), Arkansas' George Kok (1948), North Carolina's Tom LaGarde (1977), Alabama State's Kevin Loder (1981), Temple's Mark Macon (1988), Tennessee State's Carlos Rogers (1994), Purdue's Steve Scheffler (1990), Missouri's Doug Smith (1990 and 1991), Bradley's Chet Walker (1960 through 1962) and Iowa's Sam Williams (1968)

Minnesota (7) - Kansas' Cole Aldrich (2010), Boston College's Troy Bell (2001 and 2003), Dayton's John Horan (1955), Duke's Tre Jones (2020), Gonzaga's Jalen Suggs (2021), Wisconsin's Jordan Taylor (2011) and South Dakota State's Nate Wolters (2013)

Mississippi (5) - Missouri's Melvin Booker (1994), Murray State's Isaiah Canaan (2012), Louisiana State's Chris Jackson (1989 and 1990), UC Irvine's Kevin Magee (1981 and 1982) and Alabama's Derrick McKey (1987)

Missouri (20) - UCLA's Lucius Allen (1968), Princeton's Bill Bradley (1963 through 1965), Idaho State's Lawrence Butler (1979), Duke's Chris Carrawell (2000), Notre Dame's Ben Hansbrough (2011), North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough (2006 through 2009), Tulsa's Steve Harris (1985), Southern Methodist's Jon Koncak (1985), Southern Methodist's Jim Krebs (1957), Oklahoma A&M's Bob Kurland (1944 through 1946), Kansas' Ben McLemore (2013), Drake's Red Murrell (1958), Tulsa's Bob Patterson (1955), Georgetown's Otto Porter Jr. (2013), Kansas' Fred Pralle (1938), Texas-Pan American's Marshall Rogers (1976), Notre Dame's Dick Rosenthal (1954), Kansas' Brandon Rush (2008), Kansas' Jo Jo White (1967 through 1969) and Memphis State's Win Wilfong (1957)

Montana (3) - Iowa's Chuck Darling (1952), Utah State's Wayne Estes (1964 and 1965) and Duke's Mike Lewis (1968)

Nebraska (6) - Kansas State's Bob Boozer (1958 and 1959), South Dakota State's Mike Daum (2019), George Washington's Bob Faris (1939), Michigan's Mike McGee (1981), Wyoming's Les Witte (1932 and 1934) and Iowa's Andre Woolridge (1997)

Nevada (3) - New Mexico's Darington Hobson (2010), Arizona State's Lionel Hollins (1975) and Missouri's Willie Smith (1976)

New Jersey (40) - Miami's Rick Barry (1964 and 1965), Temple's Mike Bloom (1938), West Virginia's Da'Sean Butler (2010), DePaul's Clyde Bradshaw (1980), Illinois' Tal Brody (1965), Notre Dame's Gary Brokaw (1974), George Washington's Corky Devlin (1955), Providence's Vinnie Ernst (1963), Morehead State's Kenneth Faried (2011), Dayton's Henry Finkel (1966), Columbia's Chet Forte (1957), Villanova's Randy Foye (2006), South Carolina's Skip Harlicka (1968), Holy Cross' Tom Heinsohn (1955 and 1956), Duke's Bobby Hurley (1992 and 1993), North Carolina's Tommy Kearns (1957 and 1958), Kentucky's Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (2012), Pittsburgh's Brandin Knight (2002), Stanford's Brevin Knight (1997), Southern California's Mo Layton (1971), Villanova's Bill Melchionni (1966), Providence's Eric Murdock (1991), Notre Dame's Troy Murphy (2000 and 2001), Seattle's Eddie O'Brien (1953), Seattle's Johnny O'Brien (1952 and 1953), North Carolina's Mike O'Koren (1978 through 1980), Holy Cross' Togo Palazzi (1953 and 1954), Notre Dame's David Rivers (1988), Massachusetts' Lou Roe (1994 and 1995), Iowa's Ben Selzer (1934), Notre Dame's John Shumate (1974), Duke's Jim Spanarkel (1978 and 1979), Kansas' Tyshawn Taylor (2012), Kentucky's Karl-Anthony Towns (2015), Notre Dame's Kelly Tripucka (1979 through 1981), Duke's Bob Verga (1966 and 1967), Saint Joseph's Bryan Warrick (1981 and 1982), Xavier's David West (2002 and 2003), Long Island's Sherman White (1950) and Duke's Jason Williams (2001 and 2002)

New Mexico (2) - Kansas' Bill Bridges (1961) and West Texas State's Charles Halbert (1942)

New York (91) - UCLA's Lew Alcindor (1967 through 1969), Georgia Tech's Kenny Anderson (1990 and 1991), Penn State's Jesse Arnelle (1955), Minnesota's Ron Behagen (1973), Kansas State's Rolando Blackman (1980 and 1981), Duke's Elton Brand (1999), North Carolina's Pete Brennan (1958), Dartmouth's Audie Brindley (1944), Utah's Ticky Burden (1975), North Carolina State's Lorenzo Charles (1984), Missouri's Derrick Chievous (1987), New Mexico State's Jimmy Collins (1970), Holy Cross' Bob Cousy (1948 through 1950), North Carolina's Billy Cunningham (1964 and 1965), Wake Forest's Charlie Davis (1971), Wichita State's Cleanthony Early (2014), Maryland's Len Elmore (1974), Massachusetts' Julius Erving (1971), Georgia's Vern Fleming (1984), Brigham Young's Jimmer Fredette (2010), Louisville's Francisco Garcia (2005), Louisville's Don Goldstein (1959), Louisiana State's Al Green (1979), Duquesne's Sihugo Green (1954 through 1956), UNLV's Sidney Green (1983), Tennessee's Ernie Grunfeld (1976 and 1977), North Carolina State's Tom Gugliotta (1992), Penn's Ron Haigler (1975), Loyola of Chicago's Jerry Harkness (1963), Notre Dame's Billy Hassett (1945), Hawaii's Tom Henderson (1974), Villanova's Larry Hennessy (1952 and 1953), Duke's Art Heyman (1961 through 1963), North Carolina State's Julius Hodge (2004), Xavier's Tu Holloway (2011), Baylor's Vinnie Johnson (1979), West Virginia's Kevin Jones (2012), South Carolina's Kevin Joyce (1973), Holy Cross' George Kaftan (1947 and 1948), Guilford's Bob Kauffman (1968), Cincinnati's Sean Kilpatrick (2014), Maryland's Albert King (1980 and 1981), Tennessee's Bernard King (1975 through 1977), North Carolina's Mitch Kupchak (1975 and 1976), Duke's Christian Laettner (1991 and 1992), North Carolina's York Larese (1959 through 1961), Marquette's Butch Lee (1977 and 1978), Davidson's Mike Maloy (1968 through 1970), Georgia Tech's Stephon Marbury (1996), Kentucky's Jamal Mashburn (1993), Louisville's Rodney McCray (1983), Richmond's Bob McCurdy (1975), Marquette's Dean Meminger (1970 and 1971), North Carolina's Doug Moe (1961), Notre Dame's John Moir (1936-37-38), Florida's Joakim Noah (2007), Louisville's Jordan Nwora (2020), Boston College's Jim O'Brien (1971), Kentucky's Bernie Opper (1939), Idaho's Ken Owens (1982), North Carolina's Sam Perkins (1982 through 1984), Connecticut's A.J. Price (2008), Villanova's Allan Ray (2006), Arizona's Khalid Reeves (1994), South Carolina's Tom Riker (1972), Kentucky's Pat Riley (1966), South Carolina's John Roche (1969 through 1971), North Carolina's Lennie Rosenbluth (1956 and 1957), Georgia Tech's John Salley (1986), North Carolina's Charlie Scott (1968 through 1970), Rutgers' Phil Sellers (1975 and 1976), Iowa State's Don Smith (1968), North Carolina's Kenny Smith (1987), Louisville's Russ Smith (2013 and 2014), Providence's Kevin Stacom (1974), DePaul's Rod Strickland (1988), Miami of Ohio's Wally Szczerbiak (1999), Marquette's Earl Tatum (1976), Princeton's Chris Thomforde (1967), Marquette's George Thompson (1969), Iowa State's Jamaal Tinsley (2001), Marquette's Bernard Toone (1979), Dayton's Obi Toppin (2020), Connecticut's Kemba Walker (2011), Providence's Lenny Wilkens (1960), Southern California's Gus Williams (1975), Austin Peay's Fly Williams (1973), Michigan's Henry Wilmore (1971 and 1972), Wyoming's Tony Windis (1959), Tennessee's Howard Wood (1981) and Marquette's Sam Worthen (1980)

North Carolina (21) - Fresno State's Courtney Alexander (2000), Indiana's Walt Bellamy (1960), UCLA's Henry Bibby (1972), Kansas' Devon Dotson (2020), Kansas State's Mike Evans (1978), Furman's Darrell Floyd (1955 and 1956), Georgetown's Sleepy Floyd (1981 and 1982), Kansas' Devonte' Graham (2018), Minnesota's Lou Hudson (1965 and 1966), Minnesota's Bobby Jackson (1997), Maryland's John Lucas (1974 through 1976), Kansas' Danny Manning (1986 through 1988), Louisiana State's Pete Maravich (1968 through 1970), Lamar's Mike Olliver (1981), Texas' P.J. Tucker (2006), Kentucky's John Wall (2010), Xavier's David West (2002), Tennessee's Tony White (1987), Georgia's Dominique Wilkins (1981 and 1982), Maryland's Buck Williams (1981) and Tennessee's Grant Williams (2019)

Ohio (24) - Michigan's Trey Burke (2013), Southern California's Sam Clancy (2002), Washington State's Don Collins (1980), Northwestern's Evan Eschmeyer (1999), Notre Dame's Bob Faught (1942), Michigan's Gary Grant (1987 and 1988), Michigan State's Johnny Green (1958 and 1959), Kentucky's Kevin Grevey (1974 and 1975), Kentucky's Alex Groza (1947 through 1949), Michigan's Phil Hubbard (1977), Duke's Luke Kennard (2017), Southwestern Louisiana's Bo Lamar (1972 and 1973), Pittsburgh's Jerome Lane (1987 and 1988), Kentucky's Jim Line (1950), Indiana's Scott May (1975 and 1976), Purdue's Todd Mitchell (1988), Notre Dame's John Paxson (1982 and 1983), Kentucky's Mike Pratt (1970), Long Beach State's Ed Ratleff (1972 and 1973), Arkansas' Alvin Robertson (1984), Davidson's Dick Snyder (1966), North Carolina State's Bobby Speight (1953), Oklahoma Baptist's Albert Tucker (1966 and 1967) and Kansas State's Chuckie Williams (1976)

Oklahoma (7) - Texas Western's Jim Barnes (1964), San Francisco's Winford Boynes (1978), Arkansas' Lee Mayberry (1992), Kansas State's Willie Murrell (1964), Georgia Tech's Mark Price (1984 through 1986), Syracuse's Etan Thomas (2000) and Duke's Shelden Williams (2005 and 2006)

Oregon (9) - Brigham Young's Danny Ainge (1979 through 1981), Duke's Mike Dunleavy (2002), UCLA's Kevin Love (2008), Gonzaga's Blake Stepp (2004), Arizona's Damon Stoudamire (1995), Arizona's Salim Stoudamire (2005), UCLA's Richard Washington (1975 and 1976), Gonzaga's Nigel Williams-Goss (2017) and Gonzaga's Kyle Wiltjer (2015)

Pennsylvania (50) - Duke's Gene Banks (1979 and 1981), Kentucky's Sam Bowie (1981 and 1984), Kansas' Wilt Chamberlain (1957 and 1958), Wake Forest's Len Chappell (1961 and 1962), Syracuse's Rakeem Christmas (2015), DePaul's Dallas Comegys (1987), Seton Hall's Bob Davies (1941 and 1942), Cincinnati's Danny Fortson (1996 and 1997), Loyola Marymount's Hank Gathers (1989 and 1990), UNLV's Armon Gilliam (1987), North Carolina's George Glamack (1940), Duke's Dick Groat (1951 and 1952), Connecticut's Richard Hamilton (1998 and 1999), UCLA's Walt Hazzard (1963 and 1964), Duke's Gerald Henderson (2009), Kansas' Wayne Hightower (1960 and 1961), West Texas State's Simmie Hill (1969), George Washington's Joe Holup (1956), Virginia's De'Andre Hunter (2019), Loyola Marymount's Bo Kimble (1990), Duke's Ed Koffenberger (1946 and 1947), Rutgers' Bob Lloyd (1967), Drake's Lewis Lloyd (1980 and 1981), Navy's Elliott Loughlin (1933), Marquette's Maurice Lucas (1974), Duke's Jack Marin (1966), Connecticut's Donyell Marshall (1994), Vanderbilt's Billy McCaffrey (1993), Michigan State's Julius McCoy (1956), Maryland's Tom McMillen (1972 through 1974), North Carolina's Larry Miller (1967 and 1968), Winston-Salem State's Earl Monroe (1967), Kansas' Marcus Morris (2011), Syracuse's Billy Owens (1990 and 1991), Virginia's Barry Parkhill (1972 and 1973), North Carolina State's Lou Pucillo (1959), North Carolina State's John Richter (1959), West Virginia's Wil Robinson (1972), North Carolina's Lee Shaffer (1959 and 1960), West Virginia's Lloyd Sharrar (1958), Virginia's Sean Singletary (2007), Utah's Mike Sojourner (1974), Weber State's Willie Sojourner (1971), Cincinnati's Jack Twyman (1955), Michigan State's Horace Walker (1960), Virginia's Wally Walker (1976), North Carolina's Rasheed Wallace (1995), Syracuse's Hakim Warrick (2004 and 2005) and North Carolina's Dennis Wuycik (1972)

South Carolina (7) - Connecticut's Ray Allen (1995 and 1996), North Carolina's Raymond Felton (2005), North Carolina's Brice Johnson (2016), Louisiana State's Pete Maravich (1968 through 1970), Wichita State's Xavier McDaniel (1985), Murray State's Ja Morant (2019) and Duke's Zion Williamson (2019)

Tennessee (14) - Wake Forest's Skip Brown (1977), Arkansas' Todd Day (1991 and 1992), Kentucky's Tony Delk (1996), Oral Roberts' Richie Fuqua (1972 and 1973), Oklahoma A&M's Bob Harris (1949), Indiana's Kirk Haston (2001), Cincinnati's Paul Hogue (1961 and 1962), Mississippi State's Bailey Howell (1958 and 1959), Kansas' Dedric Lawson (2019), Western Kentucky's Tom Marshall (1954), Kentucky's Ron Mercer (1997), Mississippi's Johnny Neumann (1971), Oral Roberts' Anthony Roberts (1977) and Tulsa's Bingo Smith (1969)

Texas (25) - Oklahoma's Mookie Blaylock (1989), Kentucky's Bob Burrow (1955 and 1956), Oklahoma State's Cade Cunningham (2021), Wyoming's Fennis Dembo (1988), Arizona State's Ike Diogu (2005), Purdue's Keith Edmonson (1982), Purdue's Carsen Edwards (2018 and 2019), North Carolina's Justin Jackson (2017), UNLV's Larry Johnson (1990 and 1991), Syracuse's Wesley Johnson (2010), Oklahoma State's John Lucas III (2004), Cincinnati's Kenyon Martin (2000), Oklahoma's Eduardo Najera (2000), Connecticut's Emeka Okafor (2003 and 2004), Louisiana State's Shaquille O'Neal (1991 and 1992), UNLV's Eddie Owens (1977), Kentucky's Julius Randle (2014), Mississippi State's Lawrence Roberts (2004), Mississippi's Ansu Sesay (1998), Oklahoma State's Marcus Smart (2013 and 2014), Wichita State's Dave Stallworth (1963 through 1965), Gonzaga's Drew Timme (2021), South Carolina's Freddie Tompkins (1934), Kentucky's P.J. Washington (2019) and Illinois' Deron Williams (2005)

Utah (3) - Montana State's Cat Thompson (1929 and 1930), Montana State's Frank Ward (1930) and Iowa's Herb Wilkinson (1945)

Virginia (19) - Duke's Tommy Amaker (1987), Maryland's Bosey Berger (1932), Kentucky's Keith Bogans (2003), Wake Forest's Randolph Childress (1995), Duke's Grant Hill (1992 through 1994), Georgetown's Allen Iverson (1996), East Tennessee State's Mister Jennings (1991), North Carolina's Kendall Marshall (2012), Kansas' Frank Mason III (2017), Georgetown's Alonzo Mourning (1989 through 1992), Kansas State's Jack Parr (1957 and 1958), Tulsa's Paul Pressey (1982), Duke's J.J. Redick (2004 through 2006), North Carolina's J.R. Reid (1988 and 1989), Villanova's Scottie Reynolds (2010), Navy's David Robinson (1986 and 1987), Georgia Tech's Dennis Scott (1990), Maryland's Joe Smith (1994 and 1995) and Xavier's David West (2002 and 2003)

Washington (6) - Oregon's Aaron Brooks (2007), Arizona's Michael Dickerson (1998), San Diego State's Malachi Flynn (2020), Arizona's Jason Terry (1999), Louisville's Terrence Williams (2009) and Oregon's Slim Wintermute (1938 and 1939)

West Virginia (2) - Virginia Tech's Chris Smith (1960) and Virginia's Buzz Wilkinson (1955)

Wisconsin (8) - St. Louis' Dick Boushka (1955), Iowa's Fred Brown (1981), Connecticut's Caron Butler (2002), Louisville's Reece Gaines (2003), Iowa's John Johnson (1970), Utah's Jeff Jonas (1977), Minnesota's Chuck Mencel (1953 and 1955) and Cincinnati's Nick Van Exel (1993)

Wyoming (1) - Utah's Vern Gardner (1948 and 1949)

NOTE: Hawaii, Maine, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota and Vermont are the only states failing to supply an All-American for an out-of-state college.

Waiting List: Intra-State Matchups Frequently Don't Occur Without Playoffs

We learned anew last decade why Kansas, like a masseuse dealing with Deshaun Watson, seeks to avoid Wichita State year upon year after the Shockers clobbered KU in the 2015 Midwest Regional. Ditto Notre Dame and Purdue with their frequent shunning this century of Butler, which took the Irish into overtime in the same regional before losing by only three points against the Boilermakers in second round in 2018. The results, coupled with Abilene Christian's shocking upset of Texas and Loyola leveling Illinois this year, showed again why some major schools should be ashamed of themselves for ducking nearby quality opponents. Why in the world did they have to resort to a national tournament assignment hundreds of miles from their fan base to oppose each other?

In a "Days of Whine and Hoses" era when many cash-strapped athletic departments are begging for revenue, they still schedule numerous poorly-attended home games against inferior opponents. It defies logic as to why tradition-rich schools forsake entertaining non-conference contests with natural rivals (example: Virginia Tech vs. Liberty in 2019) while scheduling more than their share of meaningless "rout-a-matics" at home. Fans shouldn't have to wait for an entertaining contest such as Morehead State upsetting Louisville, 62-61, in the opening round of the 2011 playoffs or Florida Gulf Coast taking Florida State to the mat in 2017.

The normal intensity of an NCAA Tournament tilt escalates even more in "bragging rights" games between neighboring opponents such as Texas Tech vs. Stephen F. Austin in 2018 first round that rarely if ever tangle on the same floor unless forced to compete against each other by a postseason bracket. Essentially, it is a sad state of affairs for fans in Kansas to need to hope KU and Wichita State oppose each other every 20 to 25 years in the NCAA tourney for them to meet on the hardwood.

A classic example of the scheduling neglect was an intense 2001 West Regional matchup between Maryland and Georgetown. Of course, the Washington, D.C., area isn't the only region with a scheduling complex. As emotional as it was, the Hoya Paranoia-Terrapin Trepidation confrontation didn't stack up among the following top dozen intrastate contests in NCAA playoff history including a couple of Kentucky/Louisville duels before they started meeting on a regular basis:

1. 1961 NCAA Championship Game (Cincinnati 70, Ohio State 65 in OT)
Paul Hogue, a 6-9 center who hit just 51.8% of his free-throw attempts during the season, sank only two of 10 foul shots in his two previous contests before putting Cincinnati ahead to stay with a pair of pivotal free throws in overtime in a victory over previously undefeated Ohio State.

2. 1998 East Regional second round (North Carolina 93, UNCC 83 in OT)
UNC Charlotte forward DeMarco Johnson outplayed national player of the year Antawn Jamison of the Tar Heels, but Carolina got a total of 55 points from Shammond Williams and Vince Carter to withstand the 49ers' bid for an upset.

3. 1983 Mideast Regional final (Louisville 80, Kentucky 68 in OT)
The first meeting between in-state rivals Kentucky and Louisville in more than 24 years was memorable as the Cardinals outscored the Wildcats 18-6 in overtime to reach the Final Four. The next year in same region's semifinals, UK erased a half-time deficit to upend the Cards, 72-67.

4. 1981 Midwest Regional semifinals (Wichita State 66, Kansas 65)
Mike Jones hit two long-range baskets in the last 50 seconds for Wichita State in the first game between the intrastate rivals in 36 years.

5. 1989 Southeast Regional first round (South Alabama 86, Alabama 84)
In an exciting intrastate battle, South Alabama erased a 16-point halftime deficit. Jeff Hodge and Gabe Estaba combined for 55 points for USA.

6. 1971 West Regional final (UCLA 57, Long Beach State 55)
The closest result for UCLA during the Bruins' 38-game playoff winning streak from 1967 to 1973 came when they had to erase an 11-point deficit despite 29 percent field-goal shooting to edge Jerry Tarkanian-coached Long Beach State.

7. 1971 Mideast Regional semifinals (Western Kentucky 107, Kentucky 83)
This year's game wasn't anything like when WKU, long regarded as poor country cousins by Kentucky, whipped the Wildcats in their first-ever meeting when All-American Jim McDaniels poured in 35 points for the Hilltoppers.

8. 1959 Mideast Regional semifinals (Louisville 76, Kentucky 61)
Second-ranked Kentucky (24-3) hit less than one-third of its field-goal attempts in blowing a 15-point lead against intrastate rival Louisville (19-12). The Cardinals had lost to Georgetown (KY) earlier in the season.

9. 1964 Midwest Regional first round (Texas Western 68, Texas A&M 62)
Jim "Bad News" Barnes took out his do-it-yourself kit and accounted for 61.8% of Texas Western's offense by scoring 42 points.

10. 1962 NCAA Championship Game (Cincinnati 71, Ohio State 59)
Ohio State All-American center Jerry Lucas wrenched his left knee in the national semifinals against Wake Forest, limiting his effectiveness against Cincinnati counterpart Paul Hogue in the Bearcats' 71-59 triumph in the final.

11. 1963 Mideast Regional final (Loyola of Chicago 79, Illinois 64)
Sparked by All-American Jerry Harkness' 33 points (highest ever for Ramblers in NCAA tourney), Loyola's only meeting against the Illini in a 24-year span from 1955-56 through 1978-79 represented the Ramblers' lone win in their irregular series until 1984-85.

T12. 1974 East Regional first round (Furman 75, South Carolina 67)
Furman's Clyde Mayes collected 21 points and 16 rebounds to upend the Gamecocks' star-studded roster featuring Mike Dunleavy Sr., Alex English and Brian Winters.

T12. 1964 Midwest Regional final (Kansas State 94, Wichita 86)
All-American Dave Stallworth's 37 points (highest ever by Shockers in NCAA tourney) and 16 rebounds weren't enough to prevent Wichita's loss against K-State.

T12. 1969 Midwest Regional semifinals (Colorado State 64, Colorado 56)
Cliff Meely's 32 points (all-time individual playoff high for CU) were in vain. Cliff Shegogg tallied a team-high 20 points for the Rams.

College Exam: Day #12 of One-and-Only NCAA Tournament Trivia Challenge

Unless you're busy hoarding toilet paper 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 12 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.com's year-by-year highlights):

1. Who is the only championship team player to have a season scoring average of less than six points per game entering a Final Four but tally more than 30 points in the national semifinals and final? Hint: He is the only player with a single-digit season scoring average to score more than 25 points in an NCAA championship game.

2. Who is the only player to score at least 25 points in eight consecutive NCAA playoff games? Hint: He is the only player to rank among top five in scoring average in both NCAA Tournament and NBA playoffs. He was denied a championship ring in his only Final Four appearance when a player who would become an NBA teammate tipped in decisive basket in the closing seconds.

3. Name the only Final Four Most Outstanding Player who wasn't among the top five scorers on his team. Hint: The only other player to earn the award who wasn't among top four scorers on his team attended same university.

4. Who is the only individual to be named the NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player and NIT Most Valuable Player? Hint: As a freshman, he shared one of the awards with a teammate.

5. Who is the only U.S. Congressman to become chairman of the House Judiciary Committee after playing in the NCAA Tournament championship game? Hint: Starting out as a Democrat, he became a 12-term Republican Congressman from Illinois.

6. Who is the only individual to be named Final Four Most Outstanding Player and NBA Finals Most Valuable Player in back-to-back seasons? Hint: He holds the NBA Finals single-game record for most points by a rookie.

7. Name the freshman who had the highest season scoring average for a team to reach the NCAA Tournament championship game until Carmelo Anthony achieved the feat for 2003 champion Syracuse. Hint: The word "Boss" is tattooed to his chest for a good reason because he also led his team in assists as freshman.

8. Who is the only freshman to score more than 30 points in a national semifinal or championship game before failing to score more than half that total in his next four playoff outings? Hint: He didn't score more than 15 points in any of his next four NCAA playoff games, all defeats, and averaged a modest 8.2 points per game in an eight-year NBA career with an all-time pro season high of 11.4 ppg and game high of 28.

9. Who is the only freshman on a Final Four team to score more than 20 points in as many as four tournament games? Hint: He did not play in the national championship game and his school lost in the NCAA playoffs to opponents with double-digit seeds each of four seasons before he arrived.

10. Name the only season-leading scorer of a titlist to be held more than 14 points below his average in the NCAA championship game. Hint: He was named national player of the year by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. He is one of four Final Four Most Outstanding Players held scoreless in their NCAA Tournament debuts in a previous season. He is also the only individual to become a member of three NCAA titlists after playing one season in junior college.

Answers (Day 12)

Day 11 Questions and Answers

Day 10 Questions and Answers

Day 9 Questions and Answers

Day 8 Questions and Answers

Day 7 Questions and Answers

Day 6 Questions and Answers

Day 5 Questions and Answers

Day 4 Questions and Answers

Day 3 Questions and Answers

Day 2 Questions and Answers

Day 1 Questions and Answers

History Against Michigan Reaching Final 4 After Being Unranked in Preseason

NCAA playoff history was against Michigan capturing national title. No school has won an NCAA title upon earning a #1 regional seed after going unranked among Top 25 in AP's national preseason poll (Top 20 until 1989-90). In fact, UM became the 12th straight team in this category failing to reach the Final Four (including another UM squad in 1985). The only top-seeded squad unranked in PS to advance to the national semifinals was Larry Bird-led Indiana State in 1979 when seeding was first introduced.

Year #1 Seed Unranked in PS Top 25 Poll Coach Regional/NCAA Tourney Mark
1979 Indiana State Bill Hodges Midwest/4-1 (lost to Michigan State)
1985 Michigan Bill Frieder Southeast/1-1 (Villanova)
1986 St. John's Lou Carnesecca West/1-1 (Auburn)
1990 Connecticut Jim Calhoun East/3-1 (Duke)
1990 Michigan State Jud Heathcote Southeast/2-1 (Georgia Tech)
1994 Missouri Norm Stewart West/3-1 (Arizona)
1999 Auburn Cliff Ellis South/2-1 (Ohio State)
2002 Cincinnati Bob Huggins West/1-1 (UCLA)
2010 Syracuse Jim Boeheim West/2-1 (Butler)
2012 Michigan State Tom Izzo West/2-1 (Louisville)
2016 Oregon Dana Altman West/3-1 (Oklahoma)
2018 Virginia Tony Bennett South/0-1 (Maryland-Baltimore County)
2021 Michigan Juwan Howard East/3-1 (UCLA)

NOTE: Preseason polls were Top 20 through 1988-89.

First-Year Flash: Texas State's TJ Johnson is Winningest Rookie Head Coach

More than half of the winningest first-year head coaches since Gonzaga's Mark Few in 1999-00 subsequently moved on to other similar jobs. Will Texas State's Terrence "TJ" Johnson (18-7, .720) eventually be next newbie seeking greener pastures after registering highest rookie winning percentage despite toiling majority of campaign with interim tag? Alleged racially-insensitive remarks notwithstanding, this was the second time in eight seasons a Danny Kaspar successor compiled the top record by a first-year bench boss. Following are rookie NCAA Division I head coaches with the best winning percentages going back to 1963-64 when Tates Locke became Bob Knight's predecessor at Army:

Season First-Year Head Coach School W-L Pct. Predecessor
1963-64 Tates Locke Army 19-7 .731 George Hunter
1964-65 Gary Thompson Wichita State 21-9 .700 Ralph Miller
1965-66 Lou Carnesecca St. John's 18-8 .692 Joe Lapchick
1965-66 Bob Knight Army 18-8 .692 Tates Locke
1966-67 Tommy Bartlett Florida 21-4 .840 Norm Sloan
1967-68 John Dromo Louisville 21-7 .750 Peck Hickman
1968-69 Tom Gola La Salle 23-1 .958 Jim Harding
1969-70 Terry Holland Davidson 22-5 .815 Lefty Driesell
1970-71 Richard "Digger" Phelps Fordham 26-3 .897 Ed Conlin
1971-72 Chuck Daly Penn 25-3 .893 Dick Harter
1972-73 Norm Ellenberger New Mexico 21-6 .778 Bob King
1973-74 Lute Olson Long Beach State 24-2 .923 Jerry Tarkanian
1974-75 Tom Apke Creighton 20-7 .741 Eddie Sutton
1974-75 Wayne Yates Memphis State 20-7 .741 Gene Bartow
1975-76 Bill Blakeley North Texas State 22-4 .846 Gene Robbins
1976-77 Jim Boeheim Syracuse 26-4 .867 Roy Danforth
1976-77 Charlie Schmaus Virginia Military 26-4 .867 Bill Blair
1977-78 Gary Cunningham UCLA 25-3 .893 Gene Bartow
1978-79 Bill Hodges Indiana State 33-1 .971 Bob King
1979-80 Bob Dukiet St. Peter's 22-9 .710 Bob Kelly
1979-80 Dave "Lefty" Ervin La Salle 22-9 .710 Paul Westhead
1980-81 Pat Foster Lamar 25-5 .833 Billy Tubbs
1981-82 Jim Boyle St. Joseph's 25-5 .833 Jim Lynam
1982-83 Ed Tapscott American University 20-10 .667 Gary Williams
1983-84 Rick Huckabay Marshall 25-6 .806 Bob Zuffelato
1984-85 Newton Chelette Southeastern Louisiana 18-9 .667 Ken Fortenberry
1985-86 Pete Gillen Xavier 25-5 .833 Bob Staak
1986-87 Pete Herrmann Navy 26-6 .813 Paul Evans
1987-88 Rick Barnes George Mason 20-10 .667 Joe Harrington
1988-89 Kermit Davis Idaho 25-6 .806 Tim Floyd
1989-90 Jim Anderson Oregon State 22-7 .759 Ralph Miller
1990-91 Alan LeForce East Tennessee State 28-5 .848 Les Robinson
1991-92 Blaine Taylor Montana 27-4 .871 Stew Morrill
1992-93 Fran Fraschilla Manhattan 23-7 .767 Steve Lappas
1993-94 Kirk Speraw Central Florida 21-9 .700 Joe Dean Jr.
1994-95 George "Tic" Price New Orleans 20-11 .645 Tim Floyd
1995-96 Mike Heideman Wisconsin-Green Bay 25-4 .862 Dick Bennett
1996-97 Bill Carmody Princeton 24-4 .857 Pete Carril
1997-98 Bill Guthridge North Carolina 34-4 .895 Dean Smith
1998-99 Tevester Anderson Murray State 27-6 .818 Mark Gottfried
1999-00 Mark Few Gonzaga 26-9 .743 Dan Monson
2000-01 Thad Matta Butler 24-8 .750 Barry Collier
2001-02 Stan Heath Kent State 29-6 .829 Gary Waters
2002-03 Brad Brownell UNC Wilmington 24-7 .774 Jerry Wainwright
2003-04 Jamie Dixon Pittsburgh 31-5 .861 Ben Howland
2004-05 Mark Fox Nevada 25-7 .781 Trent Johnson
2005-06 Rob Jeter Wisconsin-Milwaukee 22-9 .710 Bruce Pearl
2006-07 Anthony Grant Virginia Commonwealth 28-7 .800 Jeff Capel III
2007-08 Brad Stevens Butler 30-4 .882 Todd Lickliter
2008-09 Ken McDonald Western Kentucky 25-9 .735 Darrin Horn
2009-10 Shaka Smart Virginia Commonwealth 27-9 .750 Anthony Grant
2010-11 B.J. Hill Northern Colorado 21-11 .656 Tad Boyle
2011-12 Steve Prohm Murray State 31-2 .939 Billy Kennedy
2012-13 Kevin Ollie Connecticut 20-10 .667 Jim Calhoun
2013-14 Brad Underwood Stephen F. Austin 32-3 .914 Danny Kaspar
2014-15 David Richman North Dakota State 23-10 .697 Saul Phillips
2015-16 Matt McCall Chattanooga 29-5 .853 Will Wade
2016-17 Paul Weir New Mexico State 28-6 .824 Marvin Menzies
2017-18 Bob Richey Furman 23-10 .697 Niko Medved
2018-19 Sam Scholl San Diego 21-15 .583 Lamont Smith
2019-20 Eric Henderson South Dakota State 22-10 .688 T.J. Otzelberger
2020-21 Terrence "TJ" Johnson Texas State 18-7 .720 Danny Kaspar

Fixer Upper: Regal NCAA Real-Estate Rehab for Drake, ORU, OSU and Rutgers

There is no more precious NCAA real estate than victories in the national championship tournament. Just ask Drake (blanked 49 years in row under 12 head coaches prior to Darian DeVries), Oral Roberts (46), Oregon State (38) and Rutgers (37) after they posted postseason victories following extensive NCAA playoff victory droughts prior to reentering the win column. This quartet has four of the 16 longest streaks without an NCAA Tournament triumph after entering tourney win column among schools on the following list:

Famine School Consecutive Seasons Without NCAA Tourney Triumph (Coaches During Drought)
62 years Holy Cross 1953-54 through 2014-15 (Buster Sheary, Roy Leenig, Frank Oftring, Jack Donohue, George Blaney, Bill Raynor, Ralph Willard, Sean Kearney and Milan Brown)
59 Baylor 1950-51 through 2008-09 (Bill Henderson, Bill Menefee, Carroll Dawson, Jim Haller, Gene Iba, Darrel Johnson, Harry Miller, Dave Bliss and Scott Drew)
52 Stanford 1942-43 through 1993-94 (Everett Dean, Bob Burnett, Howie Dallmar, Dick DiBiaso, Tom Davis and Mike Montgomery)
49 Drake 1971-72 through 2019-20 (Howard Stacey, Bob Ortegel, Gary Garner, Tom Abatemarco, Eddie Fields, Rudy Washington, Kurt Kanaskie, Tom Davis, Keno Davis, Mark Phelps, Ray Giacoletti, Niko Medved and Darian DeVries)
47 St. Bonaventure 1970-71 through 2016-17 (Larry Weise, Jim Satalin, Jim O'Brien, Ron DeCarli, Tom Chapman, Jim Baron, Jan van Breda Kolff, Anthony Solomon and Mark Schmidt)
46 Oral Roberts 1974-75 through 2019-20 (Jerry Hale, Lake Kelly, Ken Hayes, Dick Acres, Ted Owens, Ken Trickey, Bill Self, Barry Hinson, Scott Sutton and Paul Mills)
46 Wisconsin 1947-48 through 1992-93 (Bud Foster, John Erickson, Bill Cofield, Steve Yoder and Stu Jackson)
43 South Carolina 1973-74 through 2015-16 (Frank McGuire, Bill E. Foster, Steve Steinwedel, George Felton, Steve Newton, Eddie Foger, Dave Odom, Darrin Horn and Frank Martin)
42 Saint Louis 1952-53 through 1993-94 (Eddie Hickey, John Benington, Buddy Brehmer, Bob Polk, Randy Albrecht, Ron Coleman, Ron Ekker, Rich Grawer and Charlie Spoonhour)
41 Iowa State 1944-45 through 1984-85 (Louis Menze, Clayton Sutherland, Bill Strannigan, Glendon Anderson, Maury John, Ken Trickey, Lynn Nance and Johnny Orr)
41 Oregon 1960-61 through 2000-01 (Steve Belko, Dick Harter, Jim Haney, Don Monson, Jerry Green and Ernie Kent)
41 Washington State 1941-42 through 1981-82 (Jack Friel, Marv Harshman, Bob Greenwood and George Raveling)
38 Davidson 1969-70 through 2006-07 (Terry Holland, Bo Brickels, Dave Pritchett, Eddie Biedenbach, Bobby Hussey and Bob McKillop)
38 Oregon State 1982-83 through 2019-20 (Ralph Miller, Jim Anderson, Eddie Payne, Ritchie McKay, Jay John, Craig Robinson and Wayne Tinkle)
38 Tulsa 1955-56 through 1992-93 (Clarence Iba, Joe Swank, Ken Hayes, Jim King, Nolan Richardson II, J.D. Barnett and Tubby Smith)
37 Rutgers 1983-84 through 2019-20 (Tom Young, Craig Littlepage, Bob Wenzel, Kevin Bannon, Gary Waters, Fred Hill Jr., Mike Rice Jr., Eddie Jordan and Steve Pikiell)
36 Georgetown 1943-44 through 1978-79 (Ken Eagles, Elmer Ripley, Buddy O'Grady, Harry Jeannette, Tommy Nolan, Tom O'Keefe, Jack Magee and John Thompson Jr.)
36 Manhattan 1958-59 through 1993-94 (Ken Norton, John Powers, Brian Mahoney, Gordon Chiesa, Thomas Sullivan, Bob DelleBovi, Steve Lappas and Fran Fraschilla)
35 Penn State 1955-56 through 1989-90 (John Egli, John Bach, Dick Harter and Bruce Parkhill)

College Exam: Day #11 of One-and-Only NCAA Tournament Trivia Challenge

Unless you're still busy hoarding toilet paper 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 11 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.com's year-by-year highlights):

1. Who is the only one of the 60 or so two-time consensus first-team All-Americans since 1946 never to participate in the NCAA Tournament or the NIT? Hint: His school was a total of 10 games over .500 in Big Ten Conference competition in his junior and senior seasons. He never played on a team to win playoff series in his nine-year NBA career.

2. Who is the only player to score more than 20,000 pro points yet never reach the conference finals in the NBA playoffs after playing at least two seasons of varsity basketball at a major college and never participating in the NCAA Division I playoffs? Hint: The college he attended made its NCAA Tournament debut the first year after he left school early to become third pick overall in NBA draft.

3. Who is the only coach since the tourney field expanded to at least 48 teams to take two different universities to the playoffs when the schools appeared in the tournament for the first time? Hint: His last name begins with a "F" and he no longer is Division I head coach.

4. Name the only school with a losing record to secure an automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs by winning a regular-season conference title. Hint: The league started a postseason tournament two years later and the school in question has lost all six times it reached conference tourney championship game.

5. Name the only major university to have two graduates score more than 17,000 points in the NBA after playing at least three varsity seasons in college and failing to appear in the NCAA Tournament. Hint: The school has had three other players score more than 10,000 points in the NBA after never appearing in NCAA playoffs.

6. Name the only former titlist to have an all-time playoff record 10 games below the .500 mark. Hint: Longtime network broadcaster Curt Gowdy played in the tournament for the school.

7. Name the only state with three schools to compile tournament records at least nine games below .500. Hint: The three institutions from same state are members of different conferences.

8. Who was the only player shorter than Bobby Hurley, Duke's 6-0 guard, to play for a championship team and be selected as the Final Four Most Outstanding Player? Hint: There was another Final Four MOP who was also shorter than 6-0, but he played for a national third-place finisher in the mid-1950s.

9. Who is the only individual to play in an NCAA Tournament championship game and later coach his alma mater to a final? Hint: He served as an assistant to the coach with the most NCAA playoff victories and a college teammate is one of the winningest coaches of all time.

10. Name the only one of the schools with multiple national titles to have two teams participate in the NCAA playoffs as defending champions but lose their opening-round game. Hint: Both of the opening-round setbacks for the school when it was defending champion occurred in East Regional.

Answers (Day 11)

Day 10 Questions and Answers

Day 9 Questions and Answers

Day 8 Questions and Answers

Day 7 Questions and Answers

Day 6 Questions and Answers

Day 5 Questions and Answers

Day 4 Questions and Answers

Day 3 Questions and Answers

Day 2 Questions and Answers

Day 1 Questions and Answers

League of Their Own: Pac-12 Provides 4 Sweet 16 Teams 1st Time Since 2001

Packing the court legitimately, the Pacific-12 Conference provided more than three teams among the Sweet 16 for the first time since achieving the feat on three occasions in five-year span from 1997 through 2001. Five years ago, the ACC set an NCAA Tournament record with six Sweet 16 participants. In 2016-17, the national media proclaimed the ACC as perhaps the greatest league in history but that assessment came before the nine-bid alliance was fortunate to have one representative among regional semifinalists (North Carolina overcame five-point deficit in last three minutes against Arkansas) and failed to produce a single individual among 19 All-Americans this campaign. #MessMedia proclaimed the Big Ten as dominant this season but only one of nine participants survived the first weekend of competition.

In 2009, the Big East became the first conference to boast five playoff teams reaching the regional semifinals in the same year until the ACC duplicated the feat two years ago. The ACC boasted four members advancing that far on eight occasions in a 12-year stretch from 1984 through 1995.

The ACC in 1985 was the only league in this category not to have at least one of the quartet reach the Final Four until the Big East was foiled in 2006. The following list of thoroughbred leagues supplied at least four Sweet 16 participants a total of 30 times since the NCAA Tournament field expanded to at least 48 teams in 1980:

Year Power League Four or More Conference Members Reaching Sweet 16
1980 Big Ten Indiana, z-Iowa, Ohio State, z-Purdue
1984 ACC Maryland, North Carolina, z-Virginia, Wake Forest
1985 ACC Georgia Tech, Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State
1985 Big East Boston College, y-Georgetown, z-St. John's, x-Villanova
1986 ACC y-Duke, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, North Carolina State
1986 SEC Alabama, Auburn, Kentucky, z-Louisiana State
1989 ACC z-Duke, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Virginia
1989 Big Ten z-Illinois, Indiana, x-Michigan, Minnesota
1990 ACC Clemson, y-Duke, z-Georgia Tech, North Carolina
1992 ACC x-Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, North Carolina
1993 ACC Florida State, x-North Carolina, Virginia, Wake Forest
1995 ACC Maryland, z-North Carolina, Virginia, Wake Forest
1996 SEC Arkansas, Georgia, x-Kentucky, z-Mississippi State
1997 Pacific-10 x-Arizona, California, Stanford, UCLA
1998 Pacific-10 Arizona, z-Stanford, UCLA, Washington
1999 Big Ten Iowa, z-Michigan State, z-Ohio State, Purdue
2001 Pacific-10 y-Arizona, Southern California, Stanford, UCLA
2002 Big 12 z-Kansas, Missouri, z-Oklahoma, Texas
2003 Big East Connecticut, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, x-Syracuse
2006 Big East Connecticut, Georgetown, Villanova, West Virginia
2009 Big East z-Connecticut, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, z-Villanova
2012 Big East Cincinnati, z-Louisville, Marquette, Syracuse
2012 Big Ten Indiana, Michigan State, z-Ohio State, Wisconsin
2013 Big Ten Indiana, y-Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State
2015 ACC x-Duke, Louisville, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Notre Dame
2016 ACC Duke, Miami (Fla.), y-North Carolina, Notre Dame, z-Syracuse, Virginia
2018 ACC Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Syracuse
2019 ACC Duke, Florida State, North Carolina, z-Virginia, Virginia Tech
2019 SEC z-Auburn, Kentucky, Louisiana State, Tennessee
2021 Pacific-12 Oregon, Oregon State, Southern California, z-UCLA

x-Won NCAA championship
y-Finished national runner-up
z-Reached Final Four

Bumpy Ride: Seven Ex-Champs Lost Tourney Game By Larger Margin Than KU

It was a jolt to Kansas fans when the Jayhawks were smothered by Southern California, 85-51, in the second round of the West Regional. But their ardent followers can take some solace in fact that seven other former champions - Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Holy Cross, Maryland, Virginia and Wyoming - lost an NCAA Tournament game by more than 34 points.

On the other end of the spectrum, is a traditional blueblood other than KU such as Connecticut, Duke, Georgetown, Kentucky, North Carolina, UCLA or Villanova the only former national kingpin never to lose an NCAA playoff game by fewer than 15 points? No, but the ex-champ holding this distinction boasts school colors of Blue and Gold. It's La Salle, the 1954 titlist which subsequently lost three separate tourney games by 14 points.

Ohio State is the lone power-conference member in this group never to incur an NCAA playoff setback by at least 20 points. Georgetown and North Carolina departed in one-sided results this year but they've previously been eliminated by even wider margin. Former NCAA champions Wyoming (49 points) and UConn (47) sustained the worst reversals on the following list of most-lopsided losses in NCAA Tournament competition among the 36 former titlists:

Previous Champion Largest Margin Opponent(s) Most-Lopsided NCAA Tournament Loss(es)
Arizona 39 #1 seed Louisville 103-64 in 2009 Midwest Regional semifinal
Arkansas 35 Cincinnati 97-62 in 1958 Midwest Regional third-place contest
California 20 Ohio State/#1 Connecticut 75-55 in 1960 national final/74-54 in 1990 East Regional second round
Cincinnati 24 #5 Illinois 92-68 in 2004 Atlanta Regional second round
City College of New York 15 Holy Cross 60-45 in 1947 national semifinal
Connecticut 47 Duke 101-54 in 1964 East Regional final
Duke 30 #1 UNLV 103-73 in 1990 national final
Florida 23 #3 Michigan 108-85 in 1988 West Regional second round
Georgetown 24 #1 Massachusetts 86-62 in 1996 East Regional final
Holy Cross 39 #1 Oregon 91-52 in 2016 West Regional first round
Indiana 25 #3 St. John's 86-61 in 1999 South Regional second round
Kansas 34 #6 Southern California 85-51 in 2021 West Regional second round
Kentucky 24 Western Kentucky 107-83 in 1971 Mideast Regional semifinal
La Salle 14 San Francisco/Columbia/#9 Wichita State 77-63 in 1955 NCAA final/83-69 in 1968 East Regional first round/72-58 in 2013 West Regional semifinal
Louisville 23 #1 North Carolina 97-74 in 1997 East Regional final
Loyola of Chicago 19 Western Kentucky 105-86 in 1966 Mideast Regional first round
Marquette 33 #2 Kansas 94-61 in 2003 national semifinal
Maryland 35 #3 Indiana/#6 UCLA 99-64 in 1981 Mideast Regional second round/105-70 in 2000 Midwest Regional second round
Michigan 34 #11 Loyola Marymount 149-115 in 1990 West Regional second round
Michigan State 20 #1 Duke/#1 Kansas 81-61 in 2015 national semifinal/90-70 in 2017 Midwest Regional second round
North Carolina 27 Purdue 92-65 in 1969 national semifinal
North Carolina State 21 #2 Texas 75-54 in 2006 Atlanta Regional second round
Ohio State 18 #7 Georgetown 70-52 in 2006 Minneapolis Regional second round
Oklahoma State 24 Kansas State 68-44 in 1951 West Regional final
Oregon 21 California 70-49 in 1960 West Regional final
San Francisco 26 UNLV 121-95 in 1977 West Regional first round
Stanford 23 #1 Kansas/#9 Mississippi State 86-63 in 2002 Midwest Regional second round/93-70 in 2005 Austin Regional first round
Syracuse 29 #4 Kansas 87-58 in 2001 Midwest Regional second round
Texas-El Paso 25 Indiana 78-53 in 1975 Mideast Regional first round
UCLA 27 #2 Indiana 106-79 in 1992 West Regional final
UNLV 23 #3 Seton Hall 84-61 in 1989 West Regional final
Utah 31 #1 Kentucky 101-70 in 1996 Midwest Regional semifinal
Villanova 26 #3 Purdue 87-61 in 2019 South Regional second round
Virginia 37 #3 Michigan 102-65 in 1989 Southeast Regional final
Wisconsin 30 #1 Maryland 87-57 in 2002 East Regional second round
Wyoming 49 UCLA 109-60 in 1967 West Regional semifinal

Good to See You Again: First Pac-12 Matchup in NCAA Tournament History

NCAA Tournament confrontations between members from the same power league are relatively rare. The Oregon/Southern California matchup in West Regional semifinals is 30th such intra-conference tourney tilts and first-ever for Pac-12 Conference. Four seasons ago, SEC rivals Florida and South Carolina met in the East Regional final. It was the first such contest between SEC members in a 31-year span.

The Big Ten Conference, taking some solace from eight teams eliminated in first two rounds this year, accounted for seven of the first 18 NCAA Tournament games pitting league members against each other. Five campaigns ago marked the first time a league (ACC) generated three intra-conference playoff confrontations in a single tourney.

Year Conference Playoff Round NCAA Tourney Result Between Members of Same League
1976 Big Ten national championship Indiana 86 (May scored team-high 26 points), Michigan 68 (Green 18)
1980 Big Ten regional semifinals Purdue 76 (Edmonson/Morris 20), Indiana 69 (I. Thomas 30)
1980 Big Ten national third-place Purdue 75 (Carroll 35), Iowa 58 (Arnold 19)
1981 ACC national semifinals North Carolina 78 (Wood 39), Virginia 65 (Lamp 18)
1983 ACC regional final North Carolina State 63 (Whittenburg 24), Virginia 62 (Sampson 23)
1985 Big East national semifinals Georgetown 77 (Williams 20), St. John's 59 (Glass 13)
1985 Big East national championship Villanova 66 (McClain 17), Georgetown 64 (Wingate 16)
1986 SEC regional semifinals Kentucky 68 (Walker 22), Alabama 63 (Coner 20)
1986 SEC regional final Louisiana State 59 (Williams 16), Kentucky 57 (Walker 20)
1987 Big East regional final Providence 88 (Donovan/D. Wright 20), Georgetown 73 (Williams 25)
1987 Big East national semifinals Syracuse 77 (Monroe 17), Providence 63 (Screen 18)
1988 Big Eight regional final Kansas 71 (Manning 20), Kansas State 58 (Scott 18)
1988 Big Eight national championship Kansas 83 (Manning 31), Oklahoma 79 (Sieger 22)
1989 Big Ten national semifinals Michigan 83 (Rice 28), Illinois 81 (Battle 29)
1992 Big Ten regional final Michigan 75 (Webber 23), Ohio State 71 (Jackson 20)
1992 Great Midwest regional final Cincinnati 88 (Jones 23), Memphis State 57 (Hardaway 12)
2000 Big Ten regional final Wisconsin 64 (Bryant 18), Purdue 60 (Cardinal/Cunningham 13)
2000 Big Ten national semifinals Michigan State 53 (Peterson 20), Wisconsin 41 (Boone 18)
2001 ACC national semifinals Duke 95 (Battier 25), Maryland 84 (Dixon 19)
2002 Big 12 regional final Oklahoma 81 (Price 18), Missouri 75 (Paulding 22)
2009 Big East regional final Villanova 78 (Anderson 17), Pittsburgh 76 (Young 28)
2013 Big East regional final Syracuse 55 (Southerland 16), Marquette 39 (Blue 14)
2015 ACC regional semifinals Louisville 75 (Harrell 24), North Carolina State 65 (Lacey 18)
2016 ACC regional final North Carolina 88 (Johnson 25), Notre Dame 74 (Jackson 26)
2016 ACC regional final Syracuse 68 (Richardson 23), Virginia 62 (Perrantes 18)
2016 ACC national semifinals North Carolina 83 (Jackson/Johnson 16), Syracuse 66 (Cooney 22)
2017 SEC regional final South Carolina 77 (Thornwell 26), Florida 70 (Leon 18)
2018 ACC regional semifinals Duke 69 (Bagley 22), Syracuse 65 (Battle 19)
2019 Big Ten second round Michigan State 70 (Tillman 14), Minnesota 50 (Coffey 27)
2019 ACC regional semifinals Duke 75 (Williamson 23), Virginia Tech 73 (Blackshear 18)
2019 SEC regional final Auburn 77 (Harper 26), Kentucky 71 (Washington 28)
2021 Pac-12 regional semifinals Southern California 82 (White 22), Oregon 68 (Omoruyi 28)

College Exam: Day #10 of One-and-Only NCAA Tournament Trivia Challenge

Unless you're busy hoarding toilet paper 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 10 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 All-American to coach three different schools in the NCAA playoffs? Hint: He was the leading scorer for an NCAA champion.

2. Who is the only coach to take three different schools to a regional final in a 10-year span? Hint: He is the only individual to meet two different schools in the playoffs he had previously coached to the Final Four. He had a chance to become the first coach to guide three different universities to national semifinals, but retired and turned reins over to his son.

3. Who is the only seven-foot player to lead a Final Four in scoring and win a conference high jump title in the same year? Hint: He is the only player to lead the NBA in rebounds and assists in same season.

4. Of the total of 10 different teams in the 1980s to defeat a school twice in a season the opponent eventually won the national title, name the only one of the 10 to fail to win its NCAA Tournament opener. Hint: The team had the misfortune of opening playoffs on home court of its opponent.

5. Of the Final Four teams in the last several decades to have standouts whose high school coach was reunited with a star player as a college assistant, name the only school to win a national championship. Hint: The high school coach who tagged along with his prep All-American as a college assistant was also first minority player to play for his alma mater.

6. Who is the only coach to take a team more than two games below .500 one season to the national title the next year? Hint: He is the only championship team coach to finish his college career with a losing record. He is also the only major-college coach to stay at a school at least 25 seasons and finish with a losing career record at that institution.

7. Who is the only coach to reach the national semifinals of the NCAA Tournament and NIT at least five times apiece? Hint: Of the coaches to win basketball championships at every major level (the NCAA, NIT and Summer Olympics), he is the only one to capture the "Triple Crown" in a span of less than 10 years.

8. Of the players to score more than 225 points in the playoffs and/or average in excess of 25 points per tournament game (minimum of six games), who is the only individual to score more than 22 points in every postseason contest? Hint: He is the only player from group to have a single-digit differential between his highest-scoring game and his lowest-scoring game.

9. Who is the only one of the first 20 players to accumulate at least 235 points in NCAA playoff competition to fail to score at least 25 points in a tournament game? Hint: He is the only one of the more recent Most Outstanding Players to score fewer than 28 points in two Final Four games and his highest-scoring playoff performance couldn't avert a defeat in the only one of his four years he didn't participate in Final Four.

10. Among the all-time leading scorers in NCAA Tournament history, who is the only player in this group to go scoreless in a playoff game? Hint: He scored less than 10 points in six consecutive tournament games before averaging 20 points per game in his last 11 playoff outings.

Answers (Day 10)

Day 9 Questions and Answers

Day 8 Questions and Answers

Day 7 Questions and Answers

Day 6 Questions and Answers

Day 5 Questions and Answers

Day 4 Questions and Answers

Day 3 Questions and Answers

Day 2 Questions and Answers

Day 1 Questions and Answers

Self-Improvement For Schools When He Becomes Tourney-Bound Bench Boss

John Calipari is the only coach ever to guide two different schools to a final Associated Press Top 5 ranking in back-to-back seasons. Meanwhile, you couldn't tell me by lackluster performance against USC in second round this year but Bill Self is the only mentor ever to twice take two different schools to a final AP Top 20 ranking in back-to-back campaigns. Consider the following chronological list:

Coach Schools (Year/Final AP Ranking)
William "Tippy" Dye Ohio State (1950/2nd) and Washington (1951/15th)
Paul Evans Navy (1986/17th) and Pittsburgh (1987/12th)
Benny Dees New Orleans (1987/16th) and Wyoming (1988/13th)
Orlando "Tubby" Smith Georgia (1997/17th) and Kentucky (1998/5th)
Bill Self Tulsa (2000/18th) and Illinois (2001/4th)
Bill Self Illinois (2003/11th) and Kansas (2004/16th)
Roy Williams Kansas (2003/6th) and North Carolina (2004/18th)
John Calipari Memphis (2009/3rd) and Kentucky (2010/2nd)

Junior Achievement: Duarte is 6th Juco Named DI All-American This Century

Oregon guard Chris Duarte became the sixth junior college recruit in the 21st Century to earn All-American status for a four-year institution. That's a stark contrast to an era when at least one former J.C. player was named an NCAA All-American 21 consecutive seasons from 1963-64 through 1983-84.

There were four years when a minimum of four former jucos became NCAA Division I All-Americans the same campaign (1955, 1970, 1971 and 1982). A total of only 13 two-time All-Americans are represented on the following alphabetical list of NCAA All-Americans who previously played for a junior college:

All-American Pos. Four-Year University Junior College(s)
Don Barksdale C UCLA '47 Marin (Calif.)
Jim Barnes C Texas Western '64 Cameron (Okla.)
Ron Behagen F Minnesota '73 Southern Idaho
Walter Berry F-C St. John's '86 San Jacinto (Tex.)
Gale Bishop F-C Washington '36 Yakima (Wash.) Valley
Daron "Mookie" Blaylock G Oklahoma '89 Midland (Tex.)
Ron Brewer G Arkansas '78 Westark (Ark.)
Fred Brown G Iowa '81 Southeastern (Iowa)
Don Burness F Stanford '42 Menlo Park (Calif.)
Bob Burrow C Kentucky '55 and '56 Lon Morris (Tex.)
Lawrence Butler G Idaho State '79 Western Texas
Jerry Chambers F-C Utah '66 Trinidad State (Colo.)
Lester Conner G Oregon State '82 Los Medanos (Calif.)/Chabot (Calif.)
Michael Cooper G New Mexico '78 Pasadena (Calif.) City
Jae Crowder F Marquette '12 South Georgia Tech/Howard County (TX)
Howie Dallmar G Pennsylvania '45 Menlo Park (Calif.)
Mel Daniels C New Mexico '67 Burlington (Iowa)
Walt "Corky" Devlin F George Washington '55 Potomac State (W.Va.)
Chris Duarte G Oregon '21 Northwest Florida State
Cleanthony Early F Wichita State '14 Sullivan County (N.Y.)
Keith Erickson F UCLA '65 El Camino (Calif.)
John Fairchild C-F Brigham Young '65 Palomar (Calif.)
Ken Flower G Southern California '53 Menlo (Calif.)
Darrell Floyd G-F Furman '55 and '56 Wingate (N.C.)
Steve Francis G Maryland '99 Allegany (Md.)
Dick Garmaker F Minnesota '54 and '55 Hibbing (Minn.)
Armon Gilliam F-C UNLV '87 Independence (Kan.)
Artis Gilmore C Jacksonville '70 and '71 Gardner-Webb (N.C.)
Harvey Grant F Oklahoma '88 Independence (Kan.)
Ed Gray G California '97 Southern Idaho
Jack Gray F Texas '34 and '35 North Texas Agricultural
Al Green G Louisiana State '79 Arizona Western
Cornell Green F Utah State '62 Contra Costa (Calif.)
Rickey Green G Michigan '76 and '77 Vincennes (Ind.)
Bob Harris C Oklahoma A&M '49 Murray State (Okla.)
Spencer Haywood F-C Detroit '69 Trinidad State (Colo.)
Tom Henderson G Hawaii '74 San Jacinto (Tex.)
Bobby Joe Hill G Texas Western '66 Burlington (Iowa)
Simmie Hill F West Texas State '69 Cameron (Okla.)
Darington Hobson G-F New Mexico '10 Eastern Utah
Lionel Hollins G Arizona State '75 Dixie (Utah)
Bobby Jackson G Minnesota '97 Western Nebraska
John Johnson F Iowa '70 Northwest (Wyo.)
Larry Johnson F UNLV '90 and '91 Odessa (Tex.)
Vinnie Johnson G Baylor '79 McLennan (Tex.)
Larry Kenon F Memphis State '73 Amarillo (Tex.)
Dennis "Mo" Layton G Southern California '71 Phoenix (Ariz.)
Lewis Lloyd F Drake '80 and '81 New Mexico Military Institute
Don Lofgran F-C San Francisco '49 and '50 Grant Tech (Calif.)
Kevin Magee F UC Irvine '81 and '82 Saddleback (Calif.)
Bob McAdoo F-C North Carolina '72 Vincennes (Ind.)
Cliff Meely F-C Colorado '71 Northeastern (Colo.)
Phil "Red" Murrell F Drake '58 Moberly (Mo.) Area
Willie Murrell F Kansas State '64 Eastern Oklahoma A&M
Ken Norman F Illinois '87 Wabash Valley (Ill.)
Ken Owens G Idaho '82 Treasure Valley (Calif.)
Ricky Pierce F Rice '82 Walla Walla (Wash.)
Chris Porter F Auburn '99 Chipola (Fla.)
Paul Pressey G-F Tulsa '82 Western Texas
Jesse "Cab" Renick G Oklahoma A&M '40 Murray State (Okla.)
Mitch Richmond F-G Kansas State '88 Moberly (Mo.) Area
Isaiah "J.R." Rider F UNLV '93 Allen County (Kan.)/Antelope Valley (Calif.)
Alvin Robertson G Arkansas '84 Crowder (Mo.)
Flynn Robinson G Wyoming '65 Casper (Wyo.)
John Rudometkin C-F Southern California '61 and '62 Allan Hancock (Calif.)
Danny Schultz G Tennessee '64 Hiwassee (Tenn.)
Willie Smith G Missouri '76 Seminole (Okla.)
George Stanich G UCLA '50 Sacramento (Calif.)
Ray Steiner G St. Louis '52 Moberly (Mo.) Area
John "Cat" Thompson F Montana State '29 and '30 Dixie (Utah)
Jamaal Tinsley G Iowa State '01 Mount San Jacinto (Calif.)
Vic Townsend G-F Oregon '41 Compton (Calif.)
John Vallely G UCLA '70 Orange Coast (Calif.)
Nick Van Exel G Cincinnati '93 Trinity Valley (Tex.)
Darrell Walker G Arkansas '83 Westark (Ark.)
Grady Wallace F South Carolina '57 Pikeville (Ky.)
Lloyd Walton G Marquette '76 Moberly (Mo.) Area
Sidney Wicks F-C UCLA '70 and '71 Santa Monica (Calif.)
Sam Williams F Iowa '68 Burlington (Iowa)
Sam Worthen G Marquette '80 McLennan (Tex.)
Delon Wright G Utah '15 CC of San Francisco (Calif.)

Mid-Major Gladness: Houston, Loyola and Oral Roberts Celebrate Sweet 16

Could there be three mid-major Final Four participants duplicating what Jacksonville, New Mexico State and St. Bonaventure achieved in 1970? After an average of four mid-level schools reached the Sweet 16 in a six-year span from 2006 through 2011, the previous decade could have cemented the premise about mid-major schools deserving additional at-large consideration. But that was before nine mid-level schools - UCF, Gonzaga, New Mexico, St. Bonaventure, Saint Louis, Saint Mary's, Southern Mississippi, UNLV and Virginia Commonwealth - were eliminated in games against power six conference members by an average of only four points in 2012, the Mountain West Conference flopped in 2013, only two mid-majors reached the Sweet 16 in 2014 and 2015, Northern Iowa and Stephen F. Austin frittered away last-minute leads against power-league opponents in 2016 and Rhode Island squandered a significant lead against Oregon.

Butler, Gonzaga, Virginia Commonwealth and Wichita State advancing to the Final Four the previous decade was invigorating, but the mid-major community missed out on a potential bonanza. Gonzaga reached the second weekend for 10th time this Century. Following is a look at how at least one mid-major conference member advanced to a regional semifinal or beyond since the field was expanded to 64 teams in 1985:

Year Mid-Major School Coach Conference Playoff Advancement
1985 Louisiana Tech Andy Russo Southland Sweet 16
1985 Loyola of Chicago Gene Sullivan Midwestern City Sweet 16
1986 Cleveland State Kevin Mackey Mid-Continent Sweet 16
1986 Navy Paul Evans Colonial Regional Final
1986 UNLV Jerry Tarkanian PCAA Sweet 16
1987 UNLV Jerry Tarkanian PCAA Final Four
1987 Wyoming Jim Brandenburg Western Athletic Sweet 16
1988 Rhode Island Tom Penders Atlantic 10 Sweet 16
1988 Richmond Dick Tarrant Colonial Sweet 16
1988 Temple John Chaney Atlantic 10 Regional Final
1989 UNLV Jerry Tarkanian Big West Regional Final
1990 Ball State Dick Hunsaker Mid-American Sweet 16
1990 Loyola Marymount Paul Westhead West Coast Regional Final
1990 Texas Tom Penders Southwest Regional Final
1990 UNLV Jerry Tarkanian Big West NCAA Champion
1990 Xavier Pete Gillen Midwestern Collegiate Sweet 16
1991 Eastern Michigan Ben Braun Mid-American Sweet 16
1991 Temple John Chaney Atlantic 10 Regional Final
1991 UNLV Jerry Tarkanian Big West Final Four
1991 Utah Rick Majerus Western Athletic Sweet 16
1992 Massachusetts John Calipari Atlantic 10 Sweet 16
1992 New Mexico State Neil McCarthy Big West Sweet 16
1992 Texas-El Paso Don Haskins Western Athletic Sweet 16
1993 George Washington Mike Jarvis Atlantic 10 Sweet 16
1993 Temple John Chaney Atlantic 10 Regional Final
1993 Western Kentucky Ralph Willard Sun Belt Sweet 16
1994 Tulsa Tubby Smith Missouri Valley Sweet 16
1995 Massachusetts John Calipari Atlantic 10 Regional Final
1995 Tulsa Tubby Smith Missouri Valley Sweet 16
1996 Cincinnati Bob Huggins Conference USA Regional Final
1996 Massachusetts John Calipari Atlantic 10 Final Four
1996 Utah Rick Majerus Western Athletic Sweet 16
1997 St. Joseph's Phil Martelli Atlantic 10 Sweet 16
1997 UT Chattanooga Mack McCarthy Southern Sweet 16
1997 Utah Rick Majerus Western Athletic Regional Final
1998 Rhode Island Jim Harrick Atlantic 10 Regional Final
1998 Utah Rick Majerus Western Athletic NCAA Title Game
1998 Valparaiso Homer Drew Mid-Continent Sweet 16
1999 Gonzaga Dan Monson West Coast Regional Final
1999 Miami (Ohio) Charlie Coles Mid-American Sweet 16
1999 SW Missouri State Steve Alford Missouri Valley Sweet 16
1999 Temple John Chaney Atlantic 10 Regional Final
2000 Gonzaga Mark Few West Coast Sweet 16
2000 Tulsa Bill Self Western Athletic Regional Final
2001 Gonzaga Mark Few West Coast Sweet 16
2001 Temple John Chaney Atlantic 10 Regional Final
2002 Kent State Stan Heath Mid-American Regional Final
2002 Southern Illinois Bruce Weber Missouri Valley Sweet 16
2003 Butler Todd Lickliter Horizon League Sweet 16
2004 Nevada Trent Johnson Western Athletic Sweet 16
2004 St. Joseph's Phil Martelli Atlantic 10 Regional Final
2004 UAB Mike Anderson Conference USA Sweet 16
2004 Xavier Thad Matta Atlantic 10 Regional Final
2005 Utah Ray Giacoletti Mountain West Sweet 16
2005 Wisconsin-Milwaukee Bruce Pearl Horizon League Sweet 16
2006 Bradley Jim Les Missouri Valley Sweet 16
2006 George Mason Jim Larranaga Colonial Final Four
2006 Gonzaga Mark Few West Coast Sweet 16
2006 Memphis John Calipari Conference USA Regional Final
2006 Wichita State Mark Turgeon Missouri Valley Sweet 16
2007 Butler Todd Lickliter Horizon League Sweet 16
2007 Memphis John Calipari Conference USA Regional Final
2007 Southern Illinois Chris Lowery Missouri Valley Sweet 16
2007 UNLV Lon Kruger Mountain West Sweet 16
2008 Davidson Bob McKillop Southern Regional Final
2008 Memphis John Calipari Conference USA NCAA Title Game
2008 Western Kentucky Darrin Horn Sun Belt Sweet 16
2008 Xavier Sean Miller Atlantic 10 Regional Final
2009 Gonzaga Mark Few West Coast Sweet 16
2009 Memphis John Calipari Conference USA Sweet 16
2009 Xavier Sean Miller Atlantic 10 Sweet 16
2010 Butler Brad Stevens Horizon League NCAA Title Game
2010 Cornell Steve Donahue Ivy League Sweet 16
2010 Northern Iowa Ben Jacobsen Missouri Valley Sweet 16
2010 Saint Mary's Randy Bennett West Coast Sweet 16
2010 Xavier Chris Mack Atlantic 10 Sweet 16
2011 Brigham Young Dave Rose Mountain West Sweet 16
2011 Butler Brad Stevens Horizon League NCAA Title Game
2011 Richmond Chris Mooney Atlantic 10 Sweet 16
2011 San Diego State Steve Fisher Mountain West Sweet 16
2011 Virginia Commonwealth Shaka Smart Colonial Final Four
2012 Ohio University John Groce Mid-American Sweet 16
2012 Xavier Chris Mack Atlantic 10 Sweet 16
2013 Florida Gulf Coast Andy Enfield Atlantic Sun Sweet 16
2013 La Salle John Giannini Atlantic 10 Sweet 16
2013 Wichita State Gregg Marshall Missouri Valley Final Four
2014 Dayton Archie Miller Atlantic 10 Regional Final
2014 San Diego State Steve Fisher Mountain West Sweet 16
2015 Gonzaga Mark Few West Coast Regional Final
2015 Wichita State Gregg Marshall Missouri Valley Sweet 16
2016 Gonzaga Mark Few West Coast Sweet 16
2017 Gonzaga Mark Few West Coast NCAA Title Game
2018 Gonzaga Mark Few West Coast Sweet 16
2018 Loyola of Chicago Porter Moser Missouri Valley Final Four
2018 Nevada Eric Musselman Mountain West Sweet 16
2019 Gonzaga Mark Few West Coast Regional Final
2019 Houston Kelvin Sampson American Athletic Sweet 16
2021 Gonzaga Mark Few West Coast NCAA Title Game
2021 Houston Kelvin Sampson American Athletic Final Four
2021 Loyola of Chicago Porter Moser Missouri Valley Sweet 16
2021 Oral Roberts Paul Mills Summit League Sweet 16

College Exam: Day #9 of One-and-Only NCAA Tournament Trivia Challenge

Unless you're busy hoarding toilet paper 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 9 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 was the only athlete to lead his championship team in scoring in two Final Four games and pitch in the major leagues the same year? Hint: He was a guard for three consecutive Final Four teams and was selected to the All-NCAA Tournament team as a senior.

2. Name the only school with more than 1,300 victories in the 20th Century never to reach the Final Four. Hint: The school participated in the NCAA playoffs just once (1992) in last 40-plus years.

3. Name the only school to defeat a team three times in a season the opponent captured the NCAA title. Hint: The school also defeated the same conference foe three times the next season as defending national champion.

4. Name the only champion to win its two Final Four games by a total of more than 50 points. Hint: The titlist suffered its only loss that season against one of the Final Four victims.

5. Of the 35 Final Four Most Outstanding Players selected from 1946 through 1981 when there was a national third-place game, who was the only honoree to play for a fourth-place team? Hint: He never averaged as many as nine points per game in four NBA seasons.

6. Name the only school to lose in back-to-back years in the first round to different institutions going on to capture national titles those years. Hint: The school won a total of 47 games in the two seasons. The two defeats were in the middle of six consecutive playoff appearances for the school after it appeared in playoffs just once from 1939 through 1982.

7. Name the only year four teams arrived at the national semifinals with a composite winning percentage of less than 75 percent. Hint: The two schools that met in the national third-place game are traditional football powers. The college losing both of its Final Four games that year is the only national semifinalist to finish a season with as many as 14 defeats.

8. Who is the only player to score more than 60 points in a single playoff game and to score more than 43 points at least twice? Hint: Of the players who scored more than 235 playoff points and/or averaged more than 25 points per tournament game (minimum of three games), he is the only individual from the select group to have a losing playoff record. He is the only one of the top 25 playoff scorers never to reach Final Four.

9. Who is the only male player to score more than 44 points in a single Final Four game? Hint: He is the only player to twice convert more than 12 free throws without a miss in playoff game.

10. Who is the only player to score more than 400 points in his playoff career? Hint: The only individual to start in four straight Final Fours hit two last-second shots to help his team win East Regional final overtime games and is only player with at least 10 championship game free-throw attempts to convert all of them.

Answers (Day 9)

Day 8 Questions and Answers

Day 7 Questions and Answers

Day 6 Questions and Answers

Day 5 Questions and Answers

Day 4 Questions and Answers

Day 3 Questions and Answers

Day 2 Questions and Answers

Day 1 Questions and Answers

Mixing March Madness & Sadness: UI Latest #1 Seed Not Reaching Sweet 16

For all the bitter disappointment experienced by fans of a highly-ranked team such as Illinois bowing out of the provocative NCAA Tournament early, there is an equal amount of euphoria emanating from supporters of the victor. The range of disparate emotions is one of the reasons there is such a fascination with upsets because nothing is guaranteed as evidenced by a power team knocked off its high horse by a darkhorse.

Until 20 1/2-point underdog UMBC blew out Virginia by 20 points in 2018, the ultimate in March Madness materialized in 1993 when Arizona, ranked fifth by AP, was stunned in the first round of the West Regional by Santa Clara (64-61). In terms of point spreads, it was the biggest upset in NCAA playoff history in the 20th Century because Santa Clara was a 20-point underdog. Norfolk State subsequently ignored a 21 1/2-point margin to knock off Missouri.

A total of 26 No. 1 seeds, including DePaul three straight years from 1980 through 1982, failed to reach the regional semifinals since seeding was introduced in 1979. Villanova, bowing out in this category twice in three seasons earlier during the previous decade, was the sixth #1 seed in eight-year span - losing by an average of fewer than three points - joining the following crestfallen top-seeded teams prior to UMBC's clobbering of the Cavaliers and Xavier squandering second-half, double-digit lead against Florida State:

Year No. 1 Seed Regional Loss in Second Round Score
1979 North Carolina East #9 seed Penn 72-71
1980 DePaul West #8 UCLA 77-71
1981 DePaul Mideast #9 St. Joseph's 49-48
1981 Oregon State West #8 Kansas State 50-48
1982 DePaul Midwest #8 Boston College 82-75
1985 Michigan Southeast #8 Villanova 59-55
1986 St. John's West #8 Auburn 81-65
1990 Oklahoma Midwest #8 North Carolina 79-77
1992 Kansas Midwest #9 Texas-El Paso 66-60
1994 North Carolina East #9 Boston College 75-72
1996 Purdue West #8 Georgia 76-69
1998 Kansas Midwest #8 Rhode Island 80-75
2000 Arizona West #8 Wisconsin 66-59
2000 Stanford South #8 North Carolina 60-53
2002 Cincinnati West #8 UCLA 105-101 (2OT)
2004 Kentucky St. Louis/Midwest #9 UAB 76-75
2004 Stanford Phoenix/West #8 Alabama 70-67
2010 Kansas Midwest #9 Northern Iowa 69-67
2011 Pittsburgh Southeast #8 Butler 71-70
2013 Gonzaga West #9 Wichita State 76-70
2014 Wichita State Midwest #8 Kentucky 78-76
2015 Villanova East #8 North Carolina State 71-68
2017 Villanova East #8 Wisconsin 65-62
2018 Xavier West #9 Florida State 75-70
2021 Illinois Midwest #8 Loyola of Chicago 71-58
Year No. 1 Seed Regional Loss in First Round Score
2018 Virginia South #16 Maryland-Baltimore County 74-54

Foreign Invasion: Three Additional All-Americans From Outside Mainland U.S.

Foreigners such as All-Americans Charles Bassey (Western Kentucky/from Nigeria), Kofi Cockburn (Illinois/Jamaica) and Chris Duarte (Oregon/Dominican Republic) are much more than bit players in a modern-day immigrant version of "Coming to America." Following is an alphabetical list of nearly 40 hoop-prince All-Americans spending most or all of their formative years in a country outside mainland U.S.:

Foreigner Pos. College Native Country Year(s) All-American NBA Draft Status
Deandre Ayton C Arizona Bahamas 2018 1st pick overall by Phoenix
Udoka Azubuike C Kansas Nigeria 2020 27th by Utah Jazz
R.J. Barrett G-F Duke Toronto, Ontario 2019 3rd by New York
Charles Bassey C Western Kentucky Nigeria 2021 TBD
Andrew Bogut* C Utah Australia 2005 1st by Milwaukee
Dillon Brooks F Oregon Ontario 2017 2nd by Houston
Kofi Cockburn C Illinois Jamaica 2021 TBD
Kresimir Cosic C Brigham Young Yugoslavia 1972 and 1973 66th by L.A. Lakers
Chris Duarte G Oregon Dominican Republic 2021 TBD
Tim Duncan* C Wake Forest Virgin Islands 1995 through 1997 1st by San Antonio
Melvin Ejim F Iowa State Ontario 2014 undrafted
Patrick Ewing* C Georgetown Jamaica 1982 through 1985 1st by New York
Adonal Foyle C Colgate West Indies 1997 8th by Golden State
Rui Hachimura F Gonzaga Japan 2019 9th by Washington
Buddy Hield G Oklahoma Bahamas 2015 and 2016 6th by New Orleans
Al Horford F-C Florida Dominican Republic 2007 3rd by Atlanta
Kris Joseph F Syracuse Quebec 2012 51st by Boston
Jock Landale C Saint Mary's Australia 2018 undrafted
Lauri Markkanen C Arizona Finland 2017 1st by Minnesota
Jamal Murray G Kentucky Ontario 2016 7th by Denver
Dikembe Mutombo C Georgetown Zaire 1991 4th by Denver
Eduardo Najera F Oklahoma Mexico 2000 38th by Houston
Jordan Nwora F Louisville Nigeria 2020 45th by Milwaukee Bucks
Hakeem Olajuwon C Houston Nigeria 1983 and 1984 1st by Houston
Kelly Olynyk C Gonzaga British Columbia 2013 13th by Dallas
Kevin Pangos G Gonzaga Ontario 2015 undrafted
Filip Petrusev C Gonzaga Serbia 2020 withdrew and returned to Serbia
Jakob Poeltl C Utah Austria 2016 9th by Toronto
Juan "Pepe" Sanchez G Temple Argentina 2000 undrafted
Detlef Schrempf F Washington Germany 1985 8th by Dallas
Rony Seikaly C Syracuse Greece 1988 9th by Miami
Doron Sheffer G Connecticut Israel 1996 36th by L.A. Clippers
Ben Simmons F Louisiana State Australia 2016 1st by Philadelphia
Nik Stauskas G Michigan Ontario 2014 8th by Sacramento
Hasheem Thabeet C Connecticut Tanzania 2009 2nd by Memphis
Mychal Thompson F-C Minnesota Bahamas 1977 and 1978 1st by Portland
Greivis Vasquez G Maryland Venezuela 2010 28th by Memphis
Andrew Wiggins G-F Kansas Ontario 2014 1st by Cleveland

*Named National Player of the Year.

College Exam: Day #8 of One-and-Only NCAA Tournament Trivia Challenge

Unless you're still busy hoarding toilet paper 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 8 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 school to reach the Final Four three consecutive years on two separate occasions in the 20th Century. Hint: In the first three-year stretch, it became the only school to lose three straight national semifinal games. In the second three-year stretch, the school was involved in only times two teams from same state met each other in championship game.

2. What was the only year two undefeated teams reached the Final Four? Hint: One of the squads had a perfect ending after winning in the national semifinals and championship game by an average of 16 points, while the other club that was unbeaten lost in national semifinals and third-place game by an average of 15 points.

3. Who is the shortest player to lead an NCAA champion in scoring average? Hint: He was part of a three-guard starting lineup, averaging under 5-10 in height, playing the entire championship game for the only current Division I school to capture an NCAA title despite never having an NCAA consensus first- or second-team All-American.

4. Who is the only U.S. Olympic basketball coach to win the NCAA and NIT titles with different schools? Hint: He never participated in a national postseason tournament with the third university he coached (Michigan State).

5. Who was the only coach to direct two different schools to the Final Four twice apiece in the 20th Century? Hint: He is the only coach to compile a record of more than four games under .500 in Final Four contests and only coach to guide three teams to national fourth-place finishes.

6. Who is the only coach of a championship team other than Rick Pitino to subsequently coach another university and compile a winning NCAA playoff record at his last major-college job? Hint: He is the only coach to win a national title at a school where he stayed less than five seasons.

7. Of the coaches to reach the national semifinals at least twice, who is the only one to compile an undefeated Final Four record? Hint: He won both of his championship games against the same school. He is also the only NCAA consensus first-team All-American to later coach his alma mater to an NCAA title.

8. Name the only school to lead UCLA at halftime in the 22 Final Four games for the Bruins' 11 titlists. Hint: The school leading one of the 11 UCLA champions at intermission of a Final Four game was coached by a John Wooden protege.

9. Of the coaches hired by NBA teams after winning an NCAA championship, who is the only one to compile a non-losing NBA playoff record? Hint: He is one of four different men to coach an undefeated NCAA championship team.

10. Name the only school to defeat a team by as many as 27 points in a season the opponent wound up winning the national title. Hint: The school is also the only one to defeat an eventual national titlist twice in same season by at least 12 points.

Answers (Day 8)

Day 7 Questions and Answers

Day 6 Questions and Answers

Day 5 Questions and Answers

Day 4 Questions and Answers

Day 3 Questions and Answers

Day 2 Questions and Answers

Day 1 Questions and Answers

False Starts: BYU, Mizzou & Utah State Prone to Early Exits in NCAA Tourney

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 troubled trio Brigham Young, Missouri and Utah State. BYU, Mizzou and USU have combined for 54 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 this season's 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:

School (Playoff Losses) NCAA Tournament Opening-Round Defeats
Brigham Young (33) 20 (1950-57-65-69-72-79-80-87-90-92-95-01-03-04-07-08-09-14-15-21)
Princeton (29) 17 (1952-55-60-63-69-76-77-81-89-90-91-92-97-01-04-11-17)
Utah State (22) 18 (1939-63-71-75-79-80-83-88-98-00-03-05-06-09-10-11-19-21)
Temple (33) 16 (1944-64-67-70-72-79-90-92-95-98-08-09-10-12-16-19)
Missouri (28) 16 (1944-78-81-83-86-87-88-90-93-99-00-11-12-13-18-21)
St. John's (32) 15 (1961-68-73-76-77-78-80-84-88-92-98-02-11-15-19)
West Virginia (27) 14 (1955-56-57-58-62-65-67-83-86-87-92-09-12-16)

Transferring Talent: Grimes and Mitchell Become A-As After Switching Schools

"Stepping onto a brand new path is difficult, but not more difficult than remaining in a situation which is not nurturing." - Maya Angelou

Whether schools are simply filling out a roster with a backup or chasing a pot of gold at the end of a Larry Bird-created rainbow jumper, they seem to be looking around every corner and under every rock for a transfer. Bird left a potential powerhouse at Indiana but never played for the Hoosiers before becoming national player of the year with Indiana State. The majority of All-American transfers depart from universities that currently are power-league members.

How many All-Americans actually played varsity basketball for two different four-year schools? The average is about one every two years. Duke and Kansas, two of the five schools with the most All-Americans in history, had their first transfer in that category during the previous decade - Duke guard Seth Curry (Liberty) and KU center Jeff Withey (Arizona). Baylor guard Davion Mitchell secured A-A status this season after leaving Auburn following mediocre freshman campaign in 2018-19. Ditto Quentin Grimes, who transferred from Kansas to Houston.

Mississippi State lost a transfer All-American when Ben Hansbrough departed for Notre Dame but the Bulldogs had their own player in this category earlier this century after Lawrence Roberts left Baylor. In an era when transfers have almost become an obsession for various reasons, there was a modest uptick in the ratio with seven All-Americans in this category in a six-year span from 2000 through 2005 before Louisville's Luke Hancock (George Mason) became Final Four Most Outstanding Player. Following is an alphabetical list of A-As who began their collegiate career at another four-year school:

Transfer All-American Pos. Original School All-American School
Courtney Alexander G Virginia 96-97 Fresno State 99-00
Elgin Baylor F College of Idaho 55 Seattle 57-58
Vince Boryla F-C Notre Dame 45-46 Denver 49
Michael Bradley F-C Kentucky 98-99 Villanova 01
Charley Brown G Indiana 56 Seattle 58-59
Art Bunte C-F Utah 52-53 Colorado 55-56
Frank Burgess G Arkansas-Pine Bluff 54 Gonzaga 59-61
Reggie Carter G Hawaii 76 St. John's 78-80
Brandon Clarke F-C San Jose State 16-17 Gonzaga 19
Seth Curry G Liberty 09 Duke 11-13
Dan Dickau G Washington 98-99 Gonzaga 01-02
Toney Douglas G Auburn 05 Florida State 07-09
Larry Fogle F Southwestern Louisiana 73 Canisius 74-75
Ricky Frazier G-F St. Louis 78 Missouri 80-82
Eric "Hank" Gathers F-C Southern California 86 Loyola Marymount 88-90
Gerald Glass F Delta State (Miss.) 86-87 Mississippi 89-90
Joey Graham F Central Florida 01-02 Oklahoma State 04-05
*Harvey Grant F Clemson 85 Oklahoma 87-88
*Ed Gray G Tennessee 94 California 96-97
Al Green G North Carolina State 76-77 Louisiana State 79
Quentin Grimes G Kansas 19 Houston 20-21
Ben Hansbrough G Mississippi State 07-08 Notre Dame 10-11
William "Red" Holzman G Baltimore 39 City College of New York 41-42
Wesley Johnson F Iowa State 07-08 Syracuse 10
Greg "Bo" Kimble F-G Southern California 86 Loyola Marymount 88-90
Jim Krivacs G Auburn 75 Texas 77-79
Dedric Lawson F-C Memphis 16-17 Kansas 19
John Lucas III G Baylor 02-03 Oklahoma State 04
Kyle Macy G Purdue 76 Kentucky 78-80
Billy McCaffrey G Duke 90-91 Vanderbilt 93-94
Bob McCurdy F-C Virginia 72 Richmond 74-75
Mark McNamara C Santa Clara 78-79 California 81-82
Chris Mills F Kentucky 89 Arizona 91-93
Davion Mitchell G Auburn 19 Baylor 21
James "Scoonie" Penn G Boston College 96-97 Ohio State 99-00
Lawrence Roberts F-C Baylor 02-03 Mississippi State 04-05
Carlos Rogers C UALR 91 Tennessee State 93-94
Marshall Rogers G Kansas 73 Pan American 75-76
Clifford Rozier C-F North Carolina 91 Louisville 93-94
Kevin Stacom G Holy Cross 71 Providence 73-74
Dan Swartz C Kentucky 52 Morehead State 54-56
Brandon Joel "B.J." Tyler G DePaul 90 Texas 92-94
Bill Uhl C Ohio State 52 Dayton 54-56
Jarrod Uthoff F Wisconsin 12 (redshirt) Iowa 14-16
Win Wilfong F Missouri 52-53 Memphis State 56-57
Nigel Williams-Goss G Washington 14-15 Gonzaga 17
Kyle Wiltjer F Kentucky 13 Gonzaga 15
Jeff Withey C Arizona 09 Kansas 10-13
Leon Wood G Arizona 80 Cal State Fullerton 82-84
Andre Woolridge G Nebraska 93 Iowa 95-97

*Attended junior college between four-year school stints.
NOTE: Burgess was an Air Force veteran.

Playing Race Card: More Than 3 White Consensus A-As 2nd Time in 38 Years

Since MJ couldn't handle him one-and-one, heaven knows how Daddy Ball Game would treat average white player. If not a generous dose of humility, "Slow" Hoops Daddy Lavar Ball probably needs a history lesson. The hoop lowdown might not rise to the level of aggressive African-American commentary on presidential prowess of Donald Trump or previous POTUS lecturing Christians rather than unprincipled marauders. Nonetheless, it could be time to proclaim white players matter after there were two white NCAA consensus first-team All-Americans for the third time in last 13 campaigns. Many white-privilege provocateurs, who should seek reparations of their own for being exposed to race hustlers such as "Not So" Sharpton clamoring for "R-E-S-P-I-C-T," seem to care as much about the basketball topic, however, as far-left zealots are outraged about Muslim terrorists murdering saints and believers. Perhaps they should dwell a mite more on how in hell giving $1,400 to jailed prisoner helps with COVID-19 relief.

A milestone didn't trigger White History Month during the previous decade, but 2013 marked the first time in 34 years at least half of the list of NCAA consensus first- and second-team All-Americans were white players. From 1980 through 2012, less than one-fifth of the NCAA consensus first- and second-team All-Americans were Caucasian. Struggling as much as Marxist BLM founder purchasing luxury homes in white neighborhoods, Plagiarist Biden ascending Stair Force One, #MSLSD's "Resist We Much" RevAl and #JoylessReid plus confused Congresswoman #(Mad)Maxine Waters may consider this repulsive racist research. However, they probably should be more concerned about paying fair share of taxes on filing deadline day, candor about hacked computer and concocting conspiratorial claptrap more worthy of April Fool's Day about CIA planting drugs in the hood.

All of America needs more critical thinking than critical race theory. Unless there are some closet Rachel Dolezals in the identity mix or Jussie Smollett's air-head attorney is accurate about an outbreak of white-face escapades, Gonzaga (Dan Dickau, Blake Stepp, Adam Morrison, Kelly Olynyk, Kyle Wiltjer, Corey Kispert and Drew Timme) was alone boasting the most white consensus All-Americans thus far in 21st Century with seven. It might be accurate-but-unacceptable information to cancel-culture leftists indoctrinating students in public schools with critical race theory, but the Zags are the first school to feature a set of white consensus All-Americans in same season since Missouri's Steve Stipanovich and Jon Sundvold in 1982-83.

It might not reign purple important as a photograph of Prince in a junior high basketball uniform to African-American Studies majors but we could be in the midst of a modest resurgence for the white player represented each year thus far this century. After all, Duke was the nation's only school to supply a white first-team All-American in a nine-year span from 1987-88 through 1995-96 (Danny Ferry in 1989, Christian Laettner in 1992 and Bobby Hurley in 1993). For those monitoring such identity demographics or who might be a dues-paying member of an alternative version of NAACP (National Association for Advancement of Caucasian Players), following is a list of white NCAA consensus first- and second-team All-Americans since Indiana State's Larry Bird was unanimous national player of the year in 1979:

1979 (6 of 12) - Indiana State's Larry Bird (1st), Duke's Mike Gminski (1st), North Carolina's Mike O'Koren (2nd), Dayton's Jim Paxson (2nd), Duke's Jim Spanarkel (2nd) and Notre Dame's Kelly Tripucka (2nd)

1980 (3 of 10) - Duke's Mike Gminski (2nd), Kentucky's Kyle Macy (1st) and North Carolina's Mike O'Koren (2nd)

1981 (4 of 11) - Brigham Young's Danny Ainge (1st), Virginia's Jeff Lamp (2nd), Notre Dame's Kelly Tripucka (2nd) and Utah's Danny Vranes (2nd)

1982 (1 of 10) - Notre Dame's John Paxson (2nd)

1983 (4 of 14) - Notre Dame's John Paxson (2nd), Missouri's Steve Stipanovich (2nd), Missouri's Jon Sundvold (2nd) and Indiana's Randy Wittman (2nd)

1984 (2 of 11) - Brigham Young's Devin Durrant (2nd) and St. John's Chris Mullin (2nd)

1985 (3 of 11) - Southern Methodist's Jon Koncak (2nd), St. John's Chris Mullin (1st) and Georgia Tech's Mark Price (2nd)

1986 (2 of 11) - Indiana's Steve Alford (1st) and Michigan State's Scott Skiles (2nd)

1987 (1 of 10) - Indiana's Steve Alford (1st)

1988 (2 of 11) - Duke's Danny Ferry (2nd) and Brigham Young's Michael Smith (2nd)

1989 (2 of 11) - Duke's Danny Ferry (1st) and Stanford's Todd Lichti (2nd)

1990 (0 of 12)

1991 (1 of 10) - Duke's Christian Laettner (2nd)

1992 (2 of 10) - Duke's Christian Laettner (1st) and UCLA's Don MacLean (2nd)

1993 (3 of 12) - Duke's Bobby Hurley Jr. (1st), Vanderbilt's Billy McCaffrey (2nd) and North Carolina's Eric Montross (2nd)

1994 (1 of 11) - North Carolina's Eric Montross (2nd)

1995 (0 of 10)

1996 (1 of 11) - Utah's Keith Van Horn (2nd)

1997 (2 of 10) - Kansas' Raef LaFrentz (1st) and Utah's Keith Van Horn (1st)

1998 (2 of 10) - Notre Dame's Pat Garrity (2nd) and Kansas' Raef LaFrentz (1st)

1999 (2 of 10) - Northwestern's Evan Eschmeyer (2nd) and Miami of Ohio's Wally Szczerbiak (2nd)

2000 (2 of 12) - Texas' Chris Mihm (1st) and Notre Dame's Troy Murphy (1st)

2001 (3 of 10) - Villanova's Michael Bradley (2nd), Stanford's Casey Jacobsen (1st) and Notre Dame's Troy Murphy (1st)

2002 (3 of 10) - Gonzaga's Dan Dickau (1st), Duke's Mike Dunleavy (2nd) and Stanford's Casey Jacobsen (2nd)

2003 (2 of 10) - Kansas' Nick Collison (1st) and Creighton's Kyle Korver (2nd)

2004 (2 of 10) - Oregon's Luke Jackson (2nd) and Gonzaga's Blake Stepp (2nd)

2005 (2 of 11) - Utah's Andrew Bogut (1st) and Duke's J.J. Redick (1st)

2006 (3 of 12) - North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough (2nd), Gonzaga's Adam Morrison (1st) and Duke's J.J. Redick (1st)

2007 (2 of 10) - Nevada's Nick Fazekas (2nd) and North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough (1st)

2008 (3 of 11) - North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough (1st), Notre Dame's Luke Harangody (2nd) and UCLA's Kevin Love (1st)

2009 (2 of 11) - North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough (1st) and Notre Dame's Luke Harangody (2nd)

2010 (3 of 11) - Kansas' Cole Aldrich (2nd), Notre Dame's Luke Harangody (2nd) and Duke's Jon Scheyer (2nd)

2011 (2 of 11) - Brigham Young's Jimmer Fredette (1st) and Notre Dame's Ben Hansbrough (2nd)

2012 (2 of 10) - Creighton's Doug McDermott (1st) and North Carolina's Tyler Zeller (2nd)

2013 (5 of 10) - Creighton's Doug McDermott (1st), Gonzaga's Kelly Olynyk (1st), Duke's Mason Plumlee (2nd), Kansas' Jeff Withey (2nd) and Indiana's Cody Zeller (2nd)

2014 (2 of 11) - Creighton's Doug McDermott (1st) and Michigan's Nik Stauskas (2nd)

2015 (3 of 11) - Wisconsin's Frank Kaminsky (1st), Northern Iowa's Seth Tuttle (2nd) and Gonzaga's Kyle Wiltjer (2nd)

2016 (2 of 11) - Utah's Jakob Poeltl (2nd) and Iowa's Jarrod Uthoff (2nd).

2017 (1 of 10) - Duke's Luke Kennard (2nd).

2018 (1 of 11) - Saint Mary's Jock Landale (2nd).

2019 (1 of 10) - Wisconsin's Ethan Happ (2nd).

2020 (2 of 10) - Iowa's Luka Garza (1st) and Oregon's Payton Pritchard (1st).

2021 (4 of 10) - Iowa's Luka Garza (1st), Gonzaga's Corey Kispert (1st), Michigan's Hunter Dickinson (2nd) and Gonzaga's Drew Timme (2nd).

College Exam: Day #7 of One-and-Only NCAA Tournament Trivia Challenge

Unless you're still busy hoarding toilet paper 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 7 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 coach to grace the NCAA playoffs in five decades. Hint: He achieved the feat with four different universities.

2. Who is the only player to score a team-high point total in his prominent school's first NCAA Tournament victory the same year he earned All-American honors as a quarterback for a national football champion? Hint: He later became executive director of the Pro Football Hall of Fame after coaching two different universities when they participated in the Rose Bowl.

3. Who is the only individual to be more than 10 games below .500 in his initial campaign as a major-college head coach and subsequently guide a team to a national championship? Hint: He won his last 10 NCAA Tournament games decided by fewer than five points. In his last two playoff appearances with the former titlist, it became the only school to receive at-large bids in back-to-back years with as many as 14 defeats entering the tourney.

4. Name the only school to be denied three NCAA Tournament berths because it was on probation. Hint: The three times the school didn't participate in the national playoffs because of NCAA probation were from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s.

5. Who was the only player to score more than 40 points in his first tournament game? Hint: The university left the Division I level for 28 years and was UCLA's first victim when the Bruins started a 38-game winning streak in the playoffs. He and his twin brother were infielders together with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

6. Name the only school to deploy just five players in an entire championship game. Hint: The school, participating in the playoffs for the first time that year, set a record for largest winning margin with a 69-point victory in its first-round game. The school is the only former NCAA champion never to compete against legendary coaches Bob Knight and Dean Smith.

7. Who is the only individual to go as many as 25 years between coaching teams in the NCAA Tournament? Hint: His first two playoff teams were eliminated in their tourney openers by eventual championship game participants.

8. Name the only school to have more than one two-time first-team All-American never reach the Final Four. Hint: One of the players is the only three-time first-team All-America to fail to appear in the NCAA playoffs. The school is the only top four seed to lose a first-round game by more than 20 points.

9. Who is the only player to have season scoring averages of fewer than 10 points per game in back-to-back years he was named to the All-NCAA Tournament team? Hint: His school reached the national championship game each season and had two different centers named Final Four Most Outstanding Player. Also, he is part of the only set of brothers to play together in two NCAA title games. One of their teammates became a marquee coach.

10. Who is the only individual to play for an NCAA basketball champion and in a major league baseball World Series? Hint: He was primarily a relief pitcher for six different teams in 13 big league seasons from 1975 through 1989.

Answers (Day 7)

Day 6 Questions and Answers

Day 5 Questions and Answers

Day 4 Questions and Answers

Day 3 Questions and Answers

Day 2 Questions and Answers

Day 1 Questions and Answers

David vs. Goliath: Fans Attracted to Mid-Major Stories of Biblical Proportions

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. Just ask former Final Four schools Florida, Illinois, Ohio State, Purdue, Virginia and Texas after they were upset by Loyola of Chicago, Oral Roberts (two of wins), North Texas, Ohio University and Abilene Christian. 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. Generous doses of humility frequently occur. Seven years ago, #3 seeds Duke and Syracuse were embarrassed by Mercer and Dayton, respectively. They join 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 setbacks (EWU nearly made it #8) as a total of 12 former NCAA titlists have lost three or more such contests. Two 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 wake of reigning national champion Virginia's departure, 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?

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 91 different lower-profile schools and current members of 24 different mid-major conferences (all but Northeast) have won 163 such games since seeding was introduced in 1979. But heaven forbid if Loyola or ORU had dropped their conference tournament championship contest. The nation likely would have missed out on witnessing nation's leading scorer while bowing down at the power-league altar worshiping mediocrity. The mid-major school with the most "David vs. Goliath" playoff victories cited in the following list was Richmond with six until Gonzaga tied the Spiders after two such triumphs in 2016:

ACC (33 defeats against mid-major opponents seeded five or more places worse) - Boston College (lost against #12 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 and #13 Ohio University in 2021); Wake Forest (#13 Cleveland State in 2009)

BIG EAST/including AAC member Cincinnati from previous league configuration (20) - Cincinnati (lost to #12 Harvard in 2014 and #7 Nevada in 2018); Connecticut (#11 George Mason in 2006 and #13 San Diego in 2008); 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 (31) - 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); 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 and #13 North Texas in 2021); 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 (26) - 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 and #13 UC Irvine in 2019); 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 (21) - 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 and #13 Buffalo in 2018); 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 (33) - 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 and #9 UAB in 2004); 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 and #15 Norfolk State in 2012); South Carolina (#15 Coppin State in 1997 and #14 Richmond in 1998); Tennessee (#12 Southwest Missouri State in 1999, #7 Wichita State in 2006 and #11 Tennessee in 2018); 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.

Pages

Subscribe to Front page feed