James Gordon7:00 AM ET
John Gasawayespin Insider
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- ESPN Insider sponsors ESPN college basketball
- Started beating college tournaments in 2004
- Has written for Basketball Prospectus and the Wall Street Journal.
With each March, the pressure increases on the man everyone at ESPN HQ now calls Streak. We are, of course, talking about the 349 teams that will not win the national title in men’s basketball.
Yes, yes, it’s true. This honorable mention of eight of the 357 Division I teams that could win the title managed to include a possible national champion each time. Not that we’ve been doing this since the 1950s – we actually started doing it in 2016 – but still, a series is a series.
Here are the 349 teams that will not win the national title in 2021, divided into three groups: Failures, near misses and no clear path.
You got it? Let’s get started.
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Alabama A&M Bulldogs
Alabama State Hornets
Arizona Wildcats
Auburn Tigers
Bellarmine Knights
Cal Baptist Lancers
Dixie State
Merrimack Warriors
North Alabama Lions
Tarleton Texans
UC San Diego Tritons
Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks
Missing (15 teams)
Arkansas Razorbacks
Okay, let’s go with the odd choice, shall we? Arkansas looked as good as any team in the country the last few games, but now they are being called the team that won’t win the title. Is there a mistake? It’s quite possible. Sooner or later the series has to end, and Eric Musselman has the team to make that happen. The only thing keeping the Razorbacks from reaching the magic number of eight is that they rely a bit on their excellent rebounding and do most of their work on the defensive end. Meanwhile, the SEC Hogs’ opponents put up average numbers in terms of shooting (on both ends of the arc) and turnovers. Average scores in key categories kept Arkansas, narrowly, at the pass. But yes, betting on a team that has won 10 of its last 11 games is certainly dangerous here.
Creighton Bluejays.
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The Bluejays are excellent on paper, but even before the outcry over coach Greg McDermott’s racist comments, the team seemed to lose some ground late in the season. In fact, it was McDermott’s displeasure at his team’s loss against Xavier, with whom he had previously had trouble, that led to this terrible choice of words. Maybe in a week or two we’ll look back and regret our review of Creighton, and maybe this will pass for a deep tournament upset. (The team was outstanding on a home run in the season finale, for example.) However, there is too much uncertainty surrounding Creighton right now to include him in the Big Eight.
Florida Seminole
There were times this season when the Seminoles were one of eight teams to win the title. In reality, what people still don’t understand about this team (in March!) is that Leonard Hamilton has an excellent group of shooters. Think of FSU as the Villanova of the ACC, and you’re closer to the finish line than the usual long, athletic riff. Florida State is absolutely long and athletic, and along the way the Seminoles will shoot out of the gym. Unfortunately, they were also an inconsistent team with great shooters. And, let’s face it, the novelty works. The last time we saw the Seminoles, they lost at Notre Dame. So, yes, unlike Miss.
Kansas Jayhawks
Give Bill Self all the credit: KU has returned to the Storm after a disappointing start to the season. Today, the Jayhawks look like they always have: dangerous and about to reach a very high level. To be precise, it was by far the Big 12’s best defense in the league. There is no doubt about this team’s ability to make opponents suffer in the offense, but there are still questions about this offense. Self’s men shot 33% on 3-pointers in conference play, and 67 points on 67 possessions at home against UTEP, so it makes you think before you hand out accolades.
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Loyola Chicago Ramblers
The first thing to acknowledge is that Loyola Chicago is clearly on their way to the Final Four. After an incredible three consecutive recent wins in the 2018 NCAA Tournament, we know better than to doubt the Ramblers. But if Loyola makes it that far, perhaps an opponent in the semifinals will form a human wall around Cameron Krutwig and force his teammates to win by making 3-point shots. It’s unclear if the Ramblers can do that after a season in which they hit just 33% from behind the arc at Missouri Valley.
Ohio State Buckeyes
Yes, Ohio State was predicted to be #1 for most of February, so yes, that variety can be horribly messed up. A recurring theme in these agonizing comments is that in order to limit the charm circle to just eight programs, some exceptionally strong teams must be eliminated. The strength of the Buckeyes is their attack. Dwayne Washington and Justin Ahrens get good 3-point opportunities against a defense that struggles to stop EJ. Liddell inside the bow. On the other side of the ball, however, OSU has not been as successful. Big Ten opponents have ended their possession of the ball with a shot attempt more than 85% of the time, and against a team that doesn’t give up many goals, that counts.
Oklahoma State Cowboys
That Cade Cunningham is one of college basketball’s best observers this season shouldn’t be surprising, but it is. We’re used to playmakers with individual talent having a short, shining hour in college and showing their potential in the game after a really intense team effort. Cunningham breaks that mold by engaging his teammates, observing the field with a practical eye and making smart decisions. Talk about surprises: It’s ridiculous that an OSU offense with so much talent only scores 1.03 points per possession in the Big 12. (The Cowboys defense, on the other hand, is very good and underrated. hi).
Purdue Boilermakers
The best that can be said about the end of the winning streak this season would be that Purdue in particular wins the national title. It would have been worth it to see Zach Ideas cut the nets, and all without a ladder. No, against Michigan State, he finished a good alley-oop with an emphatic slam, though his feet barely left the floor. Edey is a joy to watch and the Boilermakers defense is solid, but this offense shot 30.7% from 3-point range against the Big Ten.
San Diego State Aztecs
Brian Dutcher’s program has gone 50-6 the past two seasons, and for the second consecutive season the Aztecs have won defensively. It’s easy to imagine an arrogant Big Conference team falling apart when they meet this D, and it could very well happen deep in the SDSU tournament. But in the end, it is surprising and problematic that a team with such a good record is only 2 points away from 8th place in the Mountain West this season.
The Texas Longhorns.
For a scintillating moment in January, Texas didn’t seem to be up to the task against teams that were nearly defeated. The Longhorns won road games against Kansas and West Virginia in a span of seven days. There should be a special medal in the Big 12 office for any team that can do a double play like that. But then the course changed for UT. Since the win in Morgantown, Shaq Smart’s group is 7-6. Indeed, the example of UConn in 2011 encourages us to never say never after mid-January and February. But we rarely talk to each other, and Texas doesn’t seem to be at its best right now.
Texas Tech Red Raiders
We never thought we’d have to talk about Chris Beard’s team, but here’s what we’re saying: This defense is better than it looks. For some inexplicable reason, the Big 12 couldn’t miss its 3 against the Red Raiders. If you average these successes, you’ll see that the defensive unit is pretty good, forcing both turnovers and miscues on offense. Add to that an offense that never passes the ball, and you have a great team – but not a member of the fine eight.
The wild cats of Villanova
Unfortunately, Villanova is not complete. Collin Gillespie is out for the rest of the season with a knee injury, and now it looks like Justin Moore will miss the Big East tournament with a badly sprained ankle. Normally, you would be hesitant to bet on a coach who has won two of the last four national titles. In fact, it wouldn’t be a complete shock if the Wildcats drafted the next guy and successfully continued their extremely low turnover rate to win a second weekend. Without Gillespie, but not far from where Villanova lives this time.
The Virginia Cavaliers.
The numbers may not be as high as usual on defense, but Virginia is still able to inflict emotional damage on its opponent, force foul shots and go deep into the shot clock. No, we’re happy with D. The sticking point with the Cavaliers this season is that Tony Bennett’s players aren’t getting enough shots. It’s hard to see at times because the Hoos shoot so accurately and take care of the ball so well. But the unambiguous turn to extreme avoidance of any offensive rebound strikes at the heart of this offense. Make it distinctive and stunning. The program won the national title with a high number of kicks in its six NCAA Tournament games. By then they seem to have disappeared, or at least stopped.
West Virginia
The common opinion is that West Virginia is better because Oscar Chibwe decided to quit the program. The best distance, they’ll tell you. Maybe I will. We know how good the Mountaineers are, or rather, how good this offense is. But can we really be sure that West Virginia’s old version, which not only led at halftime against Gonzaga but also managed to outscore the Bulldogs by a significant margin, wouldn’t have been just as good? Regardless, the current team struggles to withstand 2-point attempts, which Big 12 teams do nearly 53% of the time.
Wisconsin Badgers
Missing points. The reason Wisconsin narrowly misses teams here is a lack of scoring ability. The reason for this is a big question. You’ve heard all these age comparisons about how these Badgers are older than some (very young) NBA teams. Experience and continuity from last season should allow a team that was slightly above average in the Big Ten last season to be excellent on this side of the ball in 2021. That didn’t happen, and in fact, Wisconsin finished games with point possessions just below league average. A mystery that has yet to be solved.
No path at all (322 commands)
- Christian Wildcats Abilene
- Luftwaffe Falcons
- Akron Zippers
- The Great Danes of Albany
- Alcorn’s State of Courage
- American eagles
- Appalachian Highlanders
- Arizona State Sun Devils
- Arkansas Pinecone Golden Lions
- Arkansas Red Wolves
- The Black Knights of the Army
- Governors of Austin Peay
- The ball of the state cardinals
- Belmont Bruins
- Wildcats Bethune Cooks (inactive)
- Binghamton Bears
- Boise State Broncos
- Boston College Eagle
- Boston University Terrier
- Bowling Green Falcons
- Bradley Brave
- Brown bear (inactive)
- Bryant Bulldogs
- Bucknall’s Bison
- Buffalo Buffalo
- Butler’s Bulldogs
- Brussels Cougars
- California Golden Bears
- Cal Poly Mustangs.
- Roadrunners from Bakersfield
- Fullerton Titans Forensics Department
- Northridge Matadors Forensics Unit
- Campbell’s fighting camels
- Canisius Golden Griffins
- Central Arkansas Bears
- Central Connecticut Blue Devils
- Central Michigan Chippewas
- Charleston Pumas
- Charleston Southern Buccaneers
- Charlotte 49
- Chattanooga Mocs.
- Chicago State Panthers (inactive)
- Cincinnati Bears
- Bulldog Citadel
- The Clemson Tigers
- the Cleveland State Vikings
- Coastal Carolina Particle
- The Colgate Raider
- Colorado Rams
- Columbia Lions (inactive)
- UConn Huskies
- Coppin State Eagle
- Cornell Big Red (inactive)
- Dartmouth Big Green (inactive)
- Davidson’s Wildcats
- Dayton Flyers
- Delaware Chicken
- Delaware hornets
- Denver Pioneers
- DePaul’s blue demons
- Mercy Titans in Detroit
- Drake Bulldogs
- Drexel Kites
- Duke Blue Devils
- the Dukes of Duquesne
- the East Carolina Pirates
- Residents of the Buckeye State in East Tennessee
- Eastern Illinois Panthers
- The Eastern Kentucky Upper House
- Eastern Michigan Eagle
- Eastern Washington Eagle
- Elon Phoenix
- Evansville Purple Aces
- Fairfield’s reindeer.
- Fairleigh Dickinson Knight
- Florida alligators
- Florida A&M Rattlers
- Florida Atlantic Owls
- Florida-Gulf Coast-Eagle
- Florida Golden Panthers International
- Fordham Rams.
- Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons
- Fresno Bulldogs
- Furman’s Paladin
- Gardner-Webb’s Bulldogs
- George Mason’s patriots
- George Washington Colonial
- Georgetown Hoyas
- Georgia Bulldogs
- Georgia Southern Eagle
- Georgia State Panthers
- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
- Spelt Tiger
- Grand Canyon Antelope
- Green Bay Phoenix
- Pirates of the Hamptons
- Hartford Hawks.
- Harvard Crimson (inactive)
- Hawaii Rainbow Warriors.
- High Point Panther
- Hofstra’s pride
- Crusaders of the Holy Cross
- Houston Baptist Huskies
- Howard Bison (inactive)
- Idaho Vandals
- from Bengal, Idaho.
- The flames of Illinois and Chicago
- Illinois thrushes
- The embodied word cardinals
- Indiana Hoosiers
- Indiana Sycamores
- Iowa Hurricanes
- IUPUI Jaguars
- Iona Gaels.
- Jackson State Tigers
- Jacksonville Dolphins
- Jacksonville State Gamecocks
- James Madison Dukes.
- Kansas wildcats
- of the Kennesaw State Owls
- Kent State’s golden lightning bolts
- The wild cats of Kentucky
- The Explorer Room
- Leopard Lafayette
- Lamar Cardinals
- Lehigh Mountain Hawks
- The flame of freedom
- The buffalo lip in honeycomb
- The Little Rock Trojans
- State of the Long Beach 49ers
- Long Island University Sharks
- The Longwood Lancers
- Ragin’ Cajuns from Louisiana
- UL Monroe Warhawks
- Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
- the Louisville Cardinals
- Loyola (M.D.) Greyhound
- Loyola Marymount Lions
- LSU Tiger
- Maine Black Bears (inactive)
- Manhattan Jasper
- Marian Fuchs
- the Marquesa of Berkutta
- Marshall Thundering Furnace
- Maryland Terrapins
- Eastern Maryland Coastal Hawks (inactive)
- Miniature designers from UMass
- UMass Lowell River Hawks
- McNeese Cowboys
- Memphis Tiger
- Mercer Bears
- Miami Hurricanes
- Miami RedHawks (OH).
- Michigan State Spartans
- Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders
- Milwaukee Panthers
- Minnesota Golden Gophers
- Ole Miss Rebel
- Mississippi Bulldogs
- Mississippi Delta Devils.
- Missouri Tiger
- Missouri Bear
- Monmouth Hawks
- Montana Grizzlies
- Montana Bobcats
- Morehead State Eagles
- Morgan State Bears
- Mount St. Helens Mary’s Mountaineer
- Murray’s State Rider
- Plates
- Nebraska Corn Flakes
- Nevada Wolf Pack
- New Hampshire Wildcats
- Highlander of N’Djaita
- New Mexico Lobos
- State agencies of New Mexico
- People from New Orleans
- Niagara Purple Eagles
- Nicholls Upstairs
- The Norfolk Spartans
- North Carolina Tar Heels
- Agencies in North Carolina
- North Carolina Eagle
- State Wolfpack
- North Dakota Fighting Hawks
- State of North Dakota European bison
- North Florida Osprey
- The average North Texan
- Northeast Husky
- Lumberjacks in Northern Arizona
- Bears of Northern Colorado
- Northern Illinois Huskies
- Northern Iowa Panthers
- Northern Kentucky
- Northwestern Wildcats
- the demons of the northwestern state
- Fighting Irish Notre Dame
- Oakland Golden Grizzlies
- Ohio Bobcats
- Oklahoma Sooners.
- the former monarchs of the Dominion
- Omaha Mavericks
- Oral Roberts Golden Eagle
- Oregon Ducks
- Oregon Beaver
- Pacific Tigers
- Penn Quakers (inactive)
- Pennsylvania Lions Nittany
- Waves of pepper
- Pittsburgh Panthers
- Portland Pilots
- the Portland State Vikings
- A&M Panthers on the Prairie
- Presbyterian Blue Hose
- Princeton Tigers (inactive)
- The Providence brothers
- Lynx butt hook
- Radford Highlands
- Rhode Island Rams.
- Rice Owls
- Richmond Spiders
- Tan rider
- Robert Morris Colonial
- Rutgers Scarlet Knights
- The Sacramento Hornets
- Pioneers of the Sacred Heart
- St. John’s Falcons Joseph
- St. John’s Bonaventure Bonnie
- of the New York Terriers of St. John’s Francis
- St. John’s Francis Red Flash.
- St. John’s St. John’s Red Storm
- St. John’s Louis Billikens
- Galleons of St. Petersburg Mary
- Peacocks of St. John’s Peter
- Sam Houston State Bears
- Samford Bulldogs
- Toreros de San Diego
- San Francisco Donations
- San Jose State Spartans
- Santa Clara Broncos
- Seattle Redhawks.
- Pirates of Seton Hall
- Saint Siena
- South Alabama Jaguars
- South Carolina Gamecocks
- South Carolina Bulldogs
- The Redhawks at Southeast Missouri
- the South Carolina Spartans
- South Dakota Coyotes
- South Dakota Hare
- South Florida Bulls
- Southeastern Louisiana Lions
- southern jaguars
- Southern Illinois Salukis
- Edwardsville Cougars Division
- EMS Mustangs
- Southern Miss Golden Eagles
- Southern Utah Thunderbirds
- Cardinal of Stanford
- Stetson Hatters.
- the Stone Creek Seawolves
- Syracuse orange
- Horned Frogs
- Temple Owls
- Tennessee Volunteers
- Tennessee Martin Skyhawks
- Tennessee Tiger
- Golden Eagle Tennessee Tech
- Texas metropolitan area
- Texas A&M Corpus Christi Islanders
- Texas Southern Tigers
- Lynx
- Toledo Rockets
- Towson Tiger
- Trojan
- Tulane Green Wave
- Golden Hurricane Tulsa
- CJSC Blazers
- University of California, Davis
- UC Irvine Anteaters
- Riverside Highlanders
- University of California Santa Barbara Gauchos
- Knight of the UFC
- UCLA Bruins
- UMBC Retriever
- UMKC Kangaroo
- Asheville UNC Bulldogs
- Greensboro Spartans UNC
- UNC Seahawks
- UNLV Rebels
- USC Trojan
- UT Arlington Mavericks.
- UTEP Miners
- UT Rio Grande Vaqueros Valley
- San Antonio Roadrunners
- Utah Utes
- State agencies in Utah
- Utah Valley Wolverines
- the Crusaders of Valparaiso
- Comrades of Vanderbilt
- Vermont Catamarans
- Virginia Tech Hokies.
- VMI Keyboards
- VCU ramps
- Wagner Falcons
- The demonic deacons of the Forest of Awakening
- Washington Huskies
- Washington State Cougars
- Weaver’s wildcats
- West Carolina Catamarans
- Western Illinois
- Residents of Western Kentucky Hilltoppers
- Western Michigan Broncos
- Wichita State Shock Absorber
- William and Mary Tribe
- The Winthrop Eagles
- Wofford Terrier
- Wright Raiders
- Wyoming Cowboys
- The Musketeers of Xavier
- Yale Bulldogs (inactive)
- Youngstown State Penguins
So, by my count, that’s 349 teams. If you’re a fan of a team that hasn’t shown up yet, congratulations! Your team is in the middle of a magic eight ball, which by simple deduction should consist of the following: Alabama, Baylor, Colorado, Gonzaga, Houston, Illinois, Iowa and Michigan.
Go ahead and make this feature good, magic eight. There’s a tape in play.
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