![]() Two years after playing for the 2003 national championship, the Jayhawks were dumped by No. Just how easy can the stink of an upset loss settle on even the bluest of bluebloods? Just ask Kansas. 1 seed last year, fell to fifth-seeded Houston in another regional semifinal. 13 seed Buffalo in 2018 and, as a trendy title pick as a No. 11 seed Xavier in a regional semifinal the next year. The run of disappointments began with a loss to No. 15 seed Princeton scored the final nine points, with Tommy Lloyd running the show. Since losing in the regional final to Wisconsin in 2015, Arizona has been knocked out of the opening round three times despite being seeded sixth or better each time - the first two with Sean Miller on the sideline and the most recent, a 59-55 defeat on Thursday in which No. If misery loves company, the Wildcats can relate. “I know there’s the seeding and all that, but everybody can beat everybody, as obviously you’ve seen.” “I would just say everybody at this level is good,” Virginia guard Isaac McKneely offered by way of explanation. Most hoops fans remember the upset vividly, perhaps more than the national title the Cavs won a year later. 1 seed - to lose to one of the four lowest-seeded teams in the tournament. Forty painful minutes later, they were saddled with a lopsided 74-54 loss and the ignominity of becoming the first men’s team - after 135 wins by a No. The Cavaliers were Final Four favorites when they arrived in Charlotte, North Carolina, for their first-round game against UMBC in 2018. “It doesn’t take away from what these guys have done and what we’ve experienced over the years, but you wanted it when you felt like you had it, and that was a tough one,” Cavs coach Tony Bennett acknowledged after the 68-67 loss to the Paladins, who essentially won by cashing in a turnover with a deep 3-pointer with 2.2 seconds left on the clock.īennett knows as well as anyone that agonizing notoriety is easy to earn and brutally difficult to overcome.ĭoesn’t matter that the names and faces change from year to year. ![]() 13 seed for the second straight year and five years to the day since becoming the only No. The Wildcats have been bounced by teams seeded worse than them in five consecutive NCAA tourney trips, while the Cavaliers were bumped by a No. 15 seed Princeton on Thursday, and fourth-seeded Virginia’s collapse in the closing seconds against Furman, were merely the latest examples of their humiliating March heartbreaks. The stunning loss by second-seeded Arizona to No. They also have developing reputations for NCAA Tournament disappointments. Business & Finance Click to expand menu.Īrizona and Virginia rightfully lay claim to proud college basketball traditions, whether you’re talking about the Wildcats winning the national championship in 1997, the Cavaliers doing it 22 years later or the many stars the programs have sent to the NBA and overseas.
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