Best college teams that didn't win a championship

[DCWildcat]

Someone brought up the 97 Cats for this title and I thought it'd make a good thread. Some teams off the top of my head:

1) The 2002 Duke team that lost to IU in Rupp was a good one, with Jason Williams, Dunleavy, Boozer, Chris Duhon, etc.

2) The Arizona team with Jason Gardner, Loren Woods, Richard Jefferson, Gilbert Arenas and some others was a monster as well.

3) Whoever loses Monday night

[Wildcat Larry]

I would have to throw in the 1975 Cats with Robey, Grevey, Guyette, Flynn, Connors, Phillips, Givens and others.

[jpay]

I would have to throw in the 1975 Cats with Robey, Grevey, Guyette, Flynn, Connors, Phillips, Givens and others. Larry I got to give this one to the 75 Hoosiers who we knocked off. We kept them from back to back perfect seasons...

[Art Vandelay]

1983 Houston "Phi Slamma Jamma" team with Olajuan and Clyde Drexler.

1975 IU team that our Cats knocked off.

1984 Wildcat team (9% shooting in second half against the Hoyas!)

[JWORLD]

Someone brought up the 97 Cats for this title and I thought it'd make a good thread. Some teams off the top of my head:

1) The 2002 Duke team that lost to IU in Rupp was a good one, with Jason Williams, Dunleavy, Boozer, Chris Duhon, etc.

2) The Arizona team with Jason Gardner, Loren Woods, Richard Jefferson, Gilbert Arenas and some others was a monster as well.

3) Whoever loses Monday night


Good thread:icon_biggrin::icon_biggrin:

Im sticking by my guns, 97 Wildcats hands down. That team had and could do it all even without Anderson.

Even without DA, we would have beat Arizona 9 out of every 10 times we would have played them.I felt we played a horrible game while Arizona played the type of game that everything went there way.

[nkycatsfan]

1983 Houston "Phi Slamma Jamma" team with Olajuan and Clyde Drexler.

1975 IU team that our Cats knocked off.

1984 Wildcat team (9% shooting in second half against the Hoyas!)

Without a doubt, the "Phi Slamma Jamma" team was by far one of the best teams to not win a championship.

[Wildcat Larry]

Larry I got to give this one to the 75 Hoosiers who we knocked off. We kept them from back to back perfect seasons...
It's my opinion that UK was better at the end of that season, thus my choice.

[Rockober]

Good thread:icon_biggrin::icon_biggrin:

Im sticking by my guns, 97 Wildcats hands down. That team had and could do it all even without Anderson.

Even without DA, we would have beat Arizona 9 out of every 10 times we would have played them.I felt we played a horrible game while Arizona played the type of game that everything went there way.


I think Georgetown losing to Villanova was a huge upset. Patrick Ewing and all was a great team. What about the 1994 UNC team that was upset by Boston College? They had 8 All Americans on that team! Rasheed Wallace, Stackhouse, McGinnis,etc. And many would argue around the country that Kansas had a better team than UK in 1997. I won't but they had Lafrentz, Pierce, Scott Pollard and Jacque Vaughn. UK against Kansas would have been a incredible game. Also, UNLV losing to Duke and IU's undefeated team losing to our beloved CATS.

[CatsCatsCats3]

Could you make a case for the Fab Five in the 91-92 season at Michigan?

[Rockober]

Could you make a case for the Fab Five in the 91-92 season at Michigan?

UK losing to Michigan in overtime was a heart breaker. Dale Brown getting knocked out of the game was a killer.UK was killing everybody in the tourney until that game and I still think UK would have won it all if they would have gotten passed them. Michigan than laid an egg against Carolina.

[CatsCatsCats3]

UK losing to Michigan in overtime was a heart breaker. Dale Brown getting knocked out of the game was a killer.UK was killing everybody in the tourney until that game and I still think UK would have won it all if they would have gotten passed them. Michigan than laid an egg against Carolina.


Very true. The thing about that Mich team was they were all freshman. That to me is unreal and to think they could only get better. :shrug1:

[CatFanInTheBathtub]

THE BEST TEAM to not win it all is easily, in my opinion, the 1991 UNLV runnin rebels. The exact same team won the title the previous year (killing duke in the championship) and won every game of the 90-91 season up until the championship (including a road win against #2 arkansas who was also phenomenal that year).

The thing about that team though is the speculation, which I tend to believe, that they threw the duke game. I've watched the end of that one a few times in the past, and it does indeed seem that they made some "unusual" mistakes down the stretch.

[CatFanInTheBathtub]

Very true. The thing about that Mich team was they were all freshman. That to me is unreal and to think they could only get better. :shrug1:

no, that was the fab five's sophmore year. In their freshman year they lost to duke, the next year is when they beat us and then lost to carolina in the championship.

[CatsCatsCats3]

I stand corrected. Thanks bathtub.

[Blue_N_White]

1983 Houston "Phi Slamma Jamma" team with Olajuan and Clyde Drexler.

1984 Wildcat team (9% shooting in second half against the Hoyas!)



THE BEST TEAM to not win it all is easily, in my opinion, the 1991 UNLV runnin rebels.

These three immediately came to mind, as well as:

I think Georgetown losing to Villanova was a huge upset. Patrick Ewing and all was a great team. What about the 1994 UNC team that was upset by Boston College? They had 8 All Americans on that team! Rasheed Wallace, Stackhouse, McGinnis,etc. And many would argue around the country that Kansas had a better team than UK in 1997. I won't but they had Lafrentz, Pierce, Scott Pollard and Jacque Vaughn. UK against Kansas would have been a incredible game. Also, UNLV losing to Duke and IU's undefeated team losing to our beloved CATS.

The '85 Georgetown team. The '85 Hoyas that lost to Villanova is reminiscent of the Houston team that lost to NC State in '83. Both were head and shoulders better than everyone else in the field that year, huge favorites to win it all and involved in two of the bigger upsets in NCAA tournament history.

I'm glad to see the Kansas team with Pierce and LaFrentz mentioned. The '98 team had Pierce and LaFrentz, and were a big-time disappointment in the tourney that year...losing in the second round.

[Tom Blevins]

Some good ones mentioned so far. Let me add a few. Houston '68 and '84. North Carolina State '73. UCLA '74. Going way back, Kentucky '47. (Possibly the most talented college team we, or anybody else has EVER fielded.)

[JDHoss]

The 69-70 Cats. Lost a heartbreaker 106-100 to Jacksonville in the Mideast Regional finals in Columbus. If Dan Issel doesn't sit the last 11 minutes with 5 fouls, the Cats move on to the final four.

[Terry L. Wildcat]

Rupp's Runts

[Jeff Craddock]

The '66 Runts, with emphasis on team. And the undefeated '54 Cats that didn't go to the championship because their stars were deemed ineligilble.

[jpay]

It's my opinion that UK was better at the end of that season, thus my choice.

Didn't Scott May Break his arm during the big ten season that year?

[JohnJ]

Indiana 1975
UNLV 1991

[JWORLD]

97 Cats.................

When that machine was clicking,it was very hard to stop.....It really didn't matter if it was the first five or the second five.............:thumbup::thumbup:

[macdon]

2008 Davidson College Wildcats.

[KYISSUPREME]

I'll throw out the '03 UK team, since I don't think anyone else did.

[kybuc]

I'll throw out the '03 UK team, since I don't think anyone else did.


I agree, the SUFFOCATS were a thing of beauty to watch!

[FCFS82]

1983 Houston

1999 Duke (Maggette, Brand, Avery, etc.)

1994 North Carolina (Had forgotten about them but that is a great point made earlier.)

I am leaving off 1991 UNLV because they won in 1990, so really they just failed in the attempt for a back-to-back championship. And I am thinking of teams that didn't get any sort of ring later or earlier.

This would eliminate the 1997 Cats all except for Jared *****ett who redshirted in 1996 and was out of eligibility for 1998.

I can't take the Kansas teams of 1996-1998 because SO much was expected and they never even sniffed a Final Four minus an Elite Eight upset at the hands of Syracuse. You have to at least be great to be considered and those teams were never great.

[teamchemistry09]

Id have to say the 05 Illinois team with Deron Williams Dee Brown Luther Head and James Augustine

[Blue Heaven]

I agree, the SUFFOCATS were a thing of beauty to watch!
Daniels and Hayes had the two-man game going better than anyone I have watched since. A healthy Bogans and I think we take it that year. A healthy Derrick Anderson in '97 and we could have had another title.

[gerntz]

It's my opinion that UK was better at the end of that season, thus my choice.

If you're going by that, then I think Louisville was the best at the end. 100% made on the season kid misses free throws for LV at end against Wooden or they'd have played us & I think beat us.

[CatFanInTheBathtub]

Someone brought up the 97 Cats for this title and I thought it'd make a good thread. Some teams off the top of my head:

1) The 2002 Duke team that lost to IU in Rupp was a good one, with Jason Williams, Dunleavy, Boozer, Chris Duhon, etc.

2) The Arizona team with Jason Gardner, Loren Woods, Richard Jefferson, Gilbert Arenas and some others was a monster as well.

3) Whoever loses Monday night


so back to the OP. Would this year's memphis cut it with the others that have been mentioned in this thread. It's hard to say but they ceratinly were choke city last night and were nearly dominated in OT.

[Marine_UK_Fan]

1983 Houston "Phi Slamma Jamma" team with Olajuan and Clyde Drexler.

1975 IU team that our Cats knocked off.

1984 Wildcat team (9% shooting in second half against the Hoyas!)

Give the '84 team a little credit, it was 13%, not 9%. That number will be forever etched into my mind.

My vote would be for Phi Slamma Jamma.

[cumberlandredskin]

Didn't Scott May Break his arm during the big ten season that year?

Yes he did. He played briefly against UK in the 75 regional final but couldn't really go. With a healthy Scott May that IU team may have been the best not to win a title. I would also go with that 1991 UNLV team. They killed everbody for two years but couldn't get by Duke in the semi's. They played in a very weak conference and that may have hurt them.
The best UK team I have seen not to win it all is either the 75 team or the 84 team. You can make a case for either one of them.

[FCFS82]

Give the '84 team a little credit, it was 13%, not 9%. That number will be forever etched into my mind.

Check that memory. :icon_lol:

http://www.bigbluehistory.net/bb/Statistics/Games/19840331Georgetown.html

3-for-33 for 9.1%

It was fugly no matter what the number, really. :icon_frown:

[ukwebfan]

I'll throw out the '03 UK team, since I don't think anyone else did.
Beat me to it. You could include about 15 UNC teams of the 70's, 80's and 90's that were packed full of HS All-Americans. The 1996 UMASS team comes to mind as well.

[DCWildcat]

so back to the OP. Would this year's memphis cut it with the others that have been mentioned in this thread. It's hard to say but they ceratinly were choke city last night and were nearly dominated in OT.

True, but they were absolutely dominant in the regular season and tournament until the final 7 minutes of that game. I think they still qualify.

[Marine_UK_Fan]

Check that memory. :icon_lol:

http://www.bigbluehistory.net/bb/Statistics/Games/19840331Georgetown.html

3-for-33 for 9.1%

It was fugly no matter what the number, really. :icon_frown:

I stand corrected. I don't know why I've been stuck with 13% all these years. That has to have been the hardest UK game for me to ever watch. Kind of like the Vandy game from this year in the Final 4. The Laettner shot wasn't nearly as hard to watch cause that was the last second and the Georgetown thing drug out an entire half. Very painful.

Like you said, FUGLY no matter what the number for sure.

[poodoo]

Daniels and Hayes had the two-man game going better than anyone I have watched since. A healthy Bogans and I think we take it that year. A healthy Derrick Anderson in '97 and we could have had another title.

You are so right about Erik Daniels and Chuck Hayes on that team, Blue Heaven. It was indeed a thing of beauty.

Too, I agree that we "take it" that year with a healthy Bogans. We weren't the top overall seed for nothing. We were easily the best team in the nation that year, according to most everyone.

While Bogans still contributed on offense, his lack of ability to move defensively just killed us. I once heard our staff's questioning their decision to have played him, by the way. Most of all, I remember watching the interviews with our players before that game, after Keith had been injured, and I had strongly sensed then that we would not win. To this day I remember my strong impressions in that regard. That confidence and swagger had so obviously been taken from them. To this day I so hate that injury occurred, for our seniors and for Chuck Hayes. :icon_sad: Yes, the Suffocats were so special.

In regard to Derek Anderson's injury, there's no doubt about it. We definitely would have had another title. Actually, we have a title with just one more made free throw, even without him. :icon_sad:

For me, it's the 2003 UK team and the UNLV and Houston teams many have mentioned. GO CATS!!!

[CatFanInTheBathtub]

the '03 Uk team........I so loved them, probably my second or third favorite Uk team I've ever seen. But to say they were one of the best teams EVER to not win a title is a little "out there". While their SEC season was phenomenal their non-conf sched was iffy with a loss in Rupp to mich st. and an (embarrassing) loss at Louisville, and even a 14 point loss to a mediocre virginia of all teams (anybody remember that?). Yes we were easily one of the best teams come tourney time but a Bogans ankle sprain is prob. not the only reason marquette beat us by 14. That UK team was indeed great...one of the top 10-15 teams of this decade, but after that, I dunno.

[CatFanInTheBathtub]

I'd like to add that I personally believe that a team should have AT LEAST made the final four, and AT LEAST been a #1 seed to even be considered for this thread.

to me those are the two best reflections on your reg. season and your tourney performance.

[BigblueDrew]

UK losing to Michigan in overtime was a heart breaker. Dale Brown getting knocked out of the game was a killer.UK was killing everybody in the tourney until that game and I still think UK would have won it all if they would have gotten passed them. Michigan than laid an egg against Carolina.

That was a GREAT UK team. If only, if only. I remember a great UofL team, the one with Wesley Cox and Bill Buntiyn?, losing to an inferior UCLA squad when that Cook kid missed the free throw after going 1000% for the season. what a crusher, I hated UCLA in those days.

[TrueblueCATfan]

Someone beat me to it..but I say the 2003 UK team....loved those guys..we were a Keith Bogans injury away from going to the final four

[ProfJT]

The '66 Runts, with emphasis on team. And the undefeated '54 Cats that didn't go to the championship because their stars were deemed ineligilble.

Gotta amen this to both of these teams. I'm confident that the '54 would have taken the trophy, and I believe the Runts would win at least 8 out of 10 against Texas Western.

[poodoo]

By the way, that 2003 team was awarded the top overall seed in the NCAA Tourney. What I liked about that team was that it was truly a TEAM.

No, it was not the best talent, BUT it was playing the best basketball of any team in the nation when the Big Dance had begun. Not only biased :icon_mrgreen: UK fans, but virtually all the commentators, absolutely loved that TEAM. Thus, the Selection Show and all the shows until UK had gone down had been wonderful to watch. :)

I'm adding the '97 Cats to my list, too. This board is a UK board, and I can be biased if I want to be. :icon_mrgreen: