Most college basketball schools without a Final Four appearance have simply not been very good over a longer span of time, but some have been relatively accomplished more often that not. They simply haven’t been able to put all the pieces together in the same season and make the big run. Gonzaga finally got off this list last year, but some schools are still remaining. Which ones make the cut in a list where no school ever wants to make the cut?
Brigham Young Cougars
The Cougars have made 29 NCAA Tournament appearances, and yet none of them have led to a Final Four. No school has more NCAA berths without a Final Four. Whether it was the 1981 team with Danny Ainge which lost in the Elite Eight, or the 2011 team with Jimmer Fredette which lost a nail-biter in the Sweet 16 against Florida, the best BYU teams haven’t been able to break through. BYU’s campus hosted a few NCAA West Regionals late in the 1970s and early in the 1980s, but BYU wasn’t able to get to the Elite Eight those years and have home-court advantage with a Final Four spot on the line. (The NCAA Tournament still allowed schools to host March Madness games back then.)
It will be tougher for BYU to make the Final Four with Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s both in the West Coast Conference, but if the Cougars assembled a great team in 2011, they can certainly create a great team once again.
Xavier Musketeers
The Musketeers have made 27 NCAA Tournament appearances without a Final Four, putting them second on this list. Xavier played Gonzaga last March in the Elite Eight, ensuring that one school without a Final Four was finally going to get over the hump, but it wasn’t Xavier. The Cincinnati-based school made the Elite Eight in 2008 but lost to Kevin Love and UCLA. Xavier has made a lot of Sweet 16s in recent years under current coach Chris Mack, but the Musketeers usually run into better teams at that stage of the NCAA Tournament.
Xavier is probably the team that has the best shot of ending this streak as they’ve been close in recent years. However, they are off a down year where they were just 9-9 in conference play and 24-14 overall.
Missouri Tigers
The Tigers aren’t very good right now, but for many decades they fought with Kansas and Oklahoma in the Big Eight, two enduring college basketball rivalries in the 1980s and 1990s. Coach Norm Stewart led Missouri to a lot of NCAA berths and a lot of relatively high seeds in March Madness. Missouri has 25 NCAA Tournament berths, third most without a Final Four. The Tigers were a number one seed in 1994 and reached the Elite Eight, but Arizona beat them in the West Regional final. Missouri reached the Elite Eight in 2002 under current Utah Jazz head coach Quin Snyder, but Oklahoma stopped the Tigers in the West Regional final.
Missouri has a long way to go before they get to the Final Four. They were the worst team in the SEC last season. They won just two games in the SEC (2-16) and eight games overall. When you win only eight of 32 games, you have a long way to go to get back into the conversation of being a March Madness team.
Tennessee Volunteers
In the late 1970s, the Volunteers had Bernard King and Ernie Grunfeld, a couple of New Yorkers, to power their program. “Ernie and Bernie” made Tennessee powerful, but they didn’t get to the Final Four. In subsequent years, Allan Houston and Vincent Yarbrough and Chris Lofton carried Tennessee teams into the NCAA Tournament. In 2010, the Vols made the Elite Eight. Never did they cross the threshold. They’re still waiting after 20 NCAA appearances without a Final Four.
The Vols don’t appear close to changing this dubious track record. This past season, the Vols were just 8-10 in SEC play and were just 16-16 overall. They have a long way to go before they can even get back to the NCAA Tournament, let alone the Final Four.
Click here to bet on the college football futures for the 2017 college football season right now. DSI will have all of the latest lines, spreads and props for this year’s action!
