Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Undefeated Teams

Seven teams have won the NCAA tournament without a single defeat to mar their records. Their stories include some of the most storied names in basketball history: Bill Russell. Frank McGuire. Lew Alcindor, John Wooden, Bob Knight... these teams finished perfect seasons by taking home an NCAA championship. It is worth noting, though -- all of these teams turned the trick before the tournament field expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

1956: San Francisco

San Francisco's 1956 record of 29-0 was part of a 60-game winning streak that saw the Dons -- led by future hall of famers Bill Russell and K.C. Jones -- win the 1955 and 56 NCAA Tournaments.

1957: North Carolina

Tar Heel coach Frank McGuire took a novel approach to scheduling -- Carolina reached the Final Four having played just eight home games. They won the title game in triple-overtime, beating a Kansas squad led by Wilt Chamberlain.

1964: UCLA

The 1964 title was the first of John Wooden's record ten NCAA championships -- and the first of four seasons the "Wizard of Westwood" would finish with an unblemished record.

1967: UCLA

In 1967, Wooden -- with some help from center Lew Alcindor (later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) began a run of seven straight NCAA titles with a 30-0 season.

1972: UCLA

Wooden lost Alcindor, but that didn't matter. The Bruins plugged sophomore Bill Walton (freshmen couldn't play varsity ball back in those days) in the middle and ran the table in 1972...

1973: UCLA

And 1973. The '72 and '73 seasons were just part of a record 88-game winning streak that wasn't broken until the Bruins lost at Notre Dame on January 19, 1974.

1976: Indiana

The '76 Hoosiers -- led by Kent Benson, Scott May and Quinn Buckner -- finished the season with a 32-0 record and Bob Knight's first of three championships. The 1976 Final Four actually featured two undefeated teams. The other was Rutgers -- the Scarlet Knights ran their record to 31-0 before losing to Michigan in the national semifinals.

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