Before we get started, we need to define what we mean by 'Power Conference'. For this exercise, we are going to include teams that are currently members of the ACC, Big East, Big 10, Big 12, Pac-12, and SEC. The Atlantic 10 and American Athletic Conference have both been pseudo power conferences at different points in their existence, but many of the best teams from those league's have been gobbled up by the other six conferences. Oh, and one other thing. We are only going to consider victories in the Round of 64 and beyond. No matter how they are branded, First Four games, are play-in games and if you lose in those, did you even make the real tournament?
Let's begin with current power conference teams that have won exactly four tournament games since the field expanded.
Three SEC schools have won just four tournament games in the past forty years. Ironically, Georgia has been coached by four men in that span with a Final Four appearance. Hugh Durham took Georgia to the Final Four two seasons before the field expanded (1983), but only managed a single tournament win at Georgia after that run to the national semifinal. Tubby Smith took Georgia on their deepest run in the expanded field in 1996 before he won a national title two years later at Kentucky. Jim Harrick, a national title winning coach at UCLA, guided Georgia to two tournaments, but won just a single game before leaving the school in disgrace. Finally, former Marquette and Indiana coach Tom Crean was never able to get Georgia to the tournament during his tenure. Ole Miss was on the business end of Bryce Drew's miracle shot in 1998, but Rod Barnes did win three tournament games at the school, including two in 2001 to get them to the Sweet 16. Andy Kennedy technically won two games during his tenure in Oxford, but one came in the First Four. South Carolina has only won four tournament games since the field expanded, but they clustered those wins in perfect sequence on the way to the Final Four in 2017. The other power conference team to be stuck on four wins is Virginia Tech. The Hokies made tourney appearances as members of the Metro and later Atlantic 10 before joining the ACC. A perpetual bubble team under Seth Greenberg, the Hokies made their deepest run under Buzz Williams in 2019.
What about teams that have won exactly three tournament games since the field expanded?
Like the SEC with four-win teams, one league (the Pac-12) is overrepresented with three-win teams. Colorado has not advanced past the second round since the field expanded in 1985. Oregon State went 26 years between tournament appearances, but consolidated all their wins in one season during their Elite 8 run in 2021. Washington State has been coached by two men who found greater success once they left Pullman (Kelvin Sampson and Tony Bennett) and have not advanced past the Sweet 16 in the expanded tournament field. TCU is the only other power conference team to win exactly three tournament games since the field expanded. The Horned Frogs have bounced around, playing in the Southwest Conference, WAC, Conference USA, and Mountain West, before finding a home in the Big 12. Along the way, they have never advanced past the second round.
There is only one team that has won exactly two NCAA Tournament games since 1985.
Northwestern did not even qualify for their first NCAA Tournament until 2017. As the old adage goes, you can't be upset in the first round if you never make the tournament. Give the Wildcats credit, their first round win rate is 100% as they have won their opener in both tourney appearances.
We are getting close to the bottom. Which teams have won exactly one game since the field expanded?
The Rutgers basketball program has been nearly as destitute, perhaps more so, than their football team. The Scarlet Knights went three decades between tournament appearances. They won their first tournament game in nearly 40 years in 2021 and played a great second round game in nearly upsetting a Final Four bound Houston team. UCF made four tournament appearances under Kirk Speraw in the 90s and early 2000s when they were members of the TAAC/Atlantic Sun. Those were low-major leagues, so the Knights received very low seeds (never higher than 14). They returned to the tournament in 2019 under Johnny Dawkins, won their first ever tournament game, and gave top-seeded Duke a run for their money in the second round.
And finally, let's hear it for the only power conference team to have not won a tournament game since the field expanded.
In fact, the Cornhuskers have never won a tournament game in their entire history. They did not make the NCAA field until 1986, and despite four consecutive appearances between 1991 and 1994, including a three seed in 1991, failed to win a single tournament game. Is this the year? Can Nebraska finally garner their first tournament victory? If so, it might be time to build a state of Fred Hoiberg in Lincoln.
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