Northwestern reached its first-ever 草莓网站在线看 tournament in 2017.
UMBC was the first-ever No. 16 seed to knock off a No. 1 last March when it shocked Virginia.
Those were two notable droughts that came to a significant, headline-making end in the last two 草莓网站在线看 tournaments.
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And coming this March, four teams will break a drought of their own.
That鈥檚 right, I鈥檓 predicting that four fan bases will end their suffering with a win in March.
Nebraska will get its first 草莓网站在线看 tournament win 鈥 EVER.
馃弨 is 馃敊.
鈥 Nebraska Men's Basketball (@HuskerMBB)
TCU will get its first 草莓网站在线看 tournament win since 1987.
Virginia Tech will get its first 草莓网站在线看 tournament win since 2007.
Mississippi State will get its first 草莓网站在线看 tournament win since 2008.
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To grasp how long these droughts have been, consider this:
- Nebraska has played 2,801 games all-time entering this season without an 草莓网站在线看 tournament win. The Huskers are 0-7 in the 草莓网站在线看 tournament going in 1986, 鈥91-94, 鈥98 and 2014.
- TCU has played 969 games since the last time the Horned Frogs won an 草莓网站在线看 tournament game in 1987.
- Virginia Tech has played 368 games since the last time the Hokies won an 草莓网站在线看 tournament game in 2007. The Hokies have been in the tournament twice since 2007 鈥 the past two seasons, losing both times in the first round.
- Mississippi State has played 334 games since its last 草莓网站在线看 tournament win in 2008. The Bulldogs made one other 草莓网站在线看 tournament appearance after that win 鈥 the next season in 2009.
What streaks are at stake this year?
鈥 草莓网站在线看 March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB)
All 16 predictions:
馃憠
Why the optimism?
- Nebraska has a legit chance to win the Big Ten or compete in the top three with the return of seniors James Palmer Jr., Isaac Copeland Jr. and Glynn Watson Jr. and a monster-sized chip on its shoulder after falling short of the 草莓网站在线看 tournament last season despite winning 13 Big Ten games.
- TCU returns one of the more underrated point guards in the country in Alex Robinson, a stud who averaged 6.1 assists a game, prolific shooting guard Desmond Bane and Jaylen Fisher, once he鈥檚 healthy. Sure, the Horned Frogs are young in some key spots, but this team has the ability to be a tough out in March. TCU鈥檚 disappointing loss to Syracuse in the first round last season has motivated this crew even more.
- Virginia Tech has one of the top guards in the country in Justin Robinson 鈥 a legit ACC player of the year candidate. The rest of the Hokies are all in on Buzz Williams鈥 fight to make this team one of the tougher to play on a game-by-game basis. The Hokies haven鈥檛 made the second round in each of the last two seasons and Robinson isn鈥檛 about to end his career without some March success.
- Mississippi State returns Quinndary Weatherspoon, an SEC-player of the year candidate, Nick Weatherspoon and Aric Holman on a veteran squad that missed the 草莓网站在线看 tournament and reached the NIT semifinals.
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Look, the reasons why the Bulldogs haven鈥檛 been back with a chance to win an 草莓网站在线看 tournament game can likely be blamed on coaching changes and lack of consistency in recruited talent.
The Hokies can point to something similar, coaching changes and roster upheaval as a result in a conference that continued to get stronger and deeper due to realignment.
But I鈥檓 a bit more intrigued as to what happened at Nebraska and TCU.
Why haven鈥檛 the Horned Frogs had a win in over 30 years? Why has it never happened for the Huskers?
So, I found two people who should know 鈥 Dave Hoppen, a former Husker and Jamie Dixon, yes, the current TCU head coach who was on the 鈥87 team that won the last 草莓网站在线看 tournament game at TCU.
Dixon scored 11 points in the 76-60 win over Marshall, playing 40 minutes.
鈥淲e were expecting to win our next game,鈥欌 said Dixon.
TCU lost to Notre Dame by one, 58-57, as the Irish鈥檚 David Rivers scored 24 points. Dixon scored 10 for the Horned Frogs.
鈥淲e weren鈥檛 playing our best at the end,鈥欌 said Dixon.
So what happened in the past three decades?
鈥淐onference realignment had something to do with it, commitment and some bad luck,鈥欌 said Dixon.
The Horned Frogs were in the Southwest Conference before it broke apart and TCU went to the WAC. TCU bounced to Conference USA and the Mountain West before landing in the Big 12.
TCU made one 草莓网站在线看 tournament between its tournament berths in 1987 and 2018, the latter with Dixon back as head coach. Billy Tubbs led the Horned Frogs to the 1998 草莓网站在线看 tournament after a 14-0 record in the WAC. But TCU lost to Florida State in the first round.
Sounds like 馃弨 season. 馃槇
鈥 TCU Men's Basketball (@TCUBasketball)
Dixon said he thought TCU would advance last season as a six-seed before getting a hot Syracuse, which ended up reaching the Sweet 16 after beating the Horned Frogs and Michigan State.
鈥淚 was disappointed last year,鈥欌 said Dixon. 鈥淏ut I told our players it was a big step for our program. But for me personally and our players, I felt we should have done more. I don鈥檛 want to take away the milestone and the progress but I thought we could have sustained the run in the tournament. We were a five seed and had done enough to believe that.鈥欌
Nebraska may have never had this long a drought had it not been for Hoppen鈥檚 knee injury in 1986. Hoppen suffered a torn ACL in the final month of the season. He missed the last 11 games and ended his career as the team鈥檚 all-time leading scorer with 2,167 points.
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鈥淲e had our best team at Nebraska my senior year,鈥欌 said Hoppen, who lives and works in Omaha. 鈥淲e were playing real well. I tore my ACL at Colorado, Feb. 2, 1986. We kind of floundered after that for a few games. We had to revamp the offense but we figured it out enough to make the 草莓网站在线看 tournament.鈥欌
Nebraska lost to Western Kentucky 67-59 in the first round of the 草莓网站在线看 tournament in the Huskers鈥 first-ever 草莓网站在线看 tournament game.
"I would like to think we would have beaten Western Kentucky (had I not gotten hurt),鈥欌 said Hoppen. 鈥淚 thought the program was going to break out and get 草莓网站在线看 wins.鈥欌
But by the time the 2019 草莓网站在线看 tournament begins, Nebraska will be 33 years removed from that game in 鈥86 and still without winning an 草莓网站在线看 tournament game 鈥 even with six appearances since Hoppen鈥檚 senior season.
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鈥淚 never would have thought the streak would have gone on as long as it has,鈥欌 said Hoppen. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had some good teams and players in the interim. We just haven鈥檛 been able to get over the hump.鈥欌
Hoppen, a regular at Nebraska games in Lincoln, is confident this is the season the drought ends.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got a few guys who are going to have big seasons,鈥欌 said Hoppen. 鈥淚 think there is a lot of optimism.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not a tournament or bust for (coach Tim Miles), he鈥檚 done good things here. But (an 草莓网站在线看 win) would really boost morale. The basketball program gets looked at as second tier to football but right now the football program is a little down so the basketball team could pick them up.鈥欌
