What Are The Top 3 Best Runs To The NCAA Tourney Crown?

[UConNation]

I bleed blue through and through so I'm obviously biased towards UConn, but here's a crack at my top 3:

1) 1966 - Texas Western going with an all black line up for the first time in NCAA tourney history and shocking the college scene
2) 2011 - Kemba Walker. Enough said.
3) 1971-1973 - UCLA. Going undefeated once is incredible. Doing it twice is near impossible

*** My next choice would be 2004 with our win over Duke in the final four

 

[Wise2]

I'm not sure what your definition of best run entails. Is it biggest longshot, or had the most improbable wins (coming from behind or make an buzzer beater)

Nova and NCST were big longshots when they won. UCLA (when they beat us) and Puke also memorable game winning/ending sequences to win one or many of their NCAA tourney games.

 

[UConNation]

I'm not sure what your definition of best run entails. Is it biggest longshot, or had the most improbable wins (coming from behind or make an buzzer beater)

Nova and NCST were big longshots when they won. UCLA (when they beat us) and Puke also memorable game winning/ending sequences to win one or many of their NCAA tourney games.

^^^^^
most exciting/memorable

 

[7774]

1999, 2004, 2011

 

[CL82]

2011 - Kemba Walker.

Just because it is us doesn't make it any less remarkable.

 

[ibleedhuskyblue]

1999, 2004, 2011

these

 

[UChusky916]

I've never heard of a 9th ranked team in any conference go on to win out in post season play including the conference tournament on its way to winning a national title.

Oh wait, UConn did.

Kemba. Walker. 2011. Nuff said

 

[Palatine]

In 2011, UConn never lost an elimination game, not in Maui, not inthe BET, not in the NCAAs. That type of run is pretty rare.

BUT...when you add in the five wins in five days. Best run ever.

 

[Scot-e]

I'd give us the 1-3 spots for the BET and last NC.

 

[BearJWS]

In 2011, UConn never lost an elimination game, not in Maui, not inthe BET, not in the NCAAs. That type of run is pretty rare.

BUT...when you add in the five wins in five days. Best run ever.

Absolutely right. If I remember correctly, UConn probably had the most difficult schedule that year, despite some saying it was only like Top 5. I looked a lot of this up a while back... I believe this is what they accomplished. 26 of their 39 games were against teams in the NCAA tournament. They played games against 19 ranked opponents, winning like 13 of them (includes Tournament Teams). They didn't have a loss against any team not in the tournament, so their 9 losses were against NCAA teams. 6 of 9 losses were against ranked teams, the other 3 were NCAA teams. Some of their other opponents not in the NCAA tournament were still NIT teams. It doesn't get much more difficult than that...

 

[champs99and04]

If we're being honest with ourselves, it's either Texas Western or N.C. State - those are two teams people will remember for their entire lives, even if they weren't huge college basketball fans like us. Those are the two stories that have inspired people the most and withdrawn the most emotion from people. N.C. State's run has spurred multiple documentaries, including a 30 f0r 30. There has been a movie made on the Texas Western squad, and their influence has extended far beyond what any modern day team can possibly muster.

Sadly, I think UConn's 2011 run will be lost in the shuffle from a historical perspective, and even more sadly, a large part of the reason why may well be the demolishion of the Big East Tournament. Bilas, Raf, and McDonough won't be around for five days every March to tell the tale of the sputtering UConn team and Kemba Walker's semi-miraculous run from the nine slot in the Big East. That, moreso than the NCAA run, was the legacy of the 2011 UConn team, IMO. It doesn't detract from the greatness and unlikliness of it, though.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

In 2011, UConn never lost an elimination game, not in Maui, not inthe BET, not in the NCAAs. That type of run is pretty rare.

BUT...when you add in the five wins in five days. Best run ever.

I will add, likely the best run there will ever be.

 

[UChusky916]

5 wins in 5 days is amazing on its own. But how they did it against the level of opponents we played makes it even more remarkable.

Look at who we played in the BET in terms of NCAA tournament seeding that year:

Depaul ~ 16 seed
Georgetown was a 6 seed
Pitt was a 1 seed
Syracuse was a 3 seed
Louisville was a 4 seed

All wins. In 5 consecutive days.

We had an easier road to the NCAA championship that year than we did to the BET championship. The fact that we accomplished BOTH is astonishing and the run remains completely under-appreciated historically as far as I'm concerned.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

2011
Danny Manning and the Miracles
Nova

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Danny Manning and the Miracles

+1.

 

[TheChamps990411]

I cant imagine a more unlikely run to a title than `11. Its just so impossible that two years later when i think about it i get the same feeling of "how the heck did we pull that off?" WE HAD NO BUSINESS WINNING IT ALL IN `11 nevermind a BET that included beating 4 highly ranked and tournament seeded teams. WE WILL NEVER SEE ANOTHER RUN LIKE THAT. Atleast not in our lifetimes.

The reason i put it ahead of nc state,nova and texas western is because in the case of the first two if youve been watching sports long enough its common to see the davids beat goliaths from time to time especially in single elimination events. texas western was more of a social impact that was much bigger than basketball. `11 was one unlikely team in what was without a doubt the toughest conference in the country where they finished 9th and went into the BET not playing its best basketball yet they were to win 5 games in five nights against 5 tourney teams 4 of which were high seeds which in and of itself would have made for a great story but they topped it off by winning 6 more games for the national title.

 

[UConn5]

As a UConn fan I obviously concur with the notion that the 2011 run was the best when you look at the 5 games in 5 days and then the 6 in a row at the NCAA tournament. I don't think it will be remembered like the NC State run mainly due to the fact that UConn is considered a national power in basketball and had won some nationally televised games against big competition. I feel like many non-big east fans would be surprised to learn that UConn finished 9th in the conference that year because htey were constantly winning games against ranked teams and they had the best player in the country.

But in the end if you think about it, in the abstract at this point UConn winning the national title isn't a result that shocks anyone, even though THAT UConn team winning the national title certainly shocked and delighted us here on this board (be honest...no one saw that coming).

 

[TheChamps990411]

As a UConn fan I obviously concur with the notion that the 2011 run was the best when you look at the 5 games in 5 days and then the 6 in a row at the NCAA tournament. I don't think it will be remembered like the NC State run mainly due to the fact that UConn is considered a national power in basketball and had won some nationally televised games against big competition. I feel like many non-big east fans would be surprised to learn that UConn finished 9th in the conference that year because htey were constantly winning games against ranked teams and they had the best player in the country.

But in the end if you think about it, in the abstract at this point UConn winning the national title isn't a result that shocks anyone, even though THAT UConn team winning the national title certainly shocked and delighted us here on this board (be honest...no one saw that coming).

Like is said in my post, i still dont believe it. that run was just so unexpected. before the season i didnt think we`d be very good.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

I forgot about NC State. That run was wild. They barely made the Tourney that year.