Mark Few’s 2020-21 Gonzaga crew has an unimaginable alternative in entrance of it: The Bulldogs can change into the primary crew since Bob Knight’s 1975-76 Indiana Hoosiers to go undefeated.
4 different groups have entered the event unbeaten since, and every failed to succeed in that lofty top — together with two groups that misplaced within the Closing 4 and one other within the nationwide championship.
No strain, proper?
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Curiously, the crew Gonzaga confronted first in its bid for perfection is the one program in faculty basketball historical past with a couple of undefeated season: UCLA. The Bruins have 4 such campaigns to their title, all below legendary coach John Wood. Following his closing undefeated crew in 1972-73, solely Knights’ Hoosiers have remained unbeaten and received the nationwide title.
However again to Gonzaga. The crew has been largely unchallenged this season, defeating their earlier 30 opponents by an absurd common: 23.1 factors per sport, almost six greater than the second-place crew (Houston, at 17.5 factors per sport). The Bulldogs’ next-closest name got here towards BYU within the West Coast Convention Closing: The Cougars led by 12 at halftime, and 9 halfway via the second half. However Few’s crew restricted BYU to 25 second-half factors, securing an 88-78 win and guaranteeing that the purpose of an undefeated season and NCAA Match championship had been one and the identical.
Since then, solely 16-seed Norfolk State (four-point lead), 8-seed Oklahoma (eight-point lead) and UCLA (six-point lead) have even led Gonzaga. The Bulldogs beat them by 43, 16 factors and three factors, respectively. It really has been a dominant run, however work stays to be achieved for Gonzaga to cement its standing as top-of-the-line faculty basketball groups of all time. All that is left is to beat Baylor, the 1 seed out of the South Area.
Right here is the fraternity the Bulldogs are however a sport away from becoming a member of:
What was the final crew to go undefeated?
The final faculty basketball crew to go undefeated and win the nationwide title was Bob Knight’s 1975-76 Hoosiers crew. That squad, led by such abilities as Scott Might, Kent Benson, Tom Abernathy, Quinn Buckner, Bob Wilkerson and Wayne Radford — all future NBA gamers — went 32-0. They capped their season with 5 wins within the NCAA Match, which included solely 25 groups on the time.
What number of groups have been undefeated nationwide champions?
A complete of seven groups have gone undefeated and received the nationwide championship. (One other crew, the 1972-73 N.C State Wolfpack, went undefeated however didn’t compete for the nationwide title). The primary unbeaten crew was San Francisco, which went 29-0 in 1955-56; the second such season got here a 12 months later, when North Carolina went 32-0.
The following 4 undefeated groups got here from UCLA, all below Wood. The groups completed with undefeated nationwide titles in 1964, ’67, ’72 and ’73. Following that, the final undefeated crew — Indiana — accomplished its run in 1976.
Undefeated faculty basketball groups
1955-56 San Francisco (29-0)
Coach: Phil Woolpert
Key gamers:
- Invoice Russell: 20.6 ppg, 21.0 rpg
- Ok.C. Jones: 9.8 ppg, 5.2 rpg
1956-57 North Carolina (32-0)
Coach: Frank McGuire
Key gamers:
- Lennie Rosenbluth: 28.0 ppg, 8.0 rpg
- Pete Brennan: 14.7 ppg, 10.4 rpg
- Tommy Kearns: 12.8 ppg, 3.1 rpg
- Joe Quig: 10.3 ppg, 8.6 rpg
1963-64 UCLA (30-0)
Coach: John Wood
Key gamers:
- Gail Goodrich: 21.5 ppg, 5.2 rpg
- Walt Hazzard: 18.6 ppg, 4.7 rpg
- Jack Hirsch: 14.0 ppg, 7.6 rpg
- Keith Ericson: 10.7 ppg, 9.1 rpg
1966-67 UCLA (30-0)
Coach: John Wood
Key gamers:
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 29.0 ppg, 15.5 rpg
- Lucius Allen: 15.5 ppg, 5.8 rpg
- Mike Warren: 12.7 ppg, 4.5 rpg
- Lynn Shackeflord: 11.4 ppg, 5.9 rpg
1971-72 UCLA (30-0)
Coach: John Wood
Key gamers:
- Invoice Walton: 21.1 ppg, 15.5 rpg
- Henry Bibby: 15.7 ppg, 3.5 rpg
- Jamaal Wilkes: 13.5 ppg, 8.2 rpg
- Larry Farmer: 10.7 ppg, 5.5 rpg
1972-73 UCLA (30-0)
Coach: John Wood
Key gamers:
- Invoice Walton: 20.4 ppg, 16.9 rpg
- Jamaal Wilkes: 14.8 ppg, 7.3 rpg
- Larry Farmer: 12.2 ppg, 5.0 rpg
- Larry Hollyfield: 10.7 ppg, 2.9 rpg
1975-76 Indiana (32-0)
Coach: Bob Knight
Key gamers:
- Scott Might: 23.5 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 2.1 apg
- Kent Benson: 17.3 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 1.6 apg
- Tom Abernathy: 10.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 2.0 apg
- Quinn Buckner: 8.9 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 4.2 apg
- Bob Wilkerson: 7.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 5.3 apg
- Wayne Radford: 4.7 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.3 apg
One-loss nationwide champions
1954-55 San Francisco (28-1)
Coach: Phil Woolpert
Loss: 47-40 loss to No. 13 UCLA
1965-66 UTEP (28-1)
Coach: Don Haskins
Loss: 74-72 loss to Seattle
1967-68 UCLA (29-1)
Coach: John Wood
Loss: 71-69 loss to No. 2 Houston
1968-69 UCLA (29-1)
Coach: John Wood
Loss: 46-44 loss to USC
1970-71 UCLA (29-1)
Coach: John Wood
Loss: 89-82 loss to No. 9 Notre Dame
1973-74 N.C. State (30-1)
Coach: Norm Sloan
Loss: 84-66 loss to No. 1 UCLA
Undefeated groups that misplaced in NCAA Match
1978-79 Indiana State (33-1)
Coach: Invoice Hodges
Loss: 75-64 loss to No. 3 Michigan State (NCAA Match championship sport)
1990-91 UNLV (30-1)
Coach: Jerry Tarkanian
Loss: 79-77 loss to No. 6 Duke (Closing 4)
2013-14 Wichita State (35-1)
Coach: Gregg Marshall
Loss: 78-76 loss to Kentucky (Spherical 2)
2014-15 Kentucky (38-1)
Coach: John Calipari
Loss: 71-64 loss to No. 3 Wisconsin (Closing 4)
