Worst College Basketball National Champions of All Time

Long before office pools became the obsession of nine-to-fivers, the NCAA Tournament played second fiddle to the NIT and its alluring New York media coverage.  

But by the mid 1950’s, advances in transportation had allowed the larger 24-team NCAA Tournament to supplant the NIT, and nine amendments later, the 68-team field is a ratings juggernaut annually offering up some of sports’ most compelling storylines.

Whether it’s George Mason and VCU making it to the Final Four, or mid-major Butler taking Duke to the final possession, America loves the underdog. 

Yet as much as we crave the excitement of watching “Cinderella” teams perform their best David versus Goliath routine, the one-and-done format has produced the occasional sub-standard champion. 

At the risk of inciting disapproving fans, I proffer The Eight Worst National Championship Teams of All Time.

(DIS)HONORABLE MENTION: 1983 North Carolina State

As much as I love Jimmy V, I can’t in clear conscience omit the ’83 Wolfpack. 

Sure, they had some select players in Thurl Bailey, Sidney Lowe and Lorenzo Charles, but this was the heyday of college basketball, rich with future Hall of Famers and replete with more talented teams. 

In Houston, the Phi Slama Jama duo of Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwan was running roughshod over opponents.  In Chapel Hill, Michael Jordan and Sam Perkins were busy adding to the list of Tarheel legends.  And in Charlottesville, Ralph Sampson was invigorating Cavaliers fans like never before.

Toss in the superior lineups of St. John's, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio State, and its remarkable Valvano’s “Cardiac Pack” walked away with the title.   

But what they lacked in talent, NC State made up for with intangibles—and a good deal of luck.  Four of their six victories were by two points or less, and avoiding upset victims UCLA, Carolina and St. John’s was fortuitous.

#5 2011 Connecticut

The loss of three starters to graduation and a looming investigation into possible recruiting violations offered little encouragement for UConn fans entering the 2010-11 campaign, and the Huskies’ subsequent ninth place conference finish squelched what limited optimism remained.    

But an impressive run in the Big East Tournament boosted their hopes, and the surprising upsets of projected favorites allowed UConn to avoid all four #1's.  Opening round wins over Bucknell and Cincinnati paved the way for a matchup with Steve Fisher's dubiously seeded (#2) San Diego State team.

UConn’s victory over the erroneously-hyped Azetcs, and the early round toppling of a #14 and #6 seed, preceded a less-than formidable Final Four (#11 VCU, #8 Butler, #4 Kentucky, #3 Connecticut), giving the Huskies one of the softest title runs on record.

#4 1975 UCLA

At the risk of being struck by lightning, I’ll dare to suggest that the Wizard of Westwood captained an overrated team. 

Ten titles in 12 seasons is inimitable, but by the early 1970’s the gap between UCLA and the rest of the country was closing. 

The 1973-74 season witnessed four Bruins losses for the first time in a decade, and a Final Four defeat to NC State punctuated the program’s eroding strength.

A year later, the three-loss 1974-75 campaign offered more signs of an expired monopoly on the nation’s top talent.

A stunning loss to sub-.500 Stanford revealed increasing parity, and a narrow three-point tournament win over diminutive Montana was particularly telling. 

Overtime victories against Michigan and Louisville in the tournament triggered further panic from alumni unaccustomed to squeaking by, and avoiding injured, consensus All-American Scott May and undefeated Indiana on Wooden’s farewell tour was a stroke of luck.

#3 1988 Kansas

Kansas limped to a 12-8 start (1-4 conference) in 1987.  They lost to in-state rival Kansas State, suffered their first defeat at Allen Fieldhouse in 56 tries and were twice beaten by conference champion Oklahoma.

When the Jayhawks were awarded a #6 seed in March, few expected them to be playing three weeks later for the national championship.  But a series of upsets laid a clear path to the Final Four, and a three point escape over #14 seed Murray State ignited their run. 

Subsequent victories against #7 seed Vanderbilt, and #4 seed K-State punched their ticket to nearby Kansas City, where commitment-phobic Larry Brown coached “Danny and the Miracles” to the championship.

With the overwhelmingly partisan crowd behind him, Manning turned in one of the best individual performances in tournament history.  

His 33 points, 18 rebounds, five steals and two blocks, coupled with the knowledge of familiar foe Oklahoma, carried Kansas to the unlikely title.

#2 1950 City College of New York

For longtime New Yorkers and basketball aficionados, the 1940’s are chock-full of nostalgia. 

Fordham, Manhattan, NYU, St. John’s and Long Island University featured some of the country’s most talented rosters, and intense turf wars engaged local boroughs in a quintessential New York manner.

With nightly crowds of 18,000 fans disclosing the earning power of athletics, bragging rights wasn’t the only thing at stake.

By 1947, CCNY was determined to share in the spoils and appointed assistant coach Harold Sand to head up recruiting.  Just three years later, the Beavers elbowed their way into the NIT and NCAA Tournament, capturing both titles and stunning opponents with the rapidity of their ascension. 

Swept up in the historic accomplishment, 6,500 students marched through Times Square.  Coach Holman was introduced to America on The Ed Sullivan Show, and New Yorkers relished being at the center of the basketball universe. 

But as quickly as they gained celebrity, the Beavers achieved infamy.  An investigation into point-shaving revealed rampant improprieties throughout college basketball and stained CCNY’s title. 

Furious that they’d been cajoled into supporting a corrupt product, fans demanded reparations, with accusations of “back door” admissions and the university’s implicit support of the practice amplifying the outrage. 

The collateral damage was pervasive. 

Largely due to fears of the city’s menacing underworld, the NCAA Tournament didn’t return to New York for 32 years.  Coaches across the country ramped up their lectures on the perils of “fast money,” and Long Island University suspended its athletics’ department for six years. 

Only Kentucky persisted as a major program. 

As for CCNY, the link to organized crime was crippling.  Guilty parties were barred from pursing NBA careers, and one player, Ed Warner, was sentenced to prison.  Those that escaped with misdemeanors suffered a different kind of incarceration.  Vilified in the media and maligned by the public, they earned a “worst” label of a different sort, one more difficult to dismiss than allegations of fluke victories or inferior talent.  

#1 1985 Villanova

Widely regarded as the greatest upset in NCAA history, Villanova stunned expectant champion Georgetown 66-64 on April 1, 1985. 

Piggybacking on the previous season’s success, Patrick Ewing had piloted the defending champs to a 35-3 record and #1 overall seeding.  He'd collected the Naismith Award, Wooden Award, AP Player of the Year honors and virtually every other major piece of hardware.

The Hoyas’ supporting cast was nearly as productive.  Teammates Bill Martin, David Wingate, Michael Jackson and Reggie Williams were all selected in the first two rounds of the NBA draft and played with aggressiveness matched only by coach John Thompson’s irascible demeanor.

The eighth seeded Wildcats (25-10) entered the tournament on a different note, unranked and still reeling from an opening loss in the Big East tournament. 

But ‘Nova found its stride in March and survived the first three rounds with victories of two, four and three points respectively.

Yet for all their success leading up to the final game, few expected the Wildcats to unseat the same Georgetown squad that had defeated them twice during the regular season and coasted through the tournament’s early stages.

Undeterred, Villanova converted on 22 of 28 (79%) field goal attempts, including a staggering 9 of 10 in the second half.  The normally explosive Ewing posted a pedestrian 14 points to ensure the April Fool's Day loss.