The Hottest Teams in March Madness History

You constantly hear the saying, "Team X got hot at the right time." But, when it comes down to it, can "being hot" really trump flat-out talent?

Well, I'm glad you asked.

Because for these 10 teams, getting hot at the right time was the most important thing of all. They may not have had the most talent (don't get me wrong, some of them had a bevy of it) and they may not have been favored in the NCAA Tournament, but as it turned out, confidence and momentum goes a long way.

In finding the teams who got the hottest at the right times, I narrowed my search to 1980 or after, because game-by-game results aren't available before that.

Also, I didn't include teams who received No. 1 or 2 seeds in the tournament. Obviously the squads who went 30-2 were hot for the whole season.

Instead, I set out to find teams who struggled at some point during the season, but got hot at the right time, gained loads of confidence and used that momentum to be successful in March.

Here's a look at those teams.

Note: There's no ranking, because it's hard to compare, say, a smaller school who won 20 in a row to get into the tournament and then made it to the Elite 8 versus a bigger school who went 8-2 in its last 10 and then won the whole tournament. They are different situations. Instead, the teams are listed in chronological order.

1980-81 Indiana Hoosiers

The 1981 Indiana Hoosiers started off the season 7-5 and that included losses against Ball State and Texas-Pan American, hardly teams the Hoosiers should have lost to. 

But they kept fighting and managed to win 14 of their last 18 games, including five straight to close out the regular season.

Led by Isiah Thomas, Indiana carried that momentum into March as a three seed, and the Hoosiers won five straight games to win the national championship.

In the final, Indiana knocked off the North Carolina Tar Heels, who had defeated the Hoosiers earlier in the season by nine points.

1981-82 Houston Cougars

The 1982 Houston Cougars weren't at the status of Phi Slamma Jamma yet, but they had the pieces in place with Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler.

Still, Olajuwon was just a freshman and Drexler was only a sophomore. In fact, none of the top five scorers from this squad were seniors, and gelling a bunch of underclassmen together can be a tall task, even for a coach like Guy Lewis.

The Cougars figured that out as they started the season just 10-6.

No worries though, as they won nine of their last 10 regular season games, including eight straight to close out the year. Houston lost in the SWC Tournament to Arkansas, but it was clear the youngsters had learned how to play with each other at the right time.

The sixth-seeded Cougars used their hot finish to fuel a run to the Final 4, where they lost to Michael Jordan, James Worthy and the eventual national-champion North Carolina Tar Heels.

1982-83 North Carolina State Wolfpack

The picture says it all. Miracle workers.

Jimmy Valvano's most famous team, led by Thurl Bailey, Sidney Lowe and Lorenzo Charles, was a meager 9-7 as the calender turned to February. They managed to go 8-3 in the last 11 games of the season, however, as the Wolfpack gained a good amount of momentum heading into the ACC Tourney.

Once there, NC State knocked off Wake Forest, North Carolina and Virginia by an average margin of 3.7 points. Nonetheless, they were learning how to win close games, and the importance of that can't be overlooked.

That's because NC State won four games by two or less points on their way to winning the NCAA Tournament as a six seed. It was a truly amazing run, and the late-season success was a big part of that run. 

1987-88 Kansas Jayhawks

Larry Brown's last season as Kansas' head coach was a good one, but it certainly didn't start out that way.

On February 3, the Jayhawks fell to Oklahoma in what was their fifth straight loss. The defeat dropped KU to 9-8 on the season with just 10 games remaining.

Making the NCAA Tournament seemed like a long-shot at best. 

But the Jayhawks reeled off five straight wins and eight of their last 10 to finish a respectable third in the Big 8. They lost in the second round of the Big 8 Tournament, but 18-11 was enough to get them into the Big Dance and earn them a six-seed.

All that mattered is that momentum was on their side.

Kansas, behind the play of All-American Danny Manning, won six straight games on its way to defeating Oklahoma—who beat the Jayhawks twice during the regular season—in the national championship.

1995-96 Mississippi State Bulldogs

The 1996 Mississippi State Bulldogs, led by Erick Dampier, started off the season at 11-5. They were definitely a contender in the SEC, but, at best, they simply looked like a Sweet 16 team.

All of that quickly changed as MSU won eight of its last 10 games to close out the regular season, and it continued that hot streak into the conference tournament. 

The Bulldogs easily handled Auburn and Georgia in the first two rounds, but they had the unfortunate task of taking on the Kentucky Wildcats in the championship. That Kentucky team, which is arguably one of the best in college basketball history, had nine future NBA players and had just finished going 16-0 in the SEC. They had also beaten MSU by 18 earlier in the regular season.

But the Bulldogs shocked the world and ended Kentucky's 27-game winning streak by a score of 84-73.

Mississippi State received a five-seed in the NCAA Tournament, but it clearly had confidence it was one of the best teams in the country.

The Bulldogs used that confidence to knock off No. 1 Connecticut and No. 2 Cincinnati on their way to the Final 4 before they lost to Syracuse. 

2001-02 Kent State Golden Flashes

After losing to Buffalo, who finished 2002 at 12-18, the Kent State Golden Flashes looked nothing like a tournament team as they fell to 9-5.

That was the last time in a long time they would lose.

Kent State proceeded to win the last 15 games of the regular season (including a win over Buffalo by 38 points), and then rolled through the MAC Tournament with three wins all by over double-digits. 

The Golden Flashes received a 10 seed and went on one of the best Cinderella runs we had ever seen at that point, as they knocked off No. 7 Oklahoma State, No. 2 Alabama and No. 3 Pittsburgh by an average of nine points.

Indiana eventually ended Kent State's run in the Elite 8, but it was an amazing run fostered by an 18-game win streak to close the season. 

2005-06 George Mason Patriots

The 2006 George Mason Patriots actually started off the season just 1-2 and then 4-3, but they really kicked it into high gear as the end of the season approached.

The Patriots won nine of their last 10 and 15 of their last 17 games to ensure themselves a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Despite losing in the second round of the CAA Tournament, the Patriots had gained the necessary confidence for March Madness.

They proceeded to knock off big-time programs such as Michigan State, North Carolina and Connecticut on their way to the Final 4. For what it's worth, Michigan State was 4-6 in it's last 10 games and UConn was coming off a loss in the first round of the Big East Tournament and had looked mediocre against Albany, Kentucky and Washington.

So, the opposite is also true when it comes to momentum and hot-streaks. 

GMU eventually lost to Florida in the semis, but the 11-seed proved that all you need is a little confidence and even the big boys are beatable in March. 

2007-08 Davidson Wildcats

Most people will remember Stephen Curry from the 2008 Davidson Wildcats—and for good reason, he was amazing—but their magical post-season run was expected if you saw how they ended the season.

Davidson won 22 games in a row and entered the NCAA Tournament as one of the hottest teams in the country. 

As a 10 seed, they proceeded to beat fellow-Cinderella, Gonzaga, Georgetown and Wisconsin before barely falling to Kansas for a trip to the Final 4. 

The Wildcats had no wins of note during the regular season, but once you get used to winning, it just becomes natural and carries on to the big tournament. 

2009-10 Butler Bulldogs

Gordon Hayward's Butler squad ended the season on a 20-game win streak, which earned them a five seed in the NCAA Tournament. Despite the favorable seed, no one really believed in the mid-major Bulldogs.

But they had momentum on their side.

The Bulldogs knocked off UTEP and Murray State in the first two rounds before they pulled off three incredibly impressive victories.

First, Butler beat No. 1 Syracuse, everyone's favorite to win the National Championship that year. Then they beat No. 2 Kansas State, who had the size and athleticism that Butler supposedly wouldn't be able to keep up with. 

Then, in the Final 4, Butler beat fifth-seeded Michigan State, another team that had peaked at the right time, before coming up just short against No. 1 Duke in the final.

The story of this Butler team goes to show that winning games at the end of the season, no matter who they are against, can do wonders for your confidence. 

2010-11 Connecticut Huskies

Last year's Connecticut Huskies were the ultimate roller-coaster team.

They started off the season with a record of 17-2, getting up to No. 4 in the AP at one point. But they apparently lost all confidence as they went 4-7 to finish off the regular season. With the way they were playing, many people—myself included—wondered if the Huskies would make it past the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Luckily for UConn, it had the Big East Tournament to right the ship. After Kemba Walker carried the Huskies to five wins in five days to win the tourney, it was clear the Huskies' hot-streak had them back to beginning-of-the-season form.

They continued their hot play in the important tournament, as they reeled off six straight wins to cap off an amazing post-season-11-game winning streak to win the national championship.