NCAA Bracket 2011: 10 Most Disappointing Teams of March Madness

March Madness did not go as planned for top teams like the Pittsburgh Panthers, Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Texas Longhorns.

College basketball fans all across the country had these teams and several other high profile squads making deep runs through their brackets only to watch surprises like Richmond, VCU and Marquette sneak into the Sweet 16. 

With the first weekend of the tournament completed and the field of 68 now narrowed down to 16, 10 teams will head into the offseason with incredibly disappointing tastes in their mouths. 

10. Old Dominion

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WASHINGTON - MARCH 17: The Old Dominion Monarchs watch the final shot of the game reviewed on the video board as they lose to the Butler Bulldogs 60-58 during the second round of the 2011 NCAA men's basketball tournament at the Verizon Center on March 1

There is a distinct difference between Old Dominion and the other nine teams in this slideshow. 

A two point loss to a Butler team who went to the NCAA Finals last year is nothing to be ashamed of. Butler has a good chance to continue on through the Southeast bracket and has as good of a chance as Wisconsin, BYU or Florida to make the Final Four. Old Dominion lost a heartbreaking, buzzer-beater game to a very good team.

The reason for the disappointment is Old Dominion could be making the same run that Butler is on. I fully believed the winner of Old Dominion v. Butler would defeat Pittsburgh and have a good chance to reach the Final Four. 

Old Dominion will not have many opportunities like this in the future, especially as a No. 9 seed, to navigate their way to the Final Four. Each Butler win from here on out will make their first round loss hurt even more.

9. St. John's

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DENVER, CO - MARCH 17: Dwight Hardy #12 of the St. John's Red Storm reacts against the Gonzaga Bulldogs during the second round of the 2011 NCAA men's basketball tournament at Pepsi Center on March 17, 2011 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/

St. John's proved they could play with anyone during the regular season. 

When I saw the bracket last Sunday, I looked at their road after Gonzaga and saw a game against a Brandon Davies-less BYU team, a higher-than-they-should-be No. 2 Florida team and an Elite Eight match-up with Pittsburgh, whom they beat a month ago.

With so many seniors on this team, a first round exit to a solid Gonzaga team has to feel disappointing to the Johnnies fans. 

8. Syracuse

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CLEVELAND, OH - MARCH 20: Baye Moussa Keita #12 and Mookie Jones #21 of the Syracuse Orange look on from the bench after being defeated by the Marquette Golden Eagles during the third of the 2011 NCAA men's basketball tournament at Quicken Loans Arena on

Syracuse was one win away from playing in the Sweet 16 in Newark, New Jersey. The home-court advantage could have propelled them into the Final Four. 

Although the No. 11 seeds are playing well so far in the tournament, the 3-seed Syracuse should have been able to take care of Marquette. 

Syracuse is the only top four seed in their region not to make it to the Sweet 16.

7. Louisville

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DENVER, CO - MARCH 17: Peyton Siva #3 of the Louisville Cardinals handles the ball against the Morehead State Eagles during the second round of the 2011 NCAA men's basketball tournament at Pepsi Center on March 17, 2011 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Ju

Louisville navigated past Marquette and Notre Dame en route to a close finals loss to Connecticut in the Big East Tournament. Their route to a Sweet 16 matchup with Kansas seemed entirely manageable. 

Then came Morehead State who sent Louisville out of the tournament and Rick Pitino to the CBS studio analysis team.

6. Tennessee

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CHARLOTTE, NC - MARCH 18: Cameron Tatum #23 of the Tennessee Volunteers reacts as he lies on the court in the second half while taking on the Michigan Wolverines during the second round of the 2011 NCAA men's basketball tournament at Time Warner Cable Ar

The Michigan Wolverine's two point loss to Duke made the Volunteers' 30 point loss seem a little less embarrassing. However, going into the record book on the wrong side of the biggest No. 8 over No. 9 seed beat down is enough to earn a spot in this top 10.

Bruce Pearl should have resigned or been fired before this game began. He did not have his players motivated to play, and the scoreboard well reflected this. 

The Volunteers beat seven teams that made this year's tournament. The talent was there, the motivation simply wasn't.

5. Purdue

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CHICAGO, IL - MARCH 20: Rob Brandenberg #23 and D.J. Haley #33 of the Virginia Commonwealth Rams celebrate their win as Lewis Jackson #23 of the Purdue Boilermakers walks off the court in the second half during the third round of the 2011 NCAA men's bask

Time will tell if VCU is a bad loss for Purdue or an understandable loss to the top mid-major team of the tournament. 

Either way, Purdue should have put up a better fight than an 18-point loss if they wanted to justify their 3-seed. 

4. Notre Dame

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CHICAGO, IL - MARCH 20: Jack Cooley #45, Scott Martin #14 and Tyrone Nash #1 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish look on from the bench in the second half against the Florida State Seminoles during the third round of the 2011 NCAA men's basketball tournamen

Notre Dame had the easiest path of any No. 2 seed in this tournament to reach the Elite Eight. 

This was an Irish team that was supposed to get over the hump of recent tournament failures and prove they were one of the top teams in the country. 

However, here we are with another opening weekend completed and another Fighting Irish team heading home for the season.

3. Pittsburgh Panthers

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WASHINGTON - MARCH 19: Members of the Pittsburgh basketball team including Nasir Robinson #35, Ashton Gibbs #12; and Brad Wanamaker#22 walk off the court following their loss against Butler in the third round of the 2011 NCAA men's basketball tournament

It may be a surprise to see Pittsburgh not ranked as the top disappointment of the tournament thus far, but I really don't think people should have expected the Panthers to beat Butler. 

What is continually disappointing about Pittsburgh is their inability to bring their regular season success into the tournament. Personally, I have a rule that I never take Pittsburgh into the Sweet 16 in my bracket. I had Pittsburgh losing to Old Dominion so in no way was I surprised when Butler knocked them out. 

I want Pittsburgh to prove me wrong. I thought as a No. 1 seed this year, in a chaotic bracket, they would finally get the monkey off their back and charge forward to the Final Four. Instead, another disappointment.

2. Texas Longhorns

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TULSA, OK - MARCH 20: Tristan Thompson #13 of the Texas Longhorns walks off the court after their 70-69 loss to the Arizona Wildcats in the third round of the 2011 NCAA men's basketball tournament at BOK Center on March 20, 2011 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (Pho

When the Texas Longhorns played to their maximum potential, they were arguably the best team in the country. They had size, they had speed and they played aggressive defense (when they wanted to). 

Arizona is a good team and their round of 32 battle could have gone either way, but Rick Barnes has to feel majorly disappointed that his team will join the growing list of talented Longhorns teams who fell short in the tournament. 

In 10 years, no one will believe that a coach who had Kevin Durant, LaMarcus Aldridge and Tristan Thompson failed to win a national championship with any of them.

1. Michigan State

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INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MARCH 12: Draymond Green #23 of the Michigan State Spartans walks off the court after they lost 61-48 against the Penn State Nittany Lions during the semifinals of the 2011 Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament at Conseco Fieldhouse on M

Loss in the Sweet 16 three years ago to Memphis.

Loss in the Finals two years ago to North Carolina. 

Loss in last year's Final Four to Butler. 

Loss in first round of tournament to UCLA putting their final record at 19-15 this year.

Seniors Kalin Lucas and Durrell Summers should be completely disappointed in how their Michigan State careers ended. This team underachieved all year long, but I always had this sense they were going to turn it on in the postseason and make a run. 

They could not have been given a more merciful region by the selection committee. They had the weakest No. 1 seed, arguably the weakest No. 2 seed, a No. 3 seed who kicked their second best player out of the school and a No. 4 seed who they split with during the regular season. 

The Spartans had a chance to erase all their shortcomings from the regular season but instead capped their 2010-11 season off with an incredibly disappointing first round exit.