NCAA Tournament Losers #1 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Marshall

#15 seed Marshall was defeated in the first round by #2 Virginia Commonwealth. VC fell in the second round to #7 Alabama, who was eliminated in the Sweet Sixteen by #3 NC State. NCSU was defeated by #1 St. John's who lost their Final Four matchup to Georgetown, another #1 seed and the runner-up to the national champion Villanova Wildcats, a #8 seed. Had Georgetown won, the loser would have been Iowa State. Wichita State would have been declared the loser had St. John's lost in the final game, and Ohio would have gotten the dubious distinction had Memphis lost in the final.

Answer: Akron

#15 Akron's six point defeat at the hands of #2 Michigan led to their being declared 1986's loser. Michigan lost in the second round to #7 Iowa State, who lost to #6 NC State, who lost to #1 Kansas, who lost to #1 Duke, who lost to #2 Louisville. Had Duke won the tournament, the loser would have been Fairfield. Had Kansas lost in the championship, it would have been Richmond, and Pepperdine would have been the loser if LSU had lost in the final game.

Answer: Clemson

Clemson was a #4 seed that year, and lost in the first round to #13 SW Missouri State. SWMS fell to #5 Kansas, who was eliminated by #1 seed Georgetown. #6 Providence then defeated Georgetown, only to fall in the Final Four to national runner-up Syracuse. Had Syracuse won it all, Marist would have been the loser. Had UNLV made it past Indiana and lost in the final, the loser would have been Wichita State, and Marshall would have taken their second loser title in three seasons had Providence lost in the championship.

Answer: St. John's

#11 St. John's lost in the first round to #6 Florida, who in turn went down to #3 Michigan. The Wolverines fell prey to #2 UNC, who were eliminated by #1 Arizona. Arizona lost in the Final Four to Oklahoma, who lost the championship to a #6 seed, Kansas.

This was St. John's third loser title, having previously been declared the losers in 1984 and 1978, before the expansion to 64 teams. They are second in that category only to Wyoming, who has lost four times. Had Oklahoma won the championship, Iowa State would have been the loser. Had Duke been the runner-up, Baylor would have been the loser, and UC Santa Barbara would have been the loser had Arizona lost in the final.

Answer: Rutgers

Rutgers was a #13 seed, and fell to #4 Iowa in Round 1. Round 2 saw Iowa defeated by #5 NC State, and Round 3 saw NCSU fall to #1 Georgetown. #2 Duke pulled off the upset in the Elite Eight, but fell to eventual national runner-up Seton Hall, a #3 seed. Had Seton Hall taken the title, Georgia Tech would have been the loser. Had Duke defeated Seton Hall in the Final Four, but lost the title game, St. Mary's would have been the loser. Likewise, had Illinois defeated Michigan in the Final Four, only to lose the title game, LaSalle would have taken it.

Answer: Texas Southern

#1 UNLV had beaten #3 Duke, who had beaten #4 Arkansas, who had beaten #10 Texas, who had beaten #6 Xavier, who had beaten #3 Georgetown, who had beaten #14 Texas Southern, making them the year's unfortunate losers. Had Duke managed to win the title, Notre Dame would have been the losers. Georgia Tech did not make the title game, but if they had and lost, South Florida would have gotten the honors. If Arkansas had lost in the title game, Southern Mississippi would be last.

Answer: Southern Mississippi

#11 Southern Mississippi lost to #6 NCSU in the first round, only to see the Wolfpack lose in the second round to #3 Oklahoma State. The Cowboys went on to lose in the Sweet Sixteen to #10 Temple, and the Owls fell in the Elite Eight to #1 North Carolina. #3 Kansas defeated the Tar Heels in the Final Four, but then fell to the #2 Blue Devils. Had Kansas won the championship, Virginia would have been the loser. DePaul would have been the loser had previously undefeated UNLV lost in the championship game, and Louisiana Tech would have been the loser had the Tar Heels lost in the championship game.

Answer: Louisiana-Monroe

#15 Lousiana-Monroe lost in Round 1 to #2 USC, who in turn lost to #7 Georgia Tech, who went on to lose to #6 Memphis, who fell to #4 Cincinnati, who was eliminated by #6 Michigan, who lost the championship to #1 Duke. Louisiana-Lafayette would have been named loser had Michigan managed to defeat the Blue Devils. Princeton would have been represented by Indiana, and Stanford would have been represented by Cincinnati had those two met in the championship game.

Answer: Memphis

Pennsylvania and Long Beach State would have been represented in the championship by Kansas and Kentucky, respectively.

Answer: Drexel

#1 Arkansas defeated #2 Duke, who had beaten #3 Florida, who had eliminated #9 Boston College, who had knocked off #5 Indiana, who had gotten past #4 Temple, who had, in turn, caused #13 Drexel to exit the tournament in the first round. Had Duke won the championship, the loser would have been California, a feat that would have been sweet since California had eliminated Duke in the second round the previous year. Had Arizona lost the championship, Southwest Texas State would have been the loser, and College Of Charleston would have been represented by Florida.