NCAA Tournament Losers #2 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Oklahoma

Oklahoma came in as a #4 seed in the Southeast Region, and lost in the first round to #13 Manhattan. Manhattan lost in round two to #5 Arizona State, and the Sweet Sixteen saw the Sun Devils fall to #1 Kentucky. The Wildcats fell to the #2 UNC Tar Heels who lost in the Final Four to the previous year's champion Arkansas Razorbacks, another #2 seed. Arkansas' bid for a second consectuive national chamionship was thwarted in the final by #1 UCLA. Had Arkansas won, Villanova would have been declared the loser. If UNC had fallen in the championship, Michigan would have taken the distinction, and Oregon would have been the loser had Oklahoma State fallen in the title game.

Answer: Indiana

The #1 seeded Kentucky Wildcats defeated #4 seeded Syracuse in the championship game. Syracuse had beaten #5 Mississippi State in the Final Four, who had beaten #2 Cincinnati in the Elite Eight. The Bearcats had gotten that far by beating #3 Georgia Tech in the Sweet Sixteen. GT had previously defeated #11 Boston College, who had eliminated #6 Indiana in the first round. Had Kentucky fallen to Syracuse in the championship game, New Orleans would have been declared the loser.

In a Mississippi State/Massachusetts final game, George Washington would have been the loser had UMass won, and Portland would have been the loser had MSU won.

Answer: Butler

#14 Butler lost, as expected, in the first round to #3 Cincinnati. Cincinnati, however, lost in round two to #6 Iowa State, who in turn fell to #2 UCLA in overtime. UCLA couldn't get past #1 Minnesota, and the Golden Gophers couldn't make it past the defending national champions from Kentucky. Had Kentucky taken their second consecutive national championship, South Carolina would have been the loser. Southern California would have been the loser had UNC fallen in the national championship game, and St. Mary's would have taken it had Minnesota lost in the final.

Answer: South Carolina

As in the previous year, South Carolina was upset in the first round. This time, they were a #3 seed losing to #14 Richmond, as opposed to a #2 seed losing to #15 Coppin State the year before. Richmond lost in round 2 to #11 Washington, who lost in the Sweet Sixteen to #2 Connecticut, who proceeded to lose to #1 North Carolina.

The Tar Heels fell in the Final Four to #3 Utah, who lost to #2 Kentucky. Had Utah won the championship, the loser would have been Texas Christian. If UNC had defeated Utah, but lost in the championship, South Alabama would have taken the distinction. If Stanford had fallen in the final game, Butler would have taken the title for the second consecutive year.

Answer: Arkansas State

Connecticut and Duke were both #1 seeds, but UConn came out on top. The Blue Devils had arrived in the championship by defeating another #1, Michigan State, in the Final Four. MSU had arrived in St. Petersburg that year by getting past #3 Kentucky in the Elite Eight, who had muscled past #10 Miami of Ohio in the Sweet Sixteen. Miami of Ohio had upset #2 Utah, who had taken care of #15 Arkansas State in the first round. If Duke had won the championship that year, Louisville would have been the loser.

In a Ohio State/Michigan State championship match, Lafayette would have been the loser if OSU had won, and North Carolina would have been the loser had MSU won.

Answer: Appalachian State

Ironically enough, this was Appalachian State's first NCAA appearance since Michigan State's championship season, when they were being led by future Georgia Tech coach Bobby Cremins. #14 Appalachian fell to #3 Ohio State, who then lost to #6 Miami, who could not defeat #7 Tulsa, who were narrowly defeated by #8 North Carolina, who fell to #5 Florida, who lost in the championship game to #1 Michigan State. Northern Arizona would have taken the loser crown had Florida been victorious. If UNC had lost in the final, Lafayette would have been the loser, as Iona would have been if Wisconsin had lost in the championship game.

Answer: Princeton

#15 Princeton fell, as expected, in the first round to #2 UNC. The Tar Heels then lost in a second round upset to #7 Penn State. Penn State lost in the round of sixteen to #11 Temple, who fell to the defending national champions and #1 seeded Michigan State, appearing in their third consecutive Final Four.

They lost to #2 Arizona in the Final Four, who then fell victim to #1 Duke. If Arizona had won the championship, Indiana would have been the loser. In a Maryland/Michigan State matchup, Creighton and Hawaii would have been the respective losers.

Answer: Boston University

Boston University did not become the first #16 seed to win a first round matchup, losing to #1 Cincinnati by 38 points. However, they became the first #16 seed to be the official tournament losers after the Bearcats lost in the second round in double overtime to #8 UCLA, who then fell to #12 Missouri, who lost to #2 Oklahoma, who were defeated by #5 Indiana, who lost the title to #1 Maryland. Had Indiana won, McNeese State would have been the losers. If Kansas had lost the championship, Murray State would have been the loser, and Pennsylvania would have been the losers if Oklahoma had lost that final game.

Answer: Dayton

#4 Dayton fell in the first round to #13 Tulsa, who then lost a one point game to #5 Wisconsin. #1 Kentucky beat the Badgers in the Sweet Sixteen, but couldn't get around #3 Marquette. Marquette lost to #2 Kansas in the Final Four, who then lost to #3 Syracuse. If Syracuse had lost that matchup, Troy State would have had the dubious distinction of being the loser. Western Kentucky's hopes would have been pinned to Marquette in the final, and Austin Peay's would have been on Texas, had either school made it that far.

Answer: Florida

#5 Florida was upset in the first round by #12 Manhattan, who lost to #4 Wake Forest, who fell to #1 St. Joseph's, who couldn't squeeze a victory out against #2 Oklahoma State, who fell to #3 Georgia Tech, who then lost to #2 UConn. If the Yellow Jackets had won their first national championship that year, Air Force would have had the loser title.

In a Duke/Oklahoma State final, UTEP would have been the loser in the event of a Cowboy championship, and Florida A&M would have gotten it if Duke had won.