Fansided

10 best Final Four teams that didn’t win the national championship

By Mike Phillips

02 APR 2005: Guard Luther Head (4) of Illinois drives the to the basket past Louisville's Taquan Dean (5) during the Division I Men's Final Four semi final game held the the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, MO. The University of Illinois went on to defeat Louisville 72-57 to advance to the championship game. Photo: Ryan McKee/NCAA Photos via Getty Images
02 APR 2005: Guard Luther Head (4) of Illinois drives the to the basket past Louisville's Taquan Dean (5) during the Division I Men's Final Four semi final game held the the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, MO. The University of Illinois went on to defeat Louisville 72-57 to advance to the championship game. Photo: Ryan McKee/NCAA Photos via Getty Images /
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8 Mar 1992: Michigan Wolverines forward Juwan Howard, guard Jalen Rose, and forward Chris Webber (l to r) look on during a game against the Indiana Pacers.
8 Mar 1992: Michigan Wolverines forward Juwan Howard, guard Jalen Rose, and forward Chris Webber (l to r) look on during a game against the Indiana Pacers. /

9. 1993 Michigan Wolverines

In terms of pure basketball talent, it may be hard to find a squad that didn’t get the job done with more ability than the Fab Five of Michigan. After losing to Duke in the national title game as freshmen in 1992, the Wolverines entered 1993 with heavy expectations.

The Fab Five featured a trio of future NBA Stars in Chris Webber (19.2 ppg, 10.1 rpg), Jalen Rose (15.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg), and Juwan Howard (14.6 ppg, 7.4 rpg) to go along with key role players like Ray Jackson, Jimmy King, Rob Pelinka, and Eric Riley. That mix of youth and experience helped Michigan go 26-4 during the regular season, and the selection committee rewarded the Wolverines with a 1-seed in the West Region.

Getting to the Final Four wasn’t easy for the Fab Five, who survived an overtime game against UCLA in the second round and a brutal rematch with Temple to punch their ticket to New Orleans. Michigan then needed to win another overtime battle, this time against the Southeast’s 1-seed in Kentucky, to get to the title game against North Carolina.

That game was close throughout, but it will ultimately be remembered as the night where Webber forgot that his team was out of timeouts. Webber’s brain cramp resulted in what essentially became a game-ending technical foul, allowing the Tar Heels to ice the game at the free throw line and deny the Fab Five a title.

That game would mark the beginning of the end of the Fab Five era, with Webber jumping to the NBA after the season followed by Rose and Howard the next year. This era of Wolverines’ basketball has also been stricken from the record books due to dealings with a booster, making the title game loss even more painful for the Michigan faithful.

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