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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(Original Caption) Ohio State’s undefeated Buckeyes won the Big Ten title for the second straight year by defeating Michigan State 91 to 83. Coach Fred Taylor was carried from the floor to the showers by his team. Mel Nowell is on the left and Jerry Lucas has Fred by one shoulder while Garry Gearhart is getting a clip board in the face.
(Original Caption) Ohio State’s undefeated Buckeyes won the Big Ten title for the second straight year by defeating Michigan State 91 to 83. Coach Fred Taylor was carried from the floor to the showers by his team. Mel Nowell is on the left and Jerry Lucas has Fred by one shoulder while Garry Gearhart is getting a clip board in the face. /

8. 1961 Ohio State Buckeyes

This list features quite a few teams that were undefeated heading into the Final Four, making a loss at the bitter end an especially brutal way to finish the season. One of the earliest examples of this phenomenon came from the 1961 Ohio State Buckeyes, who won their first 27 games of the year before dropping the one that mattered most.

The Buckeyes absolutely lorded over the Big Ten that year, going 14-0 in conference play to earn a trip into the NCAA Tournament. Ohio State was led by a trio of future pros in Larry Siegfried, who averaged 15.2 points a game and five rebounds a night, Jerry Lucas, who dominated the competition a ridiculous combination of 24.9 points per game and 17.4 rebounds a contest, and John Havlicek.

After squeaking by Louisville in their first tournament game, Ohio State blew out Kentucky to get to the Final Four and St. Joseph’s to get to the title game against Cincinnati. The Buckeyes entered that game with an unblemished record, but they would fall by five to the Bearcats to lose the national championship.

That loss would haunt the Buckeyes, who went back to the title game again in 1962 only to fall to the Bearcats again, this time by a 71-59 margin. Ohio State, which had started this run with a national championship in 1960, hasn’t won another title since and have only made five trips to the Final Four since that brutal defeat in 1961.

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