5 best NCAA basketball teams that never won the national championship
The five best NCAA basketball teams that never won it all.
Success in sports is often measured by winning, and in college basketball winning often means taking home the national championship trophy in the NCAA Tournament. Many of the sports’ greatest teams have won it all, but there have also been some great squads that didn’t get to cut down the nets in March.
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Today we’ll take a look at five of the best college basketball teams who didn’t get to experience the joy of winning a national championship, starting with the 1982-83 Houston Cougars.
5. Best NCAA basketball teams to never win a national championship: 1982-83 Houston Cougars
This era of Houston basketball was so glorious that there was a documentary made about the Cougars. Led by Guy Lewis, one of the best coaches to never win a title, Houston dominated its opponents with an aerial assault the likes of which hadn’t been seen in college basketball since the NCAA banned the dunk to slow down Lew Alcindor from dominating.
Better known as Phi Slama Jama, the Cougars’ played some scintillating offensive basketball. Headlined by Akeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler, Houston peaked in the 1982-83 season, going 27-2 in the regular season and advanced all the way to the national championship game.
Altitude was a factor in that contest, which was played at The Pit in New Mexico, sending Olajuwon to the bench several times in need of oxygen. NC State also slowed down the tempo and won on a dunk at the buzzer, pulling off one of the biggest upsets in NCAA history and denying the Cougars a title that would have been deliciously deserved.