THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, APRIL 4, 2008
SPORTS
9B
San Antonio is considered a basketball town because of the San Antonio Spurs' NBA dynasty, but the south Texas city is not necessarily a college hoops hotbed. San Antonio hosted the Final Four only twice before April: In 1998 and 2004.
San Antonio
1998 — Kansas fans shouldn't be blamed for not remembering the 1998 Final Four. After the No.1 seed Jayhawks suffered a second-round upset loss to No.8 seed Rhode Island, a bit of time away from watching basketball might have been a good idea. If Kansas fans turned off their televisions, they missed some exciting hoops at the Alamodome. In the national semifinals, Utah sneaked past heavy favorite North Carolina under the leadership of coach Rick Majerus. On the other side of the bracket, Kentucky defeated Stanford in overtime to earn a berth in the title game. The championship game was also a thriller, as Kentucky raced back from a 10-point halftime deficit to win, 78-69. Forward Scott Padgett led the Wildcats with 17
points and current Philadelphia 76ers guard Andre Miller paced the Utes with 16.
NATIONAL CHAMPION: KENTUCKY
2004 — Kansas almost made it to San Antonio in coach Bill Self's first season, but Georgia Tech stopped the Jayhawks run in the Elite Eight. No. 3 seed Georgia Tech carried the momentum from its victory against Kansas into the Final Four and defeated Oklahoma State on a last-second layup by guard Will Bynum. The other national semi final was a clash of powerhouse programs, as Connecticut barely made it past Duke, 79-78. The championship game was a blowout, with Connecticut leading by as many as 25 points before winning, 82-73. Five of the 2004 Huskies are current contributors in the NBA, including NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player Emeka Okafor and guard Ben Gordon.
NATIONAL CHAMPION; CONNECTICUT
HISTORY
Jayhawks not strangers to Final Four
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Danny Manning, current assistant coach, led Kansas to its second NCAA Tournament title in 1988. This year marks the 13th time Kansas has earned a berth in the Final Four.
BY ASHER FUSCO afusco@kansan.com
There are plenty of reasons Kansas' basketball tradition is considered one of the greatest in the nation. Lawrence has been graced with great players, great coaches and great games for longer than a century. But the most impressive figure in the Jayhawk record books could be 13. Kansas' 13 Final Four appearances are tied for the fourth most in college basketball.
1940 - The Jayhawks made their first foray into Final Four basketball in the second year of the NCAA Tournament's existence. Kansas, coached by Phog Allen, played its way past USC in the national semifinal before losing to Branch McCracken's Indiana Hoosiers in the title game.
1952 - Kansas made up for an 11-season Final Four drought by blowing past its competition in the 1952 NCAA Tournament. The Jayhawks won by an average of 12 points per game in the tournament, including a 17-point dispatching of St. John's to take the championship. Clyde Lovellette dominated the final game for Kansas, scoring 33 points and grabbing 17 rebounds.
1953 - As defending national champions, Kansas made another trip to the championship game. But the Jayhawks couldn't pull off a victory against Indiana without Clyde Lovellette. The Hoosiers won their second NCAA title in their second championship match up against the Jayhawks.
1957 - Wilt Chamberlain's Jayhawks came excruciatingly close to winning a national championship in 1957, falling to North Carolina by one point in three overtimes. Chamberlain notched a double-double in the national final, but four Tar Heels scored in double digits in the 54-53 North Carolina victory.
1971 - Kansas won two close games to find its way to the Final Four before UCLA knocked the Jayhawks into the third-place game, 68-60. The Dave Robischled Jayhawks didn't have much luck in the consolation game, falling to Western Kentucky by two points.
1974 - Kansas couldn't make it out of the national semifinal in 1974, as Marquette spanked the
Jayhawks by 13 points. North Carolina State used a bit of home court advantage to its favor in the Final Four, defeating Marquette, 76-64, in Greensboro, N.C.
1986 - Larry Brown took the Jayhawks to the Final Four in his third year as head coach, but Duke stymied Kansas in the national semifinal. The 1986 tournament marked the third straight Final Four in which the Jayhawks did not advance to the championship game.
1988 - Several decades of hard luck turned around in 1988, thanks to Danny Manning and the Miracles. Manning's Jayhawks entered the NCAA Tournament as a No. 6 seed but ran their way past Xavier, Murray State, Vanderbilt and Kansas State en route to the Final Four. The Jayhawks defeated Duke in the semifinal before overcoming conference-foe Oklahoma, 83-79, in the championship.
1991 - Roy Williams' first trip to the Final Four as Kansas' head coach didn't result in a championship, but the No. 3 seed Jayhawks surprised the nation during their run through the brackets. Mark Randall, an underrated big man, led the Jayhawks' streak, which ended in a championship-game loss to Duke.
1993 - Kansas dominated its way through the 1993 NCAA Tournament before meeting its match in North Carolina. The Tar Heels, who eventually won the national championship, defeated the Jayhawks by 10 points in New Orleans.
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2002 - After flirting with a loss against Holy Cross in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Kansas turned on the jets and advanced to the 2002 Final Four in Atlanta. Unfortunately for the Jayhawks, a phenomenal Maryland Terrapin squad full of future NBA stars awaited them. Maryland defeated Kansas by nine points and eventually won the title.
2003 - The Jayhawks' most recent trip to the Final Four was one of the program's most frustrating. An uber-talented Kansas team fell to Hakim Warrick and Carmelo Anthony's Syracuse team in the national championship, 81-78. To add insult to injury, coach Roy Williams bolted for North Carolina shortly after the end of the season.
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THERE WILL BE BLOOD
The 20-year anniversary has been brought up plenty of times this month as Kansas has embarked on its NCAA Tournament journey.
We've heard a thousand times how Kansas last won the title in 1988 and how it could be destiny that the Jayhawks win it again this season. But were all forgetting something. Why the heck has it been so long since a national title?
1990 - A long era of heartbreak begins. Kansas loses in the second round to UCLA, the first of many too-early exits.
1989 - The season that never really mattered. Roy Williams led Kansas to 19 victories in his first year, but the Jayhawks were on probation and couldn't compete in postseason tournaments.
Kansas looks back in the past
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Since 1988, Duke has won three national championships. North Carolina, Florida and Kentucky have won two.
BY MARK DENT
mdent@kansan.com
While those powers have all taken titles home, Kansas has blown it for the most part. The Jayhawks have reached four Final Fours but never taken home the trophy. They've also lost in the first or second round seven times. Ow.
Here's a quick recap on how Kansas missed out on each season since 1988.
1991 - Grant Hill leapt for alley oops higher than KU fans would've thought possible and dashed the Jayhawks' hopes in the national title game. Hey, at least Roy defeated North Carolina in the semi-
1998 - Let's remember this, Rhode Island didn't even have Lamar Odom yet. He started playing the next year. Still, the Rams got enough production from Tyson Wheeler and Cuttino Mobley to upset the Paul Pierce, Raef LaFrentz-led Jayhawks in the second round.
1999 - Kentucky survives a second round scare and knocks off the Jayhawks in overtime. Ryan Robertson scored 31 points in what was his final KU game.
1997 - Arguably the best team in Kansas history lost in the Sweet 16 to Arizona.
1992 - Really Jayhawks, UTEP?
The Miners were good in 1966, back when they were still Texas Western. Kansas lost this one in the second round.
1993 - Dean Smith and his Tar Heels defeated the Jayhawks in the Final Four, avenging their loss from two years earlier.
1995 - Too easy. The Jayhawks played at Kemper Arena in the Sweet 16 and still lost to an average Virginia team.
2001 - Roy finally made it to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1997. The Athletics Department actually printed and sold T-shirts for this minor occasion. The Jayhawks lost to Bill Self's Illinois team in the Sweet 16.
—Edited by Russell Davies
1996 - Jerod Haase missed all nine of his three-pointers against Syracuse's zone, and the Orangemen won in the Elite Eight.
nals of the Final Four.
1994 - Kansas lost to favored Purdue in the Sweet 16. Purdue had one of the biggest NBA busts of all time on their roster, Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson.
Jayhaws led No. 1 Duke at halftime but couldn't hold on.
2000 - All the negative karma that had been flowing against Kansas in the second round almost turned around. Almost. The
2005 - Aaron Miles, Keith Langford, Michael Lee and Wayne Simien finished their career with a shocking loss to Bucknell in the first round. This could never happen again, right?
2006 - Actually, it could. Kansas loses in the first round to Bradley.
2002. - Finally another Final Four. It had been nine years. Kansas fell behind early to an experienced Maryland in the semifinal and couldn't recover. The Terps went on to win the title.
2007 - Playing against the best No. 2 seed in the field is never easy. Playing against the best No. 2 seed in its home state? That's just a tad harder as Kansas found out. UCLA beat the Hawks in the Elite Eight.
2004 - A solid first run for Bill Self, albeit an easy one. After blowing out Illinois-Chicago, Pacific and Alabama-Birmingham, the Jayhawks lost in the Elite Eight to Georgia Tech.
2003 - Gerry McNamara making 167 three-pointers, Roy Williams saying he didn't much care about North Carolina and Kansas bricking 4,000 free throws. Long story short, the Jayhawks lost to Syracuse in the national title game.
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