UConn enters tournament as favorites, but history is stacked against them
Two days after winning the Big East Tournament championship, UConn was unsurprisingly ranked No. 1 in the final AP men's basketball poll before March Madness tips off.
The defending national-champion Huskies (31-3, 18-2) jumped second-ranked Houston after the Cougars (30-4, 15-3) were crushed by Iowa State in the Big 12 Tournament title game. Both UConn and Houston rightfully earned No. 1 seeds in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, but the latter secured the top overall seed.
The season-ending No. 1 spot in the AP poll is the seventh time this campaign that coach Dan Hurley's group is at the top (all in the last 10 weeks). History may not be on the Huskies side though in their attempt to cut down the nets in April.
Led by Basketball Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing and coaching legend John Thompson Jr., the 1984-85 Georgetown Hoyas fell just short of a repeat when they were stunned by No. 8 Villanova, 66-64. Georgetown's only championship came in 1984 and they haven't been back to the finals since 1985.
With a trio of future NBA players in Greg Anthony, Larry Johnson and Stacey Augmon returning in 1991, plus longtime head coach Jerry Tarkanian, the UNLV Runnin' Rebels had a finals rematch against Duke in that spring's Final Four. Like the Hoyas, the Rebels have only won one title.
The Blue Devils are the lone defending champion since 1985 to enter March Madness at No. 1 and ultimately go back-to-back.
Following the blowout defeat to UNLV in 1990, Duke captured its first national championship in 1991 over Kansas. The following year, Mike Krzyzewski's club won one of the most memorable regional finals in tournament history when Christian Laettner hit a turnaround jumper as time expired in overtime to earn the win over Kentucky.
The Blue Devils eventually won their second straight crown and have earned three more championships since.
Duke fell in the second round of the 1993 tournament and North Carolina won their third crown that spring. Despite returning three future NBA players (Eric Montross, Derrick Phelps, Kevin Salvadori) and adding three more (Jerry Stackhouse, Rasheed Wallace, Jeff McInnis) in 1994, Dean Smith's group was upset in the second round by No. 9 Boston College.
Led by five future pros including Shane Battier, the Blue Devils added their third title in 11 seasons in 2001. Battier graduated but Coach K's team still Carlos Boozer, Jay Williams and others.
Duke was upset by No. 5 Indiana in the Sweet 16 in 2002.
The last defending champion to enter March Madness as the No. 1 team in the AP poll was Villanova in 2017.
Littered with future pros, including a trio of New York Knicks in Donte DiVincenzo, Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart, the Wildcats earned the 2016 title thanks to a player who never made the NBA. Forward Kris Jenkins wasn't a starter until his junior season that year, but sunk the game-winning, buzzer-beating three-pointer to give Jay Wright's team a 77-74 win against UNC.
Villanova returned Brunson, DiVincenzo and Hart (as well as current Brooklyn Nets star Mikal Bridges) in 2017 but were shocked by No. 8 Wisconsin in the round of 32. The Wildcats lost Hart to graduation but with Bridges, Brunson and DiVincenzo in their final seasons, they captured their third title in program history in 2018.
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