Last Remaining Undefeated Team in College Basketball

Updated: 4/24/2011

The last team to go the major college basketball season undefeated was the 1975-76 Indiana Hoosiers.  There were some teams that came close to matching that feat in the last 39 years, but the Hoosiers accomplishment still stands.  Listed below is a breakdown of all the last undefeated teams in each college basketball season, in the past 39 years.

Legend: Sea (Season), Sc (Score), F Rec (Final Record of Undefeated Team), End (Where the Undefeated Team’s Season Ended)

Sea	Date	Winner	Sc		Undefeated	Sc	F Rec	End
10-11	2/12	Wisconsin	71		Ohio State	67	32-2	Reg Semi Finals
09-10	1/26	South Carolina	68		Kentucky	62	35-3	Reg Finals
08-09	1/21	Virginia Tech	78	at	Wake Forest	71	24-7	1st Rnd
07-08	2/23	Tennessee	66	at	Memphis	62	38-2	Lost NCAA Final
06-07	1/9	Maryland	92		Clemson	87	25-11	Lost NIT Finals
05-06	1/21	Georgetown	87		Duke	84	32-4	Reg Semi Finals
05-06	1/21	Tennessee	80		Florida	76	33-6	NCAA Champs
05-06	1/21	St. John’s	55		Pittsburgh	50	25-8	2nd Rnd
04-05	3/6	Ohio St	65		Illinois	64	37-2	Lost NCAA Final
03-04	3/11	Xavier	87	n	St. Joseph’s	67	30-2	Reg Finals
02-03	1/18	Maryland	87		Duke	72	26-7	Reg Semi Finals
01-02	1/6	Florida St	77		Duke	76	31-4	Reg Semi Finals
00-01	2/3	UCLA	79	at	Stanford	73	31-3	Reg Finals
99-00	2/7	Seton Hall	69	at	Syracuse	67	26-6	Reg Semi Finals
98-99	2/1	Syracuse	59	at	Connecticut	42	34-2	NCAA Champs
97-98	2/1	New Mexico	77		Utah	74	30-4	Lost NCAA Final
96-97	2/4	Missouri	96		Kansas	94	34-2	Reg Semi Finals
95-96	2/24	George Wash	86	at	Massachusetts	76	31-1	Final Four
94-95	1/28	Kansas	88	n	Connecticut	59	28-5	Reg Finals
93-94	1/30	California	85		UCLA	70	21-7	1st Rnd
92-93	1/20	North Carolina	80		Virginia	58	21-10	Reg Semi Finals
91-92	2/5	North Carolina	75		Duke	73	34-2	NCAA Champs
91-92	2/5	Nebraska	85		Oklahoma St	69	28-8	Reg Semi Finals
90-91	3/30	Duke	79	n	UNLV	77	34-1	Lost NCAA Final
89-90	1/20	Connecticut	70		Georgetown	65	24-7	2nd Rnd
89-90	1/20	Missouri	95		Kansas	87	30-5	2nd Rnd
88-89	1/26	Minnesota	69		Illinois	62	31-5	Final Four
87-88	2/6	UAB	102		BYU	83	26-6	2nd Rnd
86-87	1/25	Georgetown	74		DePaul	71	26-2	Reg Semi Finals
85-86	2/7	UNLV	67		Memphis	66	27-5	2nd Rnd
84-85	1/26	St. John’s	66	at	Georgetown	65	35-3	Lost NCAA Final
83-84	2/12	Arkansas	65	n	North Carolina	64	28-3	2nd Rnd
82-83	2/24	Fullerton State	86		UNLV	78	28-3	2nd Rnd
81-82	2/6	Nebraska	67	at	Missouri	51	27-4	Reg Semi Finals
80-81	3/7	Arizona St	87	at	Oregon St	67	26-1	2nd Rnd
79-80	2/27	Notre Dame	76		DePaul	74	26-2	2nd Rnd
78-79	3/26	Michigan St	75	n	Indiana St	64	33-1	Lost NCAA Final
77-78	1/23	Alabama	78		Kentucky	62	30-2	NCAA Champs
76-77	3/5	Notre Dame	93		San Francisco	82	29-2	1st Rnd

Notes:

Although Nebraska has never won a tournament game, they have defeated the last undefeated team in major college basketball on two occasions (1992 vs. Oklahoma, and 1982 vs. Missouri).

In the last 35 years, Duke has been the last remaining undefeated team in four seasons.  It’s the most by any team in major college basketball.

Connecticut, Duke, Georgetown, Kansas, Missouri, North Carolina, Syracuse, UCLA, and UNLV have all defeated the last remaining undefeated team in a major college basketball season, but have also been the last undefeated team in a season.

Below is a breakdown of how undefeated teams have finished their seasons:

Round	Occurrences	Pct.
Reg Semi Finals	10	25.64%
2nd Rnd	9	23.08%
Lost NCAA Final	6	15.38%
NCAA Champs	4	10.26%
Reg Finals	4	10.26%
1st Rnd	3	7.69%
Final Four	2	5.13%
Lost NIT Finals	1	2.56%

References: College Basketball Reference, Google News Archive: Article 1, 2, 3.