Road to the Final Four leaves just three undefeated teams

Top-ranked UCLA was just too much for visiting Washington on Sunday, winning 96-74. The Huskies entered the week ranked No. 14 but lost both games in Los Angeles.

The win lifted the Bruins to 13-0. UCLA, which made the Final Four a year ago before losing to Florida in the championship game, is one of three undefeated teams left in Division I. No. 25 Clemson is another, improving to 14-0 after Sunday’s 67-57 win over Georgia State.

The third undefeated team is 20th-ranked Oregon, UCLA’s playmate in the Pacific 10 Conference. The Ducks raised their record to 13-0 on Saturday when they beat cross-state rival Oregon State.

No team has completed a season undefeated since Indiana in 1976. No team has entered the Final Four undefeated since Larry Bird’s Indiana State team in 1979. The Sycamores fell to Michigan State and Magic Johnson in that year’s final.

Only seven teams have finished a season undefeated NCAA champions since the NCAA tournament began in 1939. UCLA had four of those teams during the Bruins run of 10 titles in 12 years under coach John Wooden.

John Wooden

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Posted in General on December 31, 2006

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