39 years

[Schadenfreude]

First of all, God bless Dan Dakich. I like him.

But in the interest of tradition...

Division I has about 336 men's basketball programs.

These are the 14 programs where fans have waited long or longer than Bowling Green to witness an invitation to the Big Dance:

Columbia: Last appeared in 1968
American: Division I since 1967
Tennessee Tech: Last appeared in 1963
Yale: Last appeared in 1962
Maine: Division I since 1962
New Hampshire: Division I since 1962
Centenary (La.): Division I since 1960
Dartmouth: Last appeared in 1959
Harvard: Last appeared in 1946
Army: Division I since 1948
Citadel: Division I since 1948
Northwestern: Division I since 1948
St. Francis (N.Y.): Division I since 1948
William & Mary: Division I since 1948

That is one sad sack list.

Perhaps it should be called the Hopeless Hapless Helpless Bottom Four Percent.

(But if anyone has a better name for it, go for it).

Point is, our Falcons are on it.

Incidentally, of those teams, only Northwestern is still alive for an NCAA tournament berth.

They play Michigan State tomorrow.

Go 'cats.

In the interest of completeness, these are the 273 current members of Division I that have gone dancing since Bowling Green last participated in the NCAA tournament 39 years ago:

2006 - Air Force
1986 - Akron
2006 - Alabama
2006 - Alabama-Birmingham
2005 - Alabama A&M
2004 - Alabama State
2006 - Albany
2002 - Alcorn State
2000 - Appalachian State
2006 - Arizona
2003 - Arizona State
2006 - Arkansas
1990 - Arkansas-Little Rock
1999 - Arkansas State
2003 - Auburn
2003 - Austin Peay
2000 - Ball State
1988 - Baylor
2006 - Belmont
1994 - Boise State
2006 - Boston College
2002 - Boston University
2006 - Bradley
2004 - Brigham Young
1986 - Brown
2006 - Bucknell
2003 - Butler
2006 - California
2006 - California-Los Angeles
2002 - California-Santa Barbara
1978 - California State-Fullerton
2001 - California State-Northridge
1992 - Campbell
1996 - Canisius
2002 - Central Connecticut State
2005 - Central Florida
2003 - Central Michigan
1999 - College of Charleston
1997 - Charleston Southern
2005 - Cincinnati
1998 - Clemson
1986 - Cleveland State
1993 - Coastal Carolina
1996 - Colgate
2003 - Colorado
2003 - Colorado State
2006 - Connecticut
1997 - Coppin State
1988 - Cornell
2005 - Creighton
2006 - Davidson
2004 - Dayton
1999 - Delaware
2005 - Delaware State
2004 - DePaul
1999 - Detroit
1971 - Drake
1996 - Drexel
2006 - Duke
1977 - Duquesne
1993 - East Carolina
2004 - East Tennessee State
2001 - Eastern Illinois
2005 - Eastern Kentucky
1998 - Eastern Michigan
2004 - Eastern Washington
1999 - Evansville
1997 - Fairfield
2005 - Fairleigh Dickinson
2006 - Florida
2004 - Florida A&M
2002 - Florida Atlantic
1995 - Florida International
1998 - Florida State
1992 - Fordham
2001 - Fresno State
1980 - Furman
2006 - George Mason
2006 - George Washington
2006 - Georgetown
2002 - Georgia
1992 - Georgia
2001 - Georgia State
2005 - Georgia Tech
2006 - Gonzaga
2006 - Hampton
2002 - Hawaii
2001 - Hofstra
2003 - Holy Cross
1992 - Houston
1992 - Howard
1990 - Idaho
1987 - Idaho State
2006 - Illinois
2004 - Illinois-Chicago
1998 - Illinois State
2006 - Indiana
2001 - Indiana State
2003 - Indiana/Purdue-Indianapolis
2006 - Iona
2006 - Iowa
2005 - Iowa State
2000 - Jackson State
1986 - Jacksonville
1994 - James Madison
2006 - Kansas
1996 - Kansas State
2006 - Kent State
2006 - Kentucky
1992 - La Salle
2000 - Lafayette
2000 - Lamar
2004 - Lehigh
2004 - Liberty
1995 - Long Beach State
1997 - Long Island
2005 - Louisiana-Lafayette
1996 - Louisiana-Monroe
2006 - Louisiana State
1991 - Louisiana Tech
2005 - Louisville
1990 - Loyola Marymount
1985 - Loyola (Ill.)
1994 - Loyola (Md.)
2004 - Manhattan
1987 - Marist
2006 - Marquette
1987 - Marshall
2004 - Maryland
1998 - Massachusetts
2002 - McNeese State
2006 - Memphis
1985 - Mercer
2002 - Miami (Fla.)
1999 - Miami (Ohio)
1998 - Michigan
2006 - Michigan State
1989 - Middle Tennessee
2005 - Minnesota
2002 - Mississippi
2005 - Mississippi State
1996 - Mississippi Valley State
2003 - Missouri
1999 - Missouri State
2006 - Monmouth
2006 - Montana
1996 - Montana State
1984 - Morehead State
1999 - Mount St. Mary’s
2006 - Murray State
1998 - Navy
1998 - Nebraska
2006 - Nevada
2000 - Nevada-Las Vegas
2005 - New Mexico
1999 - New Mexico State
1996 - New Orleans
2005 - Niagara
1998 - Nicholls State
2006 - North Carolina
2003 - North Carolina-Asheville
2005 - North Carolina-Charlotte
2001 - North Carolina-Greensboro
2006 - North Carolina-Wilmington
1995 - North Carolina A&T
2006 - North Carolina State
1998 - North Texas
1991 - Northeastern
2000 - Northern Arizona
1991 - Northern Illinois
2006 - Northern Iowa
2006 - Northwestern State
2003 - Notre Dame
2005 - Oakland
2005 - Ohio
2006 - Ohio State
2006 - Oklahoma
2005 - Oklahoma State
2005 - Old Dominion
2006 - Oral Roberts
2003 - Oregon
1990 - Oregon State
2006 - Pacific
2006 - Penn
2001 - Penn State
2002 - Pepperdine
2006 - Pittsburgh
1996 - Portland
1998 - Prairie View
2004 - Princeton
2004 - Providence
2003 - Purdue
1998 - Radford
1999 - Rhode Island
1970 - Rice
2004 - Richmond
1994 - Rider
1992 - Robert Morris
1991 - Rutgers
2000 - St. Bonaventure
1991 - St. Francis (Pa.)
2002 - St. John’s (N.Y.)
2004 - St. Joseph’s
2000 - St. Louis
2005 - St. Mary’s (Cal.)
1995 - St. Peter’s
2003 - Sam Houston State
2000 - Samford
2003 - San Diego
2006 - San Diego State
1998 - San Francisco
1996 - San Jose State
1996 - Santa Clara
2006 - Seton Hall
2002 - Siena
2006 - South Alabama
2004 - South Carolina
2003 - South Carolina State
1992 - South Florida
2000 - Southeast Missouri State
2005 - Southeastern Louisiana
2006 - Southern
2002 - Southern California
2006 - Southern Illinois
1993 - Southern Methodist
1991 - Southern Mississippi
2001 - Southern Utah State
2005 - Stanford
2006 - Syracuse
2001 - Temple
2006 - Tennessee
1993 - Tennessee State
2005 - Tennessee-Chattanooga
2006 - Texas
2005 - Texas-El Paso
2006 - Texas A&M
1998 - Texas Christian
2004 - Texas-San Antonio
2003 - Texas Southern
1997 - Texas State
2005 - Texas Tech
1980 - Toledo
1991 - Towson
2003 - Troy State
1995 - Tulane
2003 - Tulsa
2005 - Utah
2006 - Utah State
2004 - Valparaiso
2004 - Vanderbilt
2005 - Vermont
2006 - Villanova
2001 - Virginia
2004 - Virginia Commonwealth
1977 - Virginia Military Institute
1996 - Virginia Tech
2003 - Wagner
2005 - Wake Forest
2006 - Washington
1994 - Washington State
2003 - Weber State
2006 - West Virginia
1996 - Western Carolina
2003 - Western Kentucky
2004 - Western Michigan
2006 - Wichita State
2006 - Winthrop
2006 - Wisconsin
1996 - Wisconsin-Green Bay
2006 - Wisconsin-Milwaukee
1993 - Wright State
2002 - Wyoming
2006 - Xavier

These 49 teams have not gone dancing, but joined (or rejoined) Division I after Bowling Green's last NCAA tournament appearance:

Arkansas-Pine Bluff (1999)
Bethune-Cookman (1981)
Binghamton (2002)
Buffalo (1992)
California-Davis (provisional, 2006-07)
California-Irvine (1978)
California-Riverside (2002)
California Poly (1995)
Central Arkansas (provisional, 2006-07)
Chicago State (1985)
Denver (1999)
Elon (2000)
Florida Gulf Coast (provisional, 2006-07)
Gardner-Webb (2003)
Grambling (1978)
Hartford (1985)
High Point (2000)
Indiana/Purdue-Fort Wayne (2003)
Jacksonville State (1996)
Kennesaw State (provisional, 2006-07)
Lipscomb (2004)
Longwood (2005)
Maryland-Baltimore County (1987)
Maryland-Eastern Shore (1982)
Missouri-Kansas City (1990)
Morgan State
Norfolk State (1998)
North Dakota State (provisional, 2006-07)
North Florida (provisional, 2006-07)
Northern Colorado (provisional, 2006-07)
Portland State (1999)
Presbyterian (provisional, 2006-07)
Quinnipiac (1999)
Sacramento State (1992)
Sacred Heart (2000)
Savannah State (2003)
South Dakota State (provisional, 2006-07)
South Carolina Upstate (provisional, 2006-07)
Stephen F. Austin (1987)
Stetson (1972)
Stony Brook (2000)
Tennessee-Martin (1993)
Texas-Arlington (1969)
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (2003)
Texas-Pan American (1969)
Utah Valley State (provisional, 2006-07)
Western Illinois (1982)
Wofford (1996)
Youngstown State (1982)

Those are the facts. Unfortunately.

Additions or corrections welcome.

[ZiggyZoomba]

You know... it's crazy Shad, but I just fired up the computer to ask you to re-hash that... I think we've touched on it the past 3 or 4 years...

There are very, VERY few things that I feel I NEED to experience in my life... I'm pretty much a happy and contented guy, but I NEED the BGSU men's basketball program to get to the NCAA tournament and I need to experience it as a fan watching MY TEAM in the dance...

God I need that....

[JWEIII]

Oh my God!? There are no DI schools that start with the letter Z! Something must be done.

Seriously, though. That's bad (but not DD's fault).

P.S. Way too much free time.

[BGGrad01]

This same post is made every year after the final Falcons game and yet I am still amazed every time that I read it. What an unbelievable streak of futility. To go along with what Grant was saying, there are only two sports-related things that I need to see: 1. a BG men's basketball team playing in the NCAA tournament and 2. the Browns playing in the Super Bowl. I may need to live to 110 to see both.

For the fans that have followed BG basketball for the better part of the last 40 years, I hope this program can make it to the Big Dance very soon.

[Warthog]

Columbia: Last appeared in 1968
American: Division I since 1967
Tennessee Tech: Last appeared in 1963
Yale: Last appeared in 1962
Maine: Division I since 1962
New Hampshire: Division I since 1962
Centenary (La.): Division I since 1960
Dartmouth: Last appeared in 1959
Harvard: Last appeared in 1946
Army: Division I since 1948
Citadel: Division I since 1948
Northwestern: Division I since 1948
St. Francis (N.Y.): Division I since 1948
William & Mary: Division I since 1948

Scheduling idea

Let's get together with these teams and schedule each other exclusively for all out of conference games in hopes that one team may dominate the others and develop a gaudy record that gets them into the tournament.

Maybe this could be some kind of Anti-Bracketbuster.

[ZiggyZoomba]

Maybe this could be some kind of Anti-Bracketbuster.

We could call it the "Busted Bracket."

[Warthog]

When you say 'busted', other thoughts come to mind.

[bobio]

By the looks of our nonconference schedule this year, we did our best to play a schedule like that.

[falconfan1999]

By the looks of our nonconference schedule this year, we did our best to play a schedule like that.

Not even close!!! These guys are all D-1!!

We've been screwed out of a few dances we should have been invited to, but nothing we can do now except root for the MAC champ to represent us well, since we'll only be getting 1 team in this year (again). We'll probably have two teams in the NIT who may win one game and get drummed out by teams that aren't nearly as good, but such is a MAC basketball fans March.....

[orangeandbrown]

The MAC only deserves one bid this year.

[ZuluWarrior]

I'm 39 years old. I'm feeling old. That's a long time.

I'm pretty sure I can't wait another 39 years. Besides by then the question on this website of what happened to Michigan on the upcoming 2048 Football Schedule might officially be old.

I'm with you Grant, experiencing BG in the Tourney is at the top of my list of things I NEED to experience in sports. The NCAA Tourney is the best sporting series, better than the NBA, MLB, NFL Playoffs, NCAA Bowl Season, etc...

[Schadenfreude]

We've been screwed out of a few dances we should have been invited to,

I've been following the basketball team casually since 1988, and I don't recall this happening. We were close once in the Dakich era, but not that close.

Two closer calls that irritated me more included Buffalo (c. 2005) and Kent State (c. 2000)

[Schadenfreude]

That's bad (but not DD's fault).

It was a team effort.

[Flipper]

We were a bubble team during Stacy's senior year...I think that was the year we were toasted by WVU by 45 on the road...it seemed to come down to us or SIU and they got the bid. A couple of years later we were on the bubble again. Conventional wisdom would lead you to think it was "our turn" on that second go round, but we still didn't get it. That second "bubble" season (it was Kieths's senior year ) is the one that really bugged me.

I also think we got screwed in 1983 and in 1997.

[BGGrad01]

That second "bubble" season (it was Kieths's senior year ) is the one that really bugged me.

I also think we got screwed in 1983 and in 1997.

I wasn't around for the '83 or '97 seasons, but the snub in 2002 still bugs me. 1999 was a little different because we did get smoked by WVU and we lost in the first round of the MAC tournament (Jason Grunkemeyer is right up there on my most hated players list). We got to the MAC championship game and lost to Kent State (the third time that year) and ended up something like 24-6 with an RPI somewhere in the 40's or low 50's. That team should have been dancing. I seem to remember Vitale going nuts on the selection show about us not getting in.