Worst basketball losses you remember?

#26
#26
VMI - no loss close to being worse than that one. Bunch of 6’ 5” and under guys bombing 20 footers all game at the tune of 66%. And they only got 2 points for each of them. Yes Bernard didn’t play. But doesn’t matter.

TN didn’t have any size either. Ashworth was the TN center and he was only 6’6”. Grunfeld (6’6”), Ashworth (6’6”), Darden (5’10”), Jackson (6’3”), and Austin Clark (6’5”) started in place of King.

The NCAA Tournament really wasn’t a very big deal in 1976. I don’t think that that game was even on TV in Knoxville. VMI won their next game versus DePaul and then lost to Rutgers for a spot in the Final Four (which maybe wasn’t called the Final Four in 1976). VMI won their conference and Ron Carter was a 2x SoCon POY that was drafted by the Lakers.
 
#27
#27
Two that I hated were the 2009 and 2010 losses to
USCw when Kevin O’Neill was their coach. In December 2009 TN was #9 in the country and was blown out 55-77 in LA. Then a year later TN lost in the TBA 64-65 in Pearl’s final season. KO’s wife was was sitting directly behind the USCw bench at the TBA. She was a POS. I thought that she was going to go hands on with TN fans that were sitting in the first couple of rows. KO was married to a **nt. B**** is too nice of a word to describe her.
Dang TG-O!😂
I dont think I’ve ever seen this side of you?!
 
#30
#30
Dec. 10,2011

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70
vs.
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74


Sorry......I had to!
 
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#34
#34
TN didn’t have any size either. Ashworth was the TN center and he was only 6’6”. Grunfeld (6’6”), Ashworth (6’6”), Darden (5’10”), Jackson (6’3”), and Austin Clark (6’5”) started in place of King.

The NCAA Tournament really wasn’t a very big deal in 1976. I don’t think that that game was even on TV in Knoxville. VMI won their next game versus DePaul and then lost to Rutgers for a spot in the Final Four (which maybe wasn’t called the Final Four in 1976). VMI won their conference and Ron Carter was a 2x SoCon POY that was drafted by the Lakers.
I did watch it live in TV in Knoxville. Your reasoning is sound, just as a freshman student it just felt so horrible. Having not ever won an NCAA game and all. Not sure about “not a big deal” tournament, though. I thought it was a big deal as UCLAs long run gave it National recognition. I mean we tried to get Final Four tickets for the Omni the next year and couldn’t sniff a pair.
 
#35
#35
They never get brought up, but after winning the 1979 SEC Tournament in Devoe’s first year - losing to Mississippi in the first conference tournament game the next two years derailed the momentum for the program. Too bad TN hadn’t recruited Elston Turner in 1977.
 
#36
#36
I did watch it live in TV in Knoxville. Your reasoning is sound, just as a freshman student it just felt so horrible. Having not ever won an NCAA game and all. Not sure about “not a big deal” tournament, though. I thought it was a big deal as UCLAs long run gave it National recognition. I mean we tried to get Final Four tickets for the Omni the next year and couldn’t sniff a pair.

I think that I was working on my paper route while that game was being played. Did you watch it at the student center? If so it could have been a closed circuit broadcast.

It wasn’t a big deal at all relative to the modern version.
 
#37
#37
A few came to mind for me:
Oakland x2
College of Charleston 2010
Charlotte 2010
Indianapolis 2010.

Mostly the 2010 basketball season, I guess. Lol


1. The Sweet 16 loss to North Carolina under Green.
2. The what the hell loss to Charlotte under O' Neill when Tennessee blew a big lead.
3. The trouncing by Kentucky under Houston in the SEC Tournament which has previously been alluded to.
4. The loss to Loyola of Chicago in the NCAA Tournament under Barnes when Alexander was unavailable.
5. The Sweet 16 loss to Purdue in overtime.
 
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#38
#38
Worst one I can remember as terms of ugliness? When we lost to Georgetown under Cuonzo.

An embarrassing loss? When we were blown out of the water by like 30+ to Florida a few seasons ago.

A loss I wouldn't want to watch again? When we were up by 7 to Ole Miss and lost that game 52-50!
 
#39
#39
Really, 101-40 should be the worst loss ever for multiple reasons. It was Allan’s last game. Wade was allowed to return after it and he went 5-22. 61 points is probably the largest margin ever in a loss. It was revenge for Kentucky after they lost to TN on the 4-point play in the TBA a few weeks earlier. The blizzard of the century rolled in shortly after the game ended.


Corey Allen made that four point play in that game, I believe.
 
#41
#41
I think that I was working on my paper route while that game was being played. Did you watch it at the student center? If so it could have been a closed circuit broadcast.

It wasn’t a big deal at all relative to the modern version.
Watched it at a classmate’s sister’s house. She lived east of campus around the zoo area. Maybe she was streaming it off of ESPN +.
 
#42
#42
I remember the NCAAT becoming a much bigger deal a few years later. I saw US Reed throwing up a half court buzzer beater in 1981 to eliminate defending champion Louisville. Then around 1982 Bobby Knight, Dean Smith, and Phi Slama Jama were transforming the popularity. UNLV. The NCAAT field was expanded (and teams were seeded). The original Big East. Valvano and NC State winning in 1983. Suddenly NCAA basketball and March Madness was huge.
 
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#43
#43
Corey Allen made that four point play in that game, I believe.

Allan Houston made the first of 2 free throws when TN trailed by 3 with only a couple of seconds left. He missed the second on purpose. Corey Allen got the rebound and was fouled putting back the tying basket. Then Corey converted the “and one” for the win.
 
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#46
#46
Hands down, the worst loss, Michigan St. in the Elite 8, when Draymond Green went coast to coast after a Hopson missed FT, imo. Maybe, most painful loss is a better description

That's one that stings considering the door it closed. We were doing pretty well until JP Prince picked up two quick fouls with about 8 minutes or so to go and had to sit. I don't remember who he was guarding, but JP's length was giving his man fits. The game turned in State's favor after Prince went out.
 
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#48
#48
Sub PAC in 1973 was an exhibition. But it seems to have also put TN into the loser’s bracket since they finished in 7th place. Weird. NCAA Basketball was still pretty primitive in 1973. But at least the SEC was hiring real basketball coaches by then instead of having assistant football coaches serving as the head basketball coaches.

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#49
#49
I didn't enjoy losing to Vandy after beating Memphis and getting the number 1 ranking. 2007-08 season.

I lived in Memphis then and was at the Memphis TN game. Hung out on Beale Street all day. Incredible environment. Church the next morning I wore Derek Dooley Orange Pants and my TN Shirt. Got many dirty looks
 

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