Final Four Teams Bring Ugly Resumes to Houston

(WSJ) - Youngstown State isn't exactly a team on people's minds ahead of the Final Four this weekend in Houston.

The Penguins -- yes, the Penguins -- finished this season 9-21, tied for last in the Horizon League, and they're currently ranked No. 295 in the nation in Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), a metric the NCAA Tournament selection committee uses to compare teams.

But even in late March, there's a reason for Penguins fans to rejoice: Their team may have beaten the national champion. On Feb. 3, Youngstown State stunned Butler, and the Bulldogs haven't lost since.

Butler's opponent in the national semifinals Saturday, VCU, can certainly commiserate. You may have heard that the Rams almost missed the NCAA tournament.

This is largely because they lost to teams that didn't even sniff mediocrity, including Georgia State (ranked No. 223 in the RPI), Northeastern (178) and South Florida (155).

Of all the Final Four teams in the past 10 years, VCU suffered the three worst losses before the start of the tournament, based on their opponents' end-of-season RPI.

This year's Butler team was the closest competition, also losing to Evansville (RPI: 136) and Wright State (124). By comparison, the three worst losses of fellow Cinderella George Mason, in 2006, were far more respectable -- Mississippi State (RPI: 113), Wake Forest (85) and Old Dominion (69).

It isn't just the mid-major schools that suffered swoons, either. Connecticut also dealt with a late-season losing streak, and of the past 40 Final Four teams, Kentucky's set of bad losses -- Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas -- trails only Butler's and VCU's.

Source: The Wall Street Journal