Division I coaches recall their worst NCAA tournament losses

Copy Link

Email

Print

Reactions

Like

FROM HIS SEAT in the second row on the left side of Purdue's coach bus, Matt Painter sat alone on a quiet, 275-mile drive back to West Lafayette, Indiana.

The morning after the No. 1 seed's NCAA title dreams ended in a shocking, 63-58 first-round loss to 16-seed Fairleigh Dickinson at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, Painter's team was going home. They had just become the second No. 1 seed in NCAA tournament history to lose to a 16-seed.

Frustrated and stunned, Painter grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down everything that had gone wrong that night. For more than four hours, he listed the specific obstacles every player, assistant and staffer on his team…