Aside from 88 or 02 - most heartbreaking NCAA losses by OU - for you

[Ham]

I'm bored, thought this might be interesting. Sure, all NCAA losses suck but surely some are tougher than others. I am curious about those you've experienced/witnessed with your own eyes, as a fan.

Although '88 is gonna be listed by anyone in their early 30's or older, I am more curious about the other losses that really burned you. 2002 was also one that really sucked, because we know we were the best team. What about others? Give me 3 outside of the two final four losses.

1) I remember the '87 loss. I was 12. It was really one of my first real heartbreaks as a Sooner hoops fan. I remember some football losses back then ('86 vs Miami, in particular) that stung, but in terms of basketball, 1987 sticks out to me. Iowa's Kevin Gamble hitting that three still burns me to this day.

2) Also, 1990 vs UNC has got to be mentioned. Freaking Rick Fox.
OU is a #1 seed. Speaks for itself.

3) That loss to MSU in 1999 when Najera got hurt (hit his chin on Cleaves' head, right?) would round out my top 3 not including the two Final Four losses. I thought that OU team was damn good and could have kept going. When Ed got hurt, it seemed like the wind left our sail...he came back but it never really turned around. Was a big disappointment to me. 3rd best NCAA run (2 wins) of the Sampson era.

 

[soonerhoops2012]

The 2003 loss to Syracuse in the elite 8 was pretty tough....just went ice cold and Hollis was injure the entire tournament. Would have been OU/Texas in the national semis and OU/Kansas in the National Title game....

 

[steverocks35]

The other day against Texas.....ugh.

 

[NMSooner'80]

1. In 2000 vs. Purdue. If OU wins, they're in the Sweet 16 in Albuquerque.
2. In 1984 vs. Dayton. That still burns me because it was a fluke, and because one of my best OU buds lived in Dayton and had to take a TON of crap about it.
3. In 1979 vs. Indiana State. Bird and Co. were better, but the officiating was absolutely atrocious. And my twice-a-week classmate Karie Ross told me the ISU fans were also atrocious.

 

[treebranch]

'03 against Syracuse. I threw my remote through a living room window. Also '92 against SW Louisiana, though all I remember is Angelo Hamilton's walk. Would have played a 12 seed in the second round.

 

[slappy in OP]

All of them.....but I have a hard time letting go.

Indiana State was pretty hard to stomach. Hollis with the tooth in his arm was not good.

 

[bocabull]

Ragin Cajuns. I had recently moved to DFW and caught unending crap from my Texas friends.

 

[MsProudSooner]

1985 vs Memphis. It was Wayman's last game. Probably why I don't like Memphis to this day.

 

[Soonerlover12]

I'm relatively young so I'd have to say 02 vs Indiana. They were just hot! And Blakes last year against unc. I really thought we were gonna win. Blake dominated hansborough.

 

[sheepdog]

3. In 1979 vs. Indiana State. Bird and Co. were better, but the officiating was absolutely atrocious. And my twice-a-week classmate Karie Ross told me the ISU fans were also atrocious.

I hope you earned an A for drooling.

 

[WaymanFan]

Any OU fan who remembers 1988 will have that as #1. I (half) joke that I'm still in therapy because of that game. As far as "heartbreaking", my #2 would probably be the 1990 game against North Carolina. My #3 would be losing to Memphis in 1985...if only the refs called palming on Andre Turner with about 15 seconds left in the game.

2002 was obviously tough to deal with as well, especially with the game tied at 60 and Selvy at the line for a 1:1. It all fell apart after that. Because it wasn't close in the final seconds, I would rate this slightly behind those other three. The 2000 game against Purdue rounds out my top 5. That was a wide-open bracket and OU could have gone to the Final Four that year (I think #4 seed Wisconsin came out of that region).

I was at the 2003 game against Syracuse, but it's hard for me to call that "heartbreaking." They were simply the better team with a gimpy Hollis. The most heartbreaking part of that game was saying goodbye to Hollis...one of my all-time favorites.

 

[Max Power]

it was tough saying goodbye to Eduardo after purdue

 

[Vinny78]

Easy, I'm with Proud in that I can still remember my gut hurting when Memphis beat Wayman and the gang in 85. I think it was an elite 8 game and would have sent us to the Final Four in Wayman's last year. Love that guy and still can't believe he is gone from us. Still amazes me what he did for 3 years while ALWAYS being double teamed and most of the time triple teamed.

 

[Big Old Booger]

Any OU fan who remembers 1988 will have that as #1. I (half) joke that I'm still in therapy because of that game. As far as "heartbreaking", my #2 would probably be the 1990 game against North Carolina. My #3 would be losing to Memphis in 1985...if only the refs called palming on Andre Turner with about 15 seconds left in the game.

2002 was obviously tough to deal with as well, especially with the game tied at 60 and Selvy at the line for a 1:1. It all fell apart after that. Because it wasn't close in the final seconds, I would rate this slightly behind those other three. The 2000 game against Purdue rounds out my top 5. That was a wide-open bracket and OU could have gone to the Final Four that year (I think #4 seed Wisconsin came out of that region).

I was at the 2003 game against Syracuse, but it's hard for me to call that "heartbreaking." They were simply the better team with a gimpy Hollis. The most heartbreaking part of that game was saying goodbye to Hollis...one of my all-time favorites.

Same order for me. The tough part about the 85 game was the fact we had a feeling Wayman wasn't coming back. I cried the day he went pro. I've only cried about OU basketball 2 times...when he went pro and the 88 loss to KU.

 

[stormspencer]

85 Memphis and 87 Iowa really sucked. In the Iowa game, we had an 18 or 19 point lead and blew it. Ironically, in Iowa's next game against UNLV, the Hawkeyes blew a double digit lead and missed the Final 4.

 

[oSuJeff97]

'03 against Syracuse. I threw my remote through a living room window. Also '92 against SW Louisiana, though all I remember is Angelo Hamilton's walk. Would have played a 12 seed in the second round.

That freaking Syracuse team essentially won the Big 12 on their way to the title.

They beat OSU, OU, Texas and Kansas.

I wonder if any national champion has ever played 4 teams from the same conference on their way to the title before.

 

[Swans]

My order would be the same as WaymanFan's. I might add, that there was something totally wrong with the #1 seed having to play Syracuse in Albany, NY in that 2003 regional final.

 

[chuckb]

The 2003 loss to Syracuse in the elite 8 was pretty tough....just went ice cold and Hollis was injure the entire tournament. Would have been OU/Texas in the national semis and OU/Kansas in the National Title game....

Definitely. And the loss to Indiana in the Final 4. We were definitely better than the Hoosiers that year.

It still grinds me that Syracuse -- the #2 seed that year when we were the 1 -- got to play us just up the road in Albany. What a freaking joke! It also killed us that we had just 2 days to prepare for their zone.

 

[Laxtothemax12]

Way too young to remember anything past 2002, i was 8 for that game and i remember my dad getting pissed cause we shouldve won it all. For me it was 2009. I was so pumped to finally see us make it to the second weekend that I would remember, and thought we could hang with UNC. I thought Griffin couldve dominated, but it just never happened cause i believe we didnt make any outside shots to start the game.

 

[Ham]

85 Memphis and 87 Iowa really sucked. In the Iowa game, we had an 18 or 19 point lead and blew it. Ironically, in Iowa's next game against UNLV, the Hawkeyes blew a double digit lead and missed the Final 4.

Yeah, I didn't even mention that part of the Iowa game (the blown lead).
They ended with 10 losses that year but it was still a damn good team.

People may forget who was on that '87 squad.
DJ, Choo, and McCalister were all seniors.
Grace, Grant, King was a soph, Sieger and Chuck Watson.

Also the '89 loss to UVA sucked too.
Another stacked OU team. They went 30-6 that year.

So yeah...pretty much the NCAA tourney from '87-'90 was a kick in the balls. But only because those OU teams were freaking awesome.
And '91 was a down year but we did get to the NIT finals.
By that time, it was pretty much over for Billy.

Also, for the younger crowd, in 1995 we went 23-8 and had a great first year under Kelvin and capped it off by losing to freaking Manhattan in the first round. Yes, Manhattan. No, you aren't supposed to know who they are.