Wichita State made history on Tuesday night, just not the type the college basketball world has been consumed with lately. With Wichita State’s win over Bradley, the Shockers are the only team in NCAA history to reach 30 wins within the regular season.
Wichita State becomes first team to win 30 games in regular season
Other teams have gone 30-0 before, but each of the past ten teams to accomplish the feat needed some sort of the postseason.
Scott Sewell-USA TODAY Sports
There have been 10 teams prior to Wichita State who went 30-0, but every single one of them needed the postseason to do it. The 2004 St. Joseph Hawks were the last team to finish undefeated in regular season, but lost in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament. The 1991 UNLV Rebels were the last team to enter the NCAA Tournament undefeated, and they lost in the Final Four to the Duke Blue Devils.
Here are the other 30 win teams over history and how they fared in the NCAA Tournament.
| Year | Team | Final record | Tournament result |
| 1957 | North Carolina | 32-0 | NCAA championship |
| 1964 | UCLA | 30-0 | NCAA championship |
| 1967 | UCLA | 30-0 | NCAA championship |
| 1972 | UCLA | 30-0 | NCAA championship |
| 1973 | UCLA | 30-0 | NCAA championship |
| 1975 | Indiana | 31-1 | lost in Sweet 16 |
| 1976 | Indiana | 32-0 | NCAA championship |
| 1976 | Rutgers | 31-2 | lost in Final Four |
| 1979 | Indiana State | 33-1 | lost in championship game |
| 1991 | UNLV | 34-1 | lost in Final Four |
All in all, some pretty good company there. Granted, teams now play more games than the squads of yesteryear, but that doesn't make Wichita State's accomplishment any less significant. As long as Wichita State wins the conference tournament, it'll have a solid chance at a No. 1 seed and glory not seen since Bob Knight's Indiana Hoosiers.
In the process, there will be some other records in the way. The most wins in a season is by John Calipari with the 2011-12 Kentucky Wildcats at 38 (his 38 wins with the 2007-08 Memphis Tigers were vacated because of NCAA violations). Wichita State also has a shot at the 1979 Indiana State record of most wins by a Missouri Valley Conference team in a season.
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