Champ Week is in full swing, bubble teams everywhere are fretting about potential bid thieves and the coaching carousel will soon fuel rampant speculation. It can all mean only one thing.
It is time once again to try to extend one of the sport's most venerable streaks. I am referring of course to the storied feature known as the 355 teams that will not win the national title.
Each year, eight contenders are selected from Division I's 363 members. And every year since this piece's inception in 2016, the NCAA title has indeed been captured by one of those eight teams.
Here are the 355 teams that will not win the national championship, divided into three categories: ineligible, near misses and no clear path.
Ineligible (11 teams)
Bellarmine Knights
Lindenwood Lions
Merrimack Warriors
Queens University Royals
St. Thomas-Minnesota Tommies
Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles
Stonehill Skyhawks
Tarleton Texans
Texas A&M-Commerce Lions
UC San Diego Tritons
Utah Tech Trailblazers