3 unbeatens left in Division I

There are just three teams left with a chance at Division I's first unbeaten season since Indiana in 1976.

No. 1 Pittsburgh (14-0), No. 4 Wake Forest (13-0) and No. 12 Clemson (15-0) were the last three yet to lose when unranked Illinois State dropped to 14-1 with a 56-52 loss at Bradley on Tuesday.

It's certain one of those three won't make it since Wake Forest and Clemson have a home-and-home series in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The odds are against Pittsburgh since the Panthers are in the Big East, which this week had a record nine teams in the Top 25.

Memphis had the longest run last season, winning its first 26 games before losing 66-62 to Tennessee in a 1-vs.-2 matchup. Kansas reached 20-0, while North Carolina started 18-0.

In 2006-07, Clemson didn't lose until its 18th game, at Maryland, and UCLA was second-longest, starting 14-0.

Then there was 2005-06, when the last three unbeatens all lost on the same day, Jan. 21, as Duke and Florida lost to Georgetown and Tennessee, respectively, to fall to 17-1, and Pittsburgh lost to St. John's to drop to 15-1.

That can't happen this weekend as Clemson hosts North Carolina State on Saturday, while Pittsburgh hosts St. John's and Wake Forest entertains North Carolina.

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ANOTHER 1-2-3: Another team knew how tough a stretch Rutgers had last week.

The Scarlet Knights lost 97-75 at No. 1 North Carolina, 78-72 to No. 3 Pittsburgh and 80-49 at No. 2 Connecticut in a seven-day span.

Almost 40 years earlier, Notre Dame had a week and a day to rival Rutgers', only the Fighting Irish had some success.

Research by retired FDNY Lt. Bill Regan, an amateur Notre Dame historian, revealed the eight-day stretch.

On Dec. 27, 1969, Notre Dame lost 102-100 to top-ranked Kentucky in Louisville. On Dec. 29, the Fighting Irish beat No. 3 West Virginia 84-80 in the opening round of the Sugar Bowl tournament, then lost 84-83 in overtime to unranked South Carolina in the championship game. On Jan. 3, Notre Dame, which had dropped from No. 11 to 13th in the poll, lost 108-77 at No. 2 UCLA.