When was the last time UNLV appeared in the NCAA Tournament after not winning its post-season conference tournament that same March?
a) 2000
b) 1991
c) 1988
d) 1983
Answer: c) 1988... In 1988 - a season after appearing in the Final Four - UNLV lost its second game of the Big West Conference Tournament to UC Irvine, 74-70. UNLV then advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to Iowa, 104-86. The Runnin' Rebels finished the season 28-6.
Following 1988, UNLV won conference tournaments and appeared in the following NCAA Tournaments - 1989, 1990, 1991, 1998, 2000, 2007 and 2008... All conference tournament title wins came with an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament except for the 2000 Mountain West Conference tournament championship. (During the first-year of the conference, the MWC was not guaranteed an automatic bid for its tournament winner. However, UNLV reached the field of 64 and lost in the first round.)
This trivia question originally appeared in the March 5, 2010 edition of the CoachKruger.com Insider Report.