[jacketree]

You don't know what you've got 'till it's gone....

I used to lament my teams' early exits during March Madness, (Stanford more so than Tech; they were in it more often and therefore left early more often), but as BC says, it is better to under perform than not perform at all.  Leaving Tech out of the discussion, noting only that their greatest run (to the Final in 2004) sowed the seeds of program destruction, I have the following gut feel as to Stanford's tournament performance over the years. But backed up by interweb historic brackets for some modicum of fact. Final Four teams included for a sense of who was really elite over this period. Look for the repeats.

1989 - The S word.  A Power 5 (or whatever the term was then) 3 seed losing to a 14 seed from the Metro Atlantic Conference, or wherever they were from, in the first round happens from time to time, but there is no legitimate excuse for that.  First tournament game in 49 years? So what.  The seniors had been at Stanford four years not 48.  Yes, that was Mike Montgomery's first NCAA game.  Johnny Dawkins won his first NCAA game, but with a comparatively weaker team than the Lichti/Wright/Keefe squad and against a better opponent.  Sure it was early. Sure it was in Greensborough. Maybe Siena was fired up. Maybe Stanford was over seeded somewhat; the Pac10 didn't tear up the tournament that year. Siena lost its next game to an 11 seed, and that 11 seed lost its next game by 17 to Duke.  The Final Four was Illinois (1), Michigan (3), Duke (2) and Seton Hall (3). A good team wins that game and a few more. Final Grade: Fail. (Strongly influenced by watching at the office and catching crap about it all day.)

1992 - #12 seed. Lost to #5 Alabama (5) by 5 in first round.  Latrell Spreewell!!  Final Grade: B- (Hey it's Stanford, grade inflated for the effort.)  The James Forrest "Holy Mackerel!!" year, so happy anyway. Final Four was Duke (1), Indiana (2), Cincinnati (4) and Michigan (6).

1995 - #10 seed. Beat #7 UNCC in first round. Lost to #2 seed UMASS (Marcus Camby edition Coached by one Mr. John Calipari) in second round by 22. Absolutely outclassed in that one.  Final Grade: B for winning first tournament game since 1942. Final Four was UCLA (1), Oklahoma State (4), Arkansas (2) and North Carolina (2).

1996 - #9 seed. Beat #8 Bradley in first round. Lost to powerful #1 UMASS by 5 in second round.  Final Grade: A- for punching way above weight. They had UMASS on the ropes and late. Final Four was UMASS (1), Kentucky (1), Syracuse (4), and Miss State (5).

1997 - #6 seed. Beat #11 Oklahoma like a drum in first round. Beat Tim Duncan's #3 Wake Forest by 6 in the second round (Classic! Brilliant coaching that game). Lost to #2 Utah in OT by 5 in San Jose Sweet Sixteen.  Thought Brevin was fouled on a three ball and his FT could have won the game outright instead of the OT. Riveting stuff.  Final Grade: A for deserving an A. (A+ is reserved for the Natty.) Final Four was Minnesota (1), Kentucky (1), North Carolina (1) and Arizona (4).  Pac 10 was dynamite that year; maybe best ever across the board.

1998 - The run (but a lower grade as explained). #3 seed. Beat #14 College of Charleston by 10 in first round. Beat #11 Western Michigan by 18 in second round. Beat #2 Purdue by 8 in Sweet Sixteen. Beat #8 Rhode Island by 2 in Elite Eight. (Heard something about a late rally.) Lost to #2 Kentucky by 1 in OT in National Semifinal.  Had 'em.  Final Grade: A- (because I went to Tech and there are some minor demerits when things are a little easy.  #14, #11, #8 is a little easy.)  Good matchups for Stanford throughout the run. Still best I've ever felt about a loss for any team in any sport. Kentucky won it all, beating fellow #3 Utah. North Carolina was the fourth team.

1999 - #2 seed. Beat #15 Alcorn State by 12 in first round. Lost to #10 Gonzaga by 8 in second round.  Yeah, Gonzaga got hot and ran to the Elite Eight, but disappointing.  Final Grade: Gentlemen's C.  Final Four was Michigan State (1), Duke (1), UCONN (1) and Ohio State (4).

2000- #1 seed. Beat #16 South Carolina State by 19 in first round. Lost to #8 North Carolina by 7 in second round. Carolina went far and was insanely underseeded not for their record, but for their ability.  Final Grade: C.  (Life is tough in the big city when you are #1.) Final Four was Wisconsin (8), Michigan State (1), North Carolina (8), and Florida (5). Hey, Sparty managed to hold serve against the upstarts....That's why they have their reputation and Stanford didn't.

2001 - #1 seed in the West. Beat #16 UNC Greensboro, #9 St. Joseph, and #5 Cincinnati. Lost to a good #3 Maryland by 14 in the Elite Eight. Heard some guy on national radio that night saying Montgomery had done all he was ever going to do at Stanford.  Final Grade: B- (Tougher grades the longer Stanford was good.)  Final Four was Arizona (2), Michigan State (1), Duke (1), Maryland (3). Maryland gagged against Duke, btw.

2002 - #8 seed. Beat #9 Western Kentucky. Crushed by #1 Kansas in second round. Far cry from those UMASS efforts. Final Grade: C. Final Four was Oklahoma (2), Indiana (5), Kansas (1) and Maryland (1).

2003 - #4 seed playing in Spokane. Beat #13 USD. Lost to #5 UCONN by 11 in second round. Boat raced is how I remember it. Final Grade: C-. Final Four was  Syracuse (3), Texas (1), Kansas (2), Marquette (3).

2004- #1 seed in West. 29-1 coming in. Beat #16 UT-San Antonio by a lot. Came from ahead to lose to #8 Alabama in second round.  That wasn't the referees; that was olive swallowing.  Final Grade: D. Final Four was Oklahoma State (2), Georgia Tech (3), UCONN (2) and Duke (1).

2005 - #9 seed. Lost to #8 Mississippi State by 23 in first round. State lost to Duke in second round. Final Grade: D. (23 points in the 8/9 game!)  Final Four was North Carolina (1), Michigan State (5), Illinois (1) and Louisville (4).

2007 - Lost as #11 seed to #4 Louisville by 20 in first round. Non-competitive from Jump Street. Final Grade: D. Final Four: UCLA (2), Florida (1), Ohio State (1) and Georgetown (2).

2008 - #3 seed. Beat #14 Cornell in first round. Beat #6 Marquette in second round at last second with coach watching from the clubhouse. Run out of the gym by #2 Texas in Sweet Sixteen.  Final Grade: B- (Johnson throws Johnson under the Greyhound on way out the door.) Final Four was North Carolina (1), Kansas (1), Memphis (1) and UCLA (1).

2014 - Hmmm gap year. #10 seed. Beat #7 New Mexico. Beat #2 Kansas. Lost to #11 Dayton in Sweet Sixteen. Final Grade: B+. Impressive win against Kansas damped by floperuni against Dayton.

Monty's tournament legacy is tempered by mid-career success fueling high expectations that weren't met toward the end of his time here. Trent had one average tournament run out of 3 tries.  Dawkins had a good tournament.  The singularity may do him in.  (Heck they are half way through an NIT title game and I'm typing this up instead of watching.)

[jacketree]

You don't know what you've got 'till it's gone....

I used to lament my teams' early exits during March Madness, (Stanford more so than Tech; they were in it more often and therefore left early more often), but as BC says, it is better to under perform than not perform at all.  Leaving Tech out of the discussion, noting only that their greatest run (to the Final in 2004) sowed the seeds of program destruction, I have the following gut feel as to Stanford's tournament performance over the years. But backed up by interweb historic brackets for some modicum of fact. Final Four teams included for a sense of who was really elite over this period. Look for the repeats.

1989 - The S word.  A Power 5 (or whatever the term was then) 3 seed losing to a 14 seed from the Metro Atlantic Conference, or wherever they were from, in the first round happens from time to time, but there is no legitimate excuse for that.  First tournament game in 49 years? So what.  The seniors had been at Stanford four years not 48.  Yes, that was Mike Montgomery's first NCAA game.  Johnny Dawkins won his first NCAA game, but with a comparatively weaker team than the Lichti/Wright/Keefe squad and against a better opponent.  Sure it was early. Sure it was in Greensborough. Maybe Siena was fired up. Maybe Stanford was over seeded somewhat; the Pac10 didn't tear up the tournament that year. Siena lost its next game to an 11 seed, and that 11 seed lost its next game by 17 to Duke.  The Final Four was Illinois (1), Michigan (3), Duke (2) and Seton Hall (3). A good team wins that game and a few more. Final Grade: Fail. (Strongly influenced by watching at the office and catching crap about it all day.)

1992 - #12 seed. Lost to #5 Alabama (5) by 5 in first round.  Latrell Spreewell!!  Final Grade: B- (Hey it's Stanford, grade inflated for the effort.)  The James Forrest "Holy Mackerel!!" year, so happy anyway. Final Four was Duke (1), Indiana (2), Cincinnati (4) and Michigan (6).

1995 - #10 seed. Beat #7 UNCC in first round. Lost to #2 seed UMASS (Marcus Camby edition Coached by one Mr. John Calipari) in second round by 22. Absolutely outclassed in that one.  Final Grade: B for winning first tournament game since 1942. Final Four was UCLA (1), Oklahoma State (4), Arkansas (2) and North Carolina (2).

1996 - #9 seed. Beat #8 Bradley in first round. Lost to powerful #1 UMASS by 5 in second round.  Final Grade: A- for punching way above weight. They had UMASS on the ropes and late. Final Four was UMASS (1), Kentucky (1), Syracuse (4), and Miss State (5).

1997 - #6 seed. Beat #11 Oklahoma like a drum in first round. Beat Tim Duncan's #3 Wake Forest by 6 in the second round (Classic! Brilliant coaching that game). Lost to #2 Utah in OT by 5 in San Jose Sweet Sixteen.  Thought Brevin was fouled on a three ball and his FT could have won the game outright instead of the OT. Riveting stuff.  Final Grade: A for deserving an A. (A+ is reserved for the Natty.) Final Four was Minnesota (1), Kentucky (1), North Carolina (1) and Arizona (4).  Pac 10 was dynamite that year; maybe best ever across the board.

1998 - The run (but a lower grade as explained). #3 seed. Beat #14 College of Charleston by 10 in first round. Beat #11 Western Michigan by 18 in second round. Beat #2 Purdue by 8 in Sweet Sixteen. Beat #8 Rhode Island by 2 in Elite Eight. (Heard something about a late rally.) Lost to #2 Kentucky by 1 in OT in National Semifinal.  Had 'em.  Final Grade: A- (because I went to Tech and there are some minor demerits when things are a little easy.  #14, #11, #8 is a little easy.)  Good matchups for Stanford throughout the run. Still best I've ever felt about a loss for any team in any sport. Kentucky won it all, beating fellow #3 Utah. North Carolina was the fourth team.

1999 - #2 seed. Beat #15 Alcorn State by 12 in first round. Lost to #10 Gonzaga by 8 in second round.  Yeah, Gonzaga got hot and ran to the Elite Eight, but disappointing.  Final Grade: Gentlemen's C.  Final Four was Michigan State (1), Duke (1), UCONN (1) and Ohio State (4).

2000- #1 seed. Beat #16 South Carolina State by 19 in first round. Lost to #8 North Carolina by 7 in second round. Carolina went far and was insanely underseeded not for their record, but for their ability.  Final Grade: C.  (Life is tough in the big city when you are #1.) Final Four was Wisconsin (8), Michigan State (1), North Carolina (8), and Florida (5). Hey, Sparty managed to hold serve against the upstarts....That's why they have their reputation and Stanford didn't.

2001 - #1 seed in the West. Beat #16 UNC Greensboro, #9 St. Joseph, and #5 Cincinnati. Lost to a good #3 Maryland by 14 in the Elite Eight. Heard some guy on national radio that night saying Montgomery had done all he was ever going to do at Stanford.  Final Grade: B- (Tougher grades the longer Stanford was good.)  Final Four was Arizona (2), Michigan State (1), Duke (1), Maryland (3). Maryland gagged against Duke, btw.

2002 - #8 seed. Beat #9 Western Kentucky. Crushed by #1 Kansas in second round. Far cry from those UMASS efforts. Final Grade: C. Final Four was Oklahoma (2), Indiana (5), Kansas (1) and Maryland (1).

2003 - #4 seed playing in Spokane. Beat #13 USD. Lost to #5 UCONN by 11 in second round. Boat raced is how I remember it. Final Grade: C-. Final Four was  Syracuse (3), Texas (1), Kansas (2), Marquette (3).

2004- #1 seed in West. 29-1 coming in. Beat #16 UT-San Antonio by a lot. Came from ahead to lose to #8 Alabama in second round.  That wasn't the referees; that was olive swallowing.  Final Grade: D. Final Four was Oklahoma State (2), Georgia Tech (3), UCONN (2) and Duke (1).

2005 - #9 seed. Lost to #8 Mississippi State by 23 in first round. State lost to Duke in second round. Final Grade: D. (23 points in the 8/9 game!)  Final Four was North Carolina (1), Michigan State (5), Illinois (1) and Louisville (4).

2007 - Lost as #11 seed to #4 Louisville by 20 in first round. Non-competitive from Jump Street. Final Grade: D. Final Four: UCLA (2), Florida (1), Ohio State (1) and Georgetown (2).

2008 - #3 seed. Beat #14 Cornell in first round. Beat #6 Marquette in second round at last second with coach watching from the clubhouse. Run out of the gym by #2 Texas in Sweet Sixteen.  Final Grade: B- (Johnson throws Johnson under the Greyhound on way out the door.) Final Four was North Carolina (1), Kansas (1), Memphis (1) and UCLA (1).

2014 - Hmmm gap year. #10 seed. Beat #7 New Mexico. Beat #2 Kansas. Lost to #11 Dayton in Sweet Sixteen. Final Grade: B+. Impressive win against Kansas damped by floperuni against Dayton.

Monty's tournament legacy is tempered by mid-career success fueling high expectations that weren't met toward the end of his time here. Trent had one average tournament run out of 3 tries.  Dawkins had a good tournament.  The singularity may do him in.  (Heck they are half way through an NIT title game and I'm typing this up instead of watching.)