Stanford, despite playing all four of its West Regional games in California, discovered what other elite clubs encountered -- a curse of sorts against top-ranked teams--when the Cardinal bowed to Maryland, 87-73.

Only two of the last 19 schools atop the national rankings entering the NCAA playoffs went on to capture the national championship and only three No. 1 squads in the last 15 seasons reached the title game.

Last year, Duke became the fifth No. 1 team in 12 years to fail to advance to a regional final when the Blue Devils were frustrated by Florida, 87-78, ending coach Mike Krzyzewski's streak of 26 consecutive victories in East Regional competition.

In 1992, Duke defied the curse by becoming the first top-ranked team in 10 years entering the NCAA Tournament to win the national title. The previous five top-ranked teams failed to reach the championship game. UNLV lost twice in the national semifinals (1987 and 1991) and Temple '88, Arizona '89 and Oklahoma '90 failed to reach the Final Four.

Stanford joined Temple, a 63-53 loser against Duke in the 1988 East Regional final, and Kansas State, an 85-75 loser against Cincinnati in the 1959 Midwest Regional final, as the only three consensus top-ranked teams entering the tourney to lose by a double-digit margin before the Final Four.

The school gaining the sweetest revenge against a top-ranked team was St. John's in 1952. Defending NCAA champion Kentucky humiliated the Redmen by 41 points (81-40) early in the season when the Catholic institution became the first to have a black player on the floor at Lexington, Ky., despite Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp's protests. The player, Solly Walker, played only a few minutes before he took a hit sidelining him for three weeks. But St. John's, sparked by center Bob Zawoluk's 32 points, avenged the rout by eliminating the Wildcats (64-57) in the East Regional, ending their 23-game winning streak. The Redmen, who then defeated second-ranked Illinois in the national semifinals, lost against Kansas in the NCAA final.

In the 1982 championship game, North Carolina needed a basket with 16 seconds remaining from freshman Michael Jordan to nip Georgetown, 63-62, and become the only top-ranked team in 13 years from 1979 through 1991 to capture the NCAA title. It was a particularly bitter pill to swallow for six of the 10 top-ranked teams to lose in the NCAA championship game in overtime or by two or three points in regulation.

Sizing up how the No. 1 teams fared in the NCAA playoffs through 2001 since the Associated Press introduced national rankings in 1949:

19--Won national title (Kentucky '49; Kentucky '51; Indiana '53; San Francisco '56; North Carolina '57; UCLA '64; UCLA '67; UCLA '69; UCLA '71; UCLA '72; UCLA '73; North Carolina State '74; UCLA '75; Indiana '76; Kentucky '78; North Carolina '82; Duke '92, and UCLA '95). 11--Finished as national runner-up (Bradley '50/defeated by CCNY; Ohio State '61/Cincinnati; Ohio State '62/Cincinnati; Cincinnati '63/Loyola of Chicago; Michigan '65/UCLA; Kentucky '66/Texas Western; Indiana State '79/Michigan State; Houston '83/North Carolina State; Georgetown '85/ Villanova; Duke '86/Louisville, and Duke '99/Connecticut).

6--Lost in national semifinals (Cincinnati '60/defeated by California; Houston '68/UCLA; UNLV '87/Indiana; UNLV '91/Duke; Massachusetts '96/Kentucky, and North Carolina '98/Utah).

7--Lost in regional finals (Kentucky '52/defeated by St. John's; Kansas State '59/Cincinnati; Kentucky '70/Jacksonville; Michigan '77/UNC Charlotte; Temple '88/Duke; Indiana '93/Kansas, and Stanford '01/Maryland).

4--Lost in regional semifinals (North Carolina '84/defeated by Indiana; Arizona '89/UNLV; Kansas '97/Arizona, and Duke '00/Florida).

4--Lost in second round (DePaul '80/defeated by UCLA; DePaul '81/St. Joseph's; Oklahoma '90/North Carolina, and North Carolina '94/Boston College).

1--Lost in first round (West Virginia '58/defeated by Manhattan).

1--Declined a berth (Kentucky '54).