UNIVERSITY of the East unwantedly entered the history books on Saturday, as it became only the eighth team in the UAAP Final Four era to go winless in a season.
READ: FEU ties bow on top of UE's second winless season in four years
It’s an infamous tag which only a few have gotten - and coach Chris Gavina and his leaders John Abate, Wello Lingolingo, and Precious Momowei would all have to live with this ignominy.
But what about the other seven teams in the past which had to live with this misery?
Let’s take a look back on those past winless teams.
NU Bulldogs (Season 57)
Frankly speaking, National U was the league’s whipping boys back in the 1990s.
But there were hopes with the school serving as that season’s hosts in 1994 and Adamson serving its suspension stemming from Marlou Aquino’s academic deficiencies.
But all of those chances for the Bulldogs went on a nosedive when incoming sophomore Danny Ildefonso got homesick and chose to go back to Pangasinan.
That left coach Sonny Paguia with a ragtag crew coming into that campaign, as he had the likes of Johnny Hernaez, Jay Remo, Ferdinand Rodriguez, Ynan Minoc, Adam Espera, Rommel Lampitoc at his disposal.
To no one’s surprise, that team went 0-12, with the only one making it to the pro league – and we’re being generous about this – being Gani Malindog who initially was a San Miguel practice player-turned-utility.
Adamson Soaring Falcons (Seasons 63 and 64)
Wanting a change of scenery, Adamson parted ways with longtime mentor Moises Urbiztondo and brought in young head coach Luigi Trillo for the new millennium.
What they did not expect, however, was how the Soaring Falcons would stumble for the next few seasons.
Already losing their last six games the prior season, the San Marcelino crew went 0-14 in back-to-back seasons, as Trillo had the likes of Melvin Mamaclay, Romy Mangulabnan, Raymond Cinco, and Christian Ferrer.
Not even the entry of upstarts like Mark Abadia, Ramil Tagupa, Jojo Hate, and Jeff Tajonera in 2001 could end their misery, as Adamson stumbled to 35 straight losses, with the breakthrough win only coming in 2002.
UP Fighting Maroons (Seasons 70, 73, and 76)
When people look back on Diliman’s dark days, this one’s the lowest of the lowlights, with the University of the Philippines suffering runs of futility in three seasons in seven years.
The first was in 2007, marking the end of coach Joe Lipa’s most recent time as a Fighting Maroon, as he failed to register victories despite having Magi Sison and Woody Co leading the charge together with holdovers Migs de Asis, Martin Reyes, and rookies Mike Gamboa and Mark Lopez.
Then came the tumultuous 2010 season with Aboy Castro resigning after just two games and leaving the squad to the reins of Boyet Fernandez.
The Fighting Maroons actually came to the season with a lot of promise after the acquisition of Mike Silungan and Joshua Saret, but could not recover from the coaching change, as they went 0-14 once more.
But nothing could prepare them for the 2013 season.
Mikee Reyes left the team after one game and worse, Ricky Dandan had a falling out with then-team manager Rey Madrid, leading to the former resigning and the latter taking his place eight games into the campaign.
Those were just too much for a State U side which actually featured the likes of Kyles Lao, Raul Soyud, JR Gallarza, Joseph Marata, and young guns Paul Desiderio and Andre Paras. And thus, they went on to drop the remainder of their games, forming the bulk of the Fighting Maroons’ infamous 27-game losing skid which spanned from 2012 to 2014.
UE Red Warriors (Season 84)
Curiously, the last team to also go winless was also UE.
With the Red Warriors gutted out by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Recto side struggled in their first year under coach Jack Santiago inside the bubble season of 2022.
Not even the promise of young guns Clint Escamis and Harvey Pagsanjan could change the trajectory of that squad which also included the likes of Jem Cruz, Allan Beltran, Jojo Antiporda, and brothers Nico and Kyle Paranada.
And yes, this was the season where Orin Catacutan bafflingly shot in his team’s own basket.
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