What A Run
Never before have the Baylor's men's and women's basketball programs enjoyed such success in the same year, with head coach Scott Drew's men reaching the Elite Eight for the first time since 1950 and head coach Kim Mulkey's Lady Bears making their second Final Four appearance in six years.
When the final ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Polls were released in April, the Bears were ranked 10th in the nation -- their highest ranking ever -- while the Lady Bears were No. 4 in the country, the squad's best finish since winning the national championship in 2005.
Below is an illustrated history of each team's 2010 March Madness run.
March 15 Several hundred fans gathered at the Ferrell Center to see the Bears named a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament's South Region -- the program's best-ever seeding.
March 18 Playing in his home state of Louisiana at New Orleans Arena, LaceDarius Dunn and the Bears earned the program's first NCAA tournament victory since 1950, a 68-59 win over Sam Houston State.
March 20 Senior Josh Lomers' career-high 14 points and eight rebounds led the Baylor men to the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history with a 76-68 defeat of Old Dominion.
March 20 Back in the starting lineup for the first time in two months, Melissa Jones had 11 points, nine rebounds and five assists as the No. 4-seeded Lady Bears defeated Fresno State, 69-55.
March 22 National Freshman of the Year Brittney Griner blocked an NCAA tournament record 14 shots (setting a new NCAA single-season blocks record in the process) in Baylor's 49-33 win over Georgetown.
March 26 All-American Ekpe Udoh and the rest of the Bears put together their best game of the season to rout Saint Mary's 72-49 in the Sweet 16, cementing their spot among the nation's top 10 teams for 2010.
March 27 Appearing in the Sweet 16 for the fifth time in seven years, the Lady Bears avenged an early season loss to Tennessee by ending the No. 1 seed Lady Vols' season with a 77-62 victory.
March 28 More than 47,000 fans filled Houston's Reliant Center for Baylor's Elite Eight showdown with eventual national champion Duke. The game also drew the NCAA's highest non-Final Four TV audience since 2005. The Blue Devils slipped past Baylor, 78-71.
March 29 The Lady Bears scored six straight points in the final two minutes to upset No. 2 seed Duke, 51-48, and advance to the Final Four for the second time in program history.
April 4 Eventual national champion UConn ended the Lady Bears' season, 70-50, as the Huskies won their 77th straight game. Earlier in the day, sophomore Lindsay Palmer was honored with the Elite 88 Award for the NCAA women's basketball tournament, given to the student-athlete with the highest GPA participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA's 88 championships.
