Portland. The rain-soaked Oregon city was the last stop for Wichita State's nationally ranked Shockers this season.
Coach Gregg Marshall's 2011-12 team captured the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title and entered the NCAA Tournament with an impressive 26-5 record and — despite a gloomy 64-65 loss to Illinois State in the MVC Tournament semifinals in St. Louis — sunny expectations.
Before the NCAA Tournament brackets came out, Seth Davis of Sports Illustrated picked the Shockers in the Final Four. Sporting News called WSU the mid-major most likely to reach the Final Four, and AP's Jim O'Connell predicted WSU would defeat Virginia Commonwealth, New Mexico State, Connecticut and Duke on its way to New Orleans. Even after WSU found itself in the same bracket as one-seeded Kentucky, expectations for a deep Shocker run were barely dampened.
But it wasn't meant to be. On March 15 in second-round action at Portland's Rose Garden, the defense-minded, 12th-seeded VCU Rams held WSU to under 60 points for the first time all season, and the fifth-seeded Shockers — who put up a furious second-half rally that seemed sure to forecast a win — lost, 59-62.
