Heartbreak
Played for it. Never held it.
141 programs have lined up against the belt holder — 389 games between them — and walked off without it every time. The mirror image of the records page.
Most belt games without ever winning it
Programs that have never held the belt, by attempts
Closest calls
Narrowest losses by programs that still haven’t won it
1Tufts 18771 pointlost 0–1 to Yale2Amherst 18781 pointlost 0–1 to Yale3Houston 19671 pointlost 13–14 to Ole Miss4San José State 19901 pointlost 34–35 to California5Trinity (CT) 18782 pointslost 0–2 to Yale6Williams 19092 pointslost 6–8 to Harvard7SMU 19252 pointslost 7–9 to West Virginia Wesleyan8Dartmouth 19113 pointslost 0–3 to Princeton9Boston College 19303 pointslost 0–3 to Fordham10Hawai'i 19943 pointslost 10–13 to Wyoming11San Diego State 20033 pointslost 13–16 to Ohio State12Springfield 19074 pointslost 5–9 to Harvard13Utah State 20114 pointslost 38–42 to Auburn14Kansas 20144 pointslost 30–34 to TCU15Iowa State 20154 pointslost 31–35 to Oklahoma State
Most belt games lost, all programs
Losses as the challenger, holders included
A belt game the challenger loses (or ties, since a tie keeps the belt with the holder) counts as an attempt. Programs that have held the belt at any point are excluded from the first two lists — their waiting is measured on the records page as a drought, not here as heartbreak.