The New Year's Eve Ball Drops on the Last Three Unbeatens

As Father Time shuffled out the final ours of 2017, he decided to take a few last-minute souvenirs with him.

Like the perfect records of Villanova, Arizona State, and TCU.

So, if the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers do the same champagne cork popping that the 1973 Miami Dolphins mythically do when a season's final undefeated club bites the maples, New Year's Eve was even more awash with bubbly than usual.

It's not the same as three presidents saying sayonara on the Fourth of July or something, but it is quite the coincidence.

The TCU Horned Frogs had been sorta flying under the radar at 11-0, but their 90-89 squeaker loss to Oklahoma was hardly a surprise. The Sooners are for real:

Hinkle Fieldhouse hasn't been kind to Villanova lately.

The Wildcats were dumped there last season by Butler, and this time around, Jay Wright's crew were bombed outta the building. The now 12-3 Bulldogs rained treys from the rafters at a 15-22 clip, an incredible 68.2% success rate.

When a team's that hot, it's impressive that 'Nova lost by only 101-93:

McKale Center is another tough venue for visiting teams, partly because the Arizona Wildcats are a perennial power.

However, these Wildcats have hit a few speed bumps in their non-cons, particularly going skunk-for-three in the Bahamas. Still, league play can be a great focus of attention, and that's part of what happened when Bobby Hurley led Arizona State into Tucson.

By the time they caught the bus a few hours later, the Sun Devils were 12-1 due to an 84-78 humbler:

This sudden culling of unbeatens at a calendar year's end should be symbolic of what's in store on the way to March Madness.

There's no solid favorite to hoist the hardware at tourney's end this season.

The usual suspects will make themselves known, but in 2018 more than ever, they'd best be on their guard.