The 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 10, 2017. The first tournament was the 2K Sports Classic and the season ended with the Final Four in San Antonio on April 2, 2018. Practices officially began on September 29, 2017. Get the latest NCAA basketball news, scores, stats, standings, and more from ESPN. The UCLA Bruins men's basketball program represents the University of California, Los Angeles in the sport of men's basketball as a member of the Pac-12 Conference. Established in 1919, the program has won a record 11 NCAA titles. Coach John Wooden led the Bruins to 10 national titles in 12 seasons, from 1964 to 1975, including seven straight from 1967 to 1973. UCLA went undefeated a record four times. Coach Jim Harrick led the team to another NCAA. Note: In 1917, 1918, 1943, and 1944, football teams from military training facilities competed alongside college programs note: In 1996, the NCAA eliminated ties with a new overtime system Teams with multiple undefeated seasons. Teams ordered by the number of undefeated seasons in the top division.

• Undefeated Ncaa Basketball Teams 2017 Season
• Undefeated Ncaa Basketball Teams 2017 2018
• Undefeated Ncaa Basketball Teams 2017
• Undefeated Ncaa Basketball Teams 2017 Roster
• Remaining Undefeated Ncaa Basketball Teams

If they advance and win the championship game on Saturday, they'll be the first team since the 2017-2018 UConn Huskies to go undefeated and win a conference tournament. If the Lancers win the WAC.

Unheralded Drake University, the 5,000-student private school in Des Moines, Iowa, has become the darling of college basketball. The Bulldogs are one of just three undefeated men’s teams left in the NCAA, and they’re tied for the most wins in America.

Three of the Bulldogs starters know something about fairy tale seasons – lessons they learned 1,500 miles to the south, all the way down in Fort Myers.

ShanQuan Hemphill, Tremell Murphy and D.J. Wilkins, who together average 32.6 of Drake’s 82.2 points per game, began their college careers at Florida SouthWestern State. All three were with the 2017-18 team that went 30-3 and advanced to the national junior college quarterfinals in the program’s second year of existence.

More: High profile: Florida SouthWestern basketball loaded with D-I recruits, some BCS level

More: Gulf Coast Showcase a homecoming for Drake assistant coach Marty Richter, former FSW stars

The man leading that FSW team is guiding those players again. Marty Richter, also a former FGCU assistant, was the head coach of the Buccaneers from 2016-18 and now is an assistant at Drake.

“I am so happy for all three of them,” Richter said about the success his former FSW players have found at Drake. “They worked their tails off (at FSW) to get the opportunity to play Division I basketball. To see them doing so well, to get rewarded for their hard work, I’m speechless because I’m so excited for them.”

On Monday night Drake won its 17th straight game to start the season. Hemphill, Murphy and Wilkins have started all 17 of those victories.

Undefeated Ncaa Basketball Teams 2017 Season

Also this week, Drake made the Ferris Mowers coaches' poll at No. 25 and the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time in 13 years, coming in at No. 25.

Undefeated Ncaa Basketball Teams 2017 2018

Hemphill, a 6-foot-6 senior forward known as “Tank”, leads the Bulldogs in scoring at 14.1 points per game and is second in rebounding (5.6). Also a 6-6 senior, Murphy averages 7.9 points and 4.9 rebounds. Wilkins, a 6-2 junior guard, scores 10.6 points per game.

Add a fifth former Buccaneer to Drake’s successful mix – Anthony Murphy, Tremell’s twin brother, is the Bulldogs’ graduate assistant after playing for the team the past two years. Anthony Murphy also was on the 2017-18 FSW team.

“It’s a dream come true, play with my best friend and my brother the year before that,” Tremell Murphy said. “We’ve bought in to what the coaches are saying. We’re just trying to handle our business. The record doesn’t mean anything.”

After Drake improved to 15-0 last week, head coach Darian DeVries praised his team’s chemistry and maturity. Those factors were key during the Bulldogs’ 22-day break between games due to COVID-19 within the program.

During that time the players were not allowed to meet or practice as a team for more than a week. However, Drake didn’t miss a beat, winning four straight since resuming the season.

DeVries said his tight-knit former FSW players set an example of togetherness the rest of the team can follow.

“You can tell (their bond) in everything they do,” DeVries said. “They have a natural feel for each other. They understand each other’s games. They know when to push each other or put their arms around him.

“It’s a big part of where our chemistry comes from. A big part of it is those guys playing together their first couple of years down in junior college.

That chemistry started well before the players got to Fort Myers. Hemphill, Wilkins and the Murphys all grew up in Northwestern Indiana, an area just outside of Chicago simply called “The Region”. They played on the same travel teams as far back as middle school.

After the 2017-18 season at FSW, Richter left to join DeVries in the head coach’s first year at Drake. It was a return home for Richter, who grew up 120 miles away in Waterloo, Iowa, and played at Simpson College just outside of Des Moines.

Wilkins, who redshirted his only season at FSW in 2017-18, followed Richter to Drake. So did Anthony and Tremell Murphy. Hemphill transferred to Green Bay, redshirted one of his two years there due to injury, then joined Drake this season as a graduate transfer.

“It’s tough to put into words just how amazing this season has been,” Hemphill said. “All the pieces came together, with me joining the FSW guys along with Coach Marty and playing with the guys I grew up with. It’s been great to do that this year.”

Undefeated Ncaa Basketball Teams 2017

The Murphy brothers and Hemphill were in Richter’s first recruiting class at FSW, after the school resurrected its long-dormant athletic program and added basketball in 2016. Wilkins joined the team the following season.

More: Watch: Drake downs Murray State to go 2-1 at Gulf Coast Showcase

More: Bucs to the top: FSW men's basketball No. 1 in NJCAA poll for first time in program history

More: FSW's Oliver signs with St. Bonaventure; Bucs' Murphy named to NABC All-America team

Hemphill said he sees similarities between the Bulldogs and the FSW squad that won 30 games and went to the National Junior College Athletic Association Elite Eight.

“The teamwork, the togetherness – that mirrors the 2018 (FSW) team,” Hemphill said. “That’s the key. We’ve got that within the Drake team right now.”

After leading Drake to its best season in decades, the former Bucs hope they can have the same success they had at FSW. Before DeVries arrived in 2018, Drake had had just one winning season in the previous decade. The Bulldogs have not been to the NCAA tournament since 2008 when they went 28-5, a program record for wins in a season.

If Drake can keep winning into March, Richter will be in familiar territory.

Richter spent four season as an assistant at FGCU, two years under Andy Enfield (now at USC) and then two under Joe Dooley (now at East Carolina). His second year was the season of Dunk City, when FGCU made it to the NCAA tournament in its second season of eligibility and became the first No. 15 seed to ever advance to the Sweet Sixteen.

“I can’t thank them enough,” Richter said the four players who followed him to Drake. “They got FSW going. They trusted me then, and they trusted me to come here. And they’re all such unbelievable kids.

Undefeated Ncaa Basketball Teams 2017 Roster

“It’s been really fun. To do what we’ve been able to do, it’s been a very special year.”

Remaining Undefeated Ncaa Basketball Teams

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Drake's undefeated men's basketball team has roots in Southwest Florida, thanks to FSW