By Joe Vanden Acker, Director of Athletic Media Relations
    APPLETON, Wis. -- It's fitting that the top spot in our ranking of the Greatest Moments in Lawrence Athletics History goes to the team that was ranked No. 1.
    During the magical 2005-06 Lawrence University men's basketball season, the Vikings were acknowledged as the top team in the nation and stood alone as the country's only undefeated squad. Lawrence posted a regular season record of 22-0, became the only undefeated team in college basketball and ascended to the No. 1 ranking in the D3hoops.com Top 25.
    The Vikings started that season facing the No. 2-ranked team, UW-Oshkosh, and defeated the Titans 82-75 in overtime. Ranked fifth by mid-January, Lawrence was still rattling off win after win and moved to 14-0 with a 79-68 victory at St. Norbert College on Jan. 21, 2006. On the same day, the other three unbeaten teams in the nation, Duke, Florida and Pittsburgh, all went down to defeat. Duke lost 87-84 at Georgetown, Florida lost 80-76 at Tennessee and Pitt fell 55-50 at St. John's (N.Y.). 
    Lawrence was now the lone unbeaten team in the nation. 
    "It was exciting," All-American Chris Braier told Kieran Darcy of ESPN.com after learning the Vikings were the lone unbeaten team left. "Lots of people from campus came by. Everyone was celebrating. It felt good."
    The Vikings posted eight more victories as its streak ran past mid-February. Lawrence was ranked second when the Vikings won 64-63 at Carroll College (No. 11 on the Greatest Moments list) and followed that with a 67-52 win over St. Norbert three days later. During that same week, the No. 1-ranked College of Wooster lost 86-83 at Ohio Wesleyan University and No. 3 Baldwin-Wallace College lost 76-71 at Capital University. 
    Lawrence moved into the No. 1 spot in the poll on Feb. 20, 2006. 
    "It's very humbling. It's a dream world," Lawrence coach John Tharp told Sports Illustrated. "It doesn't matter how old you are -- a little kid to now -- you always dream about an undefeated season."
    Lawrence was only the second team from the Midwest Conference to own the top spot in a national poll.
    Lawrence then routed Knox College 88-62 in the semifinals of the Midwest Conference Tournament at Alexander Gymnasium. The Vikings held off a tough Carroll squad 68-62 in the tournament championship game to earn the league's automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Chris Braier, right, goes to the basket against Cory Jones of Illinois Wesleyan in the Sweet 16 of the 2006 NCAA Division III Tournament.
 
    The Vikings moved to 25-0 with a 63-59 victory over the University of St. Thomas in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Lawrence would see its perfect season come to an end with a 71-68 loss to Illinois Wesleyan University in the Sweet 16 (hosting the NCAA sectional tournament is No. 13 on the Greatest Moments list). 
    The Vikings posted the best winning percentage in the nation (.962) at any level, and the 2005-06 season completed the best three-year run of any team in the country. From 2003 through 2006, Lawrence's record of 69-12 (.852 winning percentage) was the best in the nation. 
    "The thing that's so great about this year is what it's done for the town and the school," Tharp told legendary sportswriter Jerry Izenberg of the Newark Star-Ledger. "It's kind of pushed them together and blended them. It forged them together in a common bond. That's what, for me, is so rewarding."

The Top 25 Countdown ...
No. 25 Lawrence football makes ABC-TV debut vs. Cornell in 1980
No. 24 Lawrence football beats Coe 14-10 in 1986 MWC Championship Game
No. 23 Lawrence women's soccer beats Aurora 2-1 for first NCAA Tournament win
No. 22 Aljay Wren and Nick Maxam team up for 99-yard touchdown pass
No. 21 Remarkable turnaround for women's basketball
No. 20 Jim Miller takes 12th at 1978 NCAA Cross Country Championships
No. 19 Basketball stars Kenya Earl, Brad Sendell chase scoring titles
No. 18 Cross country sweeps Midwest Conference titles in 2021
No. 17 Keven Bradley scores final 20 points for men's basketball in win over Ripon
No. 16 Men's basketball breaks 54-year drought by winning 1997 Midwest Conference title
No. 15 Football beats Ripon in final seconds to secure third straight Midwest Conference title
No. 14 Kate Leventhal runs to All-America cross country honors in 1981
No. 13 No. 1 Lawrence men's basketball team hosts 2006 NCAA Division III sectional
No. 12 (tie) Josh Janusiak runs to All-America honors/1950 cross country team eighth in nation
No. 11 Keven Bradley's buzzer-beater preserves perfect season and delivers Midwest Conference title
No. 10 Mike Gattnar wins NCAA title in epee
No. 9 Mallory Koula's 42-second hat trick
No. 8 1967 football team posts perfect season
No. 7 Men's hockey pulls off epic comeback against St. Norbert
No. 6 Sara Schye pitches Lawrence to pair of NCAA Tournament wins
No. 5 Andy Kazik caps perfect season with NCAA wrestling title
No. 4 Jiayi Ling wins Lawrence's first NCAA title with victory in long jump
No. 3 Men's basketball makes run to Elite Eight in 2004 NCAA Tournament
No. 2 Football wins NCAA playoff game, earns berth in national semifinals
No. 1 Men's basketball ranked No. 1 and posts undefeated regular season