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Which long-suffering NCAA fan base has the best shot at celebrating in 2017?

James Snook-USA TODAY Sports / Reuters

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It had been over 30 years since Villanova last tasted championship victory, but that ended last year with one sweet stroke by Kris Jenkins over North Carolina to win the program's second national championship.

With the Wildcats ending their drought, here are others looking to end theirs and make their fans have something good to feel about.

Gonzaga

Gonzaga burst onto the scene in 1999, when it reached the Elite 8 and would go on to become a perennial tournament contender, qualifying for 19 straight tournaments. The Bulldogs have reached two straight Sweet Sixteen's and lost to Duke in the Elite 8 two years ago.

Always the bridesmaid, but never the bride, a national championship would give Bulldogs fans bragging rights for decades.

Mark Few and his squad went almost wire-to-wire in the regular season without a loss before taking a defeat to BYU in their season finale. Still, the Bulldogs reached No. 1 in the polls for just the second time in school history, and hopefully, for their fans' sake, that means this could be the time to finally solidify Gonzaga as a top program.

Pac-12

Out west, Pac-12 fans are not like their southeastern brethren, where they don't chant "P-A-C" in conference unity. Still, no major conference has suffered as long and as much as those in the Pac-12, especially at Arizona, Oregon, and UCLA.

The Wildcats last won a national championship in 1997, a drought of 19 years, though they qualified for every tournament but two (2010, 2012) since then.

During that time, Arizona fans have seen a championship well within their grasps, only to have it snatched away. In 2001, the Wildcats lost to Duke in the national title game, while reaching the Elite 8 in 2011, 2014, and 2015.

Oregon fans laugh at Arizona's 19-year drought, as most Ducks fans can't remember the last time Oregon won a national championship. The year was 1939, a good 77 years ago, when the Ducks won their only title and it wasn't until the turn of the millennium that Oregon became a consistent tournament team.

Qualifying for nine of the last 17 tournaments (four straight), the Ducks are coming off an Elite 8 appearance in 2016 and are a No. 3 seed following a 27-4 season record led by Pac-12 Player of the Year, Dillon Brooks.

In Los Angeles, no program has fallen on harder times than UCLA, who won 11 national championships between 1964-1995, to now be in the midst of 21 years without another.

Between their last championship to present, the Bruins have only reached one title game (2006) and two other Final Fours (2007, 2008), while missing four tournaments completely (2003, 2004, 2010, 2012).

It has been a long time since Bruins fans were able to claim a championship, but with star Lonzo Ball at the helm, this may be the Bruins best chance.

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