Longtime Virginia fans know that their team has a bad history of choking in games, whether it's in the big games against top ranked opponents or the lowly underdogs. Virginia fans are constantly kept on their toes by their basketball and football teams and there is certainly never a dull moment. Virginia fans have come to learn "no lead is safe" as their mantra. Well, now we all have something to explain that: the "Curse of the Silverswords."

Head coach Pete Gillen knows about the curse all too well. The curse grabbed a hold of his basketball team after the 1999-2000 season, when his team failed to make the NCAA Tournament despite posting a 19-10 regular season record and an impressive 9-7 record in the brutal ACC. Nothing out of the ordinary about the snub, right? Wrong. North Carolina earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament instead of the Cavaliers, despite three key facts: Virginia swept the 'Heels during the regular season, Virginia had a better overall regular season record than UNC (18-12), and the 'Hoos had the same in-conference record as the 'Heels (9-7). Joe Forte and the Tarheels made the best of their berth, advancing all the way to the Final Four. Congrats, Joseph, be sure to thank the "Curse of the Silverswords" for that one.

How else do you explain one of the biggest meltdowns in Virginia basketball history during the 2001-2002 season? Virginia streaked out to a 9-0 start and climbed as high as fourth in the country in both polls, but buckled down the stretch and failed to make the NCAA Tournament with a 17-11 record. Even worse for Pete Gillen's club, they lost to South Carolina in the first round of the NIT at home, 74-67. Behold, the power of the curse.