NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
Encyclopedia
The NCAA
Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single-elimination
tournament
held each spring in the United States, featuring 68 college basketball
teams, to determine the national championship in the top tier of college basketball. The tournament, organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association
(NCAA), was created in 1939
by the National Association of Basketball Coaches
, and was the brainchild of Ohio State university coach Harold Olsen
. Held mostly in March, it is known informally as March Madness or the Big Dance, and has become one of the most prominent annual sporting events in the United States.
The tournament teams include champions from 31 Division I conferences (which receive automatic bid
s), and 37 teams which are awarded at-large berth
s. These "at-large" teams are chosen by an NCAA selection committee, as detailed below. The 68 teams are divided into four regions and organized into a single elimination "bracket", which predetermines, when a team wins a game, which team it will face next. Each team is "seeded", or ranked, within its region. After an initial four games between eight lower-seeded teams, the tournament takes place over the course of three weekends, at pre-selected neutral sites around the United States. Lower-seeded teams are placed in the bracket against higher seeded teams. Each weekend cuts three-fourths of the teams, from a Round of 64, to a "Sweet Sixteen", to a "Final Four"; the Final Four usually play on the first weekend in April. These four teams, one from each region, battle it out in one destination for the national championship.
The tournament has been at least partially televised since 1969, and today, with games covered by CBS
, TBS, TNT, and truTV, all games are available for viewing nationwide. As television coverage has grown, so too has the tournament's popularity and place in American culture. Today, millions of Americans "fill out a bracket", predicting winners of all 67 games.
With 11 national titles, UCLA
holds the record for the most NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championships; John Wooden
coached UCLA to 10 of its 11 titles. The University of Kentucky
is second, with 7 national titles, while Indiana University
and the University of North Carolina
are tied for third with 5 national titles. 2010 champion Duke University
ranks fifth with 4 national titles.
The NCAA has changed the tournament format several times since its inception, most often reflecting an expansion of the field. This section describes the tournament as it has operated since 2011. For changes over the course of its history, and to see how the tournament operated in past years, go to Format history, below.
does not conduct a post-season tournament; its automatic bid goes to the regular-season conference champion.
The remaining thirty-seven (37) tournament slots are granted to at-large
bids, which are determined by the Selection Committee
, a special committee appointed by the NCAA. The committee also determines where all sixty-eight teams are seeded and placed in the bracket.
The names of the regions vary from year to year, and are broadly geographic (such as "Southeast", "East" or "Midwest"). The selected names roughly correspond to the location of the four cities hosting the regional finals. For example, in 2011, the regions were named East (Newark, New Jersey), West (Anaheim, California), Southwest (San Antonio, Texas), and Southeast (New Orleans). However, oftentimes the chosen names for the regions appear counterintuitive to some observers, such as in 1990, when Atlanta hosted the East regional and Richmond hosted the Southeast regional.
The bracket is thus set in stone, and in the semifinals, the champion of top #1 seed's region will play against the champion of the fourth No. 1 seed's region, and the champion of the second-ranked #1 seed's region will play against the champion of third-ranked #1 seed's region.
The selection committee is also instructed to place teams so that whenever possible, conference teams cannot meet until the regional finals. In addition, they are also instructed to avoid any possible rematches of regular season or previous year's tournament games during the Rounds of 32 and 64.
However, while a team can be moved to a different region if its home court is being used in any of the first two weeks of the tournament, the Final Four venue is determined years in advance, and cannot be changed regardless of participants. For this reason, in theory a team could play in a Final Four on its home court; in reality, this would be unlikely, since the Final Four is usually staged at a venue larger than most college basketball arenas.
The tournament is single-elimination; this format increases the chance of Cinderella
advancing in the tournament. This is because, although these lower-seeded teams are forced to play stronger teams, they need only win once to advance, instead of winning a majority of games in a series, such as is done in professional basketball.
While most NCAA tournament games are played over the weekend, the First Four games are played during the week, between Selection Sunday and the weekend immediately following. Once the First Four games are played, the four winning teams assume their places in the bracket of 64 teams, and must play again that weekend, with little rest.
The Third Round (the Round of 32) is played on Saturday and Sunday immediately following the second round. The third round consists of Thursday's winners playing in eight games on Saturday, followed by Friday's winners playing in the remaining eight third-round games on Sunday. Thus, after the first weekend, 16 teams remain, commonly called the "Sweet Sixteen."
), which are played on the second weekend of the tournament (again, the games are split into Thursday/Saturday and Friday/Sunday). Four regional semi-final games are played Thursday and four are played Friday. After Friday's games, 8 teams (the Elite Eight) remain. Saturday features two regional final games matching Thursday's winners and Sunday's two final games match Friday's winners. After the second weekend of the tournament, the four regional champions emerge as the "Final Four."
H. V. Porter
, an official with the Illinois High School Association
(and later a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame
), was the first person to use March Madness to describe a basketball tournament. Porter published an essay named March Madness in 1939, and in 1942 used the phrase in a poem, Basketball Ides of March. Through the years the use of March Madness picked up steam, especially in Illinois
, Indiana
, and other parts of the Midwest
. During this period the term was used almost exclusively in reference to state high school tournaments. In 1977 Jim Enright published a book about the Illinois tournament entitled March Madness.
Fans began connecting the term to the NCAA tournament in the early 1980s. Evidence suggests that CBS
sportscaster Brent Musburger
, who had worked for many years in Chicago
before joining CBS, popularized the term during the annual tournament broadcasts.
Only in the 1990s did either the IHSA or NCAA think about trademark
ing the term, and by that time a small television production company named Intersport had beaten them both to the punch. IHSA eventually bought the trademark rights from Intersport, and then went to court to establish its primacy. IHSA sued GTE Vantage, an NCAA licensee that used the name March Madness for a computer game based on the college tournament. In 1996, in a historic ruling, Illinois High School Association v. GTE Vantage, Inc., the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
created the concept of a "dual-use trademark," granting both the IHSA and NCAA the right to trademark the term for their own purposes.
Following the ruling, the NCAA and IHSA joined forces and created the March Madness Athletic Association to coordinate the licensing of the trademark and investigate possible trademark infringement. One such case involved a company that had obtained the internet domain name
marchmadness.com and was using it to post information about the NCAA tournament. In 2003, in March Madness Athletic Association v. Netfire, Inc., the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
held that March Madness was not a generic term, and ordered Netfire to relinquish the domain name to the NCAA.
Later in the 2000s, the IHSA relinquished its ownership share in the trademark, although it retained the right to use the term in connection with high school championships. In October 2010, the NCAA reached a settlement with Intersport, paying $17.2 million for the latter company's license to use the trademark.
Some claim that the phrase Final Four was first used to describe the final games of Indiana's
annual high school basketball tournament. But the NCAA, which has a trademark on the term, says Final Four was originated by a Plain Dealer sportswriter, Ed Chay, in a 1975 article that appeared in the Official Collegiate Basketball Guide. The article stated that Marquette University
“was one of the final four” in the 1974 tournament. The NCAA started capitalizing the term in 1978 and turning it into a trademark several years later.
In recent years, the term Final Four has spread into other sports besides basketball. Tournaments which use Final Four include the Euroleague
in basketball, national basketball competitions in several European countries and the now-defunct European Hockey League. Together with the name Final Four, these tournaments have adopted an NCAA-style format in which the four surviving teams compete in a single-elimination tournament held in one place, typically, during one weekend. The derivative term "Frozen Four" is used by the NCAA to refer to the final rounds of the Division I men's and women's ice hockey
tournaments. Until 1999, it was just a popular nickname for the last two rounds of the hockey tournament; officially, it was also called the Final Four.
team, there does seem to be a consensus that such teams represent small schools, are seeded rather low in the tournament, and achieve at least one unexpected win in the tournament. The term became popularized as a result of CCNY
's run through the tournament in 1950. Since 1950, the term has seen use in other sports as well, though nowhere is it as prominent as in the NCAA tournament.
has referred to the filling out of a tournament bracket as a "national pastime". Filling out a tournament bracket with predictions is called the practice of bracketology
, and sports programming during the tournament is rife with commentators comparing the accuracy of their predictions. On the Dan Patrick
radio show, a wide variety of celebrities from various fields (such as Darius Rucker
, Charlie Sheen
, and Brooklyn Decker
) have posted full brackets with predictions. President Obama's bracket is posted on the White House website.
There are many different tournament prediction scoring systems. Most award points for correctly picking the winning team in a particular match up, with increasingly more points being given for correctly predicting later round winners. Some provide bonus points for correctly predicting upsets, the amount of the bonus varying based on the degree of upset.
There are 2^63 or 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 (9.2 quintillion) possibilities for the possible winners in a 64 team NCAA bracket, making the odds of randomly picking a perfect bracket (i.e. without weighting for seed number) 9.2 quintillion to 1. With the expansion of the tournament field to 68 teams in 2011, the odds are now increased to 2^67 or 147,573,952,589,676,412,928 (147.57 quintillion) possibilities.
The NCAA tournament has changed its format many times over the years. Below are listed many of these changes.
, the NCAA has required that all Final Four sessions take place in domed stadiums with a minimum capacity of 40,000, usually having only a half of the dome in use. The last small arena to host the Final Four was The Meadowlands in 1996
. As of 2009
, the minimum was raised to 70,000, by adding additional seating on the floor of the dome, and raising the court on a platform three feet above the dome's floor, which is usually crowned for football
, like the setup at Minnesota
's Metrodome
.
The first instance of a domed stadium
being used for a NCAA Tournament Final Four was the Houston Astrodome
in 1971
, but the Final Four would not return to a dome until 1982
, when the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans hosted the event for the first time.
, only once has a team played a Final Four on its actual home court. But through the 2011 tournament, three other teams have played the Final Four in their home cities, one other team has played in its metropolitan area, and six additional teams have played the Final Four in their home states through the 2010 tournament. Kentucky (1958
), UCLA (1968
, 1972
, 1975
) and North Carolina State (1974
) won the national title; Louisville (1959
) and Purdue (1980
) lost in the Final Four; and California (1960
), Duke (1994
), Michigan State (2009
) and Butler (2010
) lost in the final.
The biggest advantage was in 1959 when Louisville played at its regular home of Freedom Hall
; however, they lost to West Virginia in the semifinals. The following year, Cal had nearly as large an edge, as they only had to cross San Francisco Bay
to play in the Final Four at the Cow Palace
in Daly City
; the Golden Bears lost in the championship game to Ohio State. UCLA had a similar advantage in 1968 and 1972 when it advanced to the Final Four at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena
, not many miles from the Bruins' homecourt of Pauley Pavilion
(and also UCLA's home arena before the latter venue opened in 1965); unlike Louisville and Cal, the Bruins won the national title on both occasions. Butler lost the 2010 title 6 miles (9.7 km) from its Indianapolis campus.
Before the Final Four was established, the East and West regionals were held at separate sites, with the winners advancing to the title game. During that era, three teams, all from Manhattan
, played in the East Regional at Madison Square Garden
—frequently used as a "big-game" venue by each team—and advanced at least to the national semifinals. NYU won the East Regional in 1945
but lost in the title game, also held at the Garden, to Oklahoma A&M
. CCNY
played in the East Regional in both 1947
and 1950
; the Beavers lost in the 1947 East final to eventual champion Holy Cross
but won the 1950 East Regional and national titles at the Garden.
In 1974, North Carolina State won the NCAA tournament without leaving their home state, North Carolina. The team was put in the East Region, and played its regional games at home arena Reynolds Coliseum
. NC State played the final four and national championship games at nearby Greensboro Coliseum
.
While not their home state, Kansas has played in the championship game in Kansas City, Missouri
, only 45 minutes from their campus in Lawrence, Kansas
, not just once, but four times. In 1940, 1953, and 1957 they lost the championship game each time at Municipal Auditorium. In 1988, playing at Kansas City's Kemper Arena
, Kansas won the championship, over Big Eight rival Oklahoma.
and Colonial Life Arena in South Carolina
from hosting tournament games, despite their sizes (16,000 and 18,000 seats, respectively) because of an NAACP
protest at the Bi-Lo Center during the 2002 first and second round tournament games over that state's refusal to take down the Confederate Battle Flag from their state capitol. Following requests by the NAACP and Black Coaches Association, the Bi-Lo Center, and the newly built Colonial Center, which was built for purposes of hosting the tournament, were banned from hosting any future tournament events.
, the coach of North Carolina State, who stood on his players' shoulders to accomplish the feat after the Wolfpack won the Southern Conference tournament in 1947.
The champions also receive a commemorative gold championship ring, and the other three Final Four teams receive Final Four rings.
The National Association of Basketball Coaches
also presents a more elaborate marble/crystal trophy to the winning team. Ostensibly, this award is given for taking the top position in the NABC's end-of-season poll, but this is invariably the same as the NCAA championship game winner. In 2005, Siemens AG
acquired naming rights to the NABC trophy, which is now called the Siemens Trophy. Formerly, the NABC trophy was presented right after the standard NCAA championship trophy, but this caused some confusion. Since 2006, the Siemens/NABC Trophy has been presented separately at a press conference the day after the game.
award (which almost always come from the championship team). It is not intended to be the same as a Most Valuable Player award although it is sometimes informally referred to as such.
, a division of Time Warner
(which co-owns the CW Television Network
with CBS). The current contract runs through 2024 and, for the first time in history, provides for the nationwide broadcast each year of all games of the tournament. All First Four games air on truTV. A featured second- or third-round game in each time "window" is broadcast on CBS, while all other games are shown either on TBS
, TNT or truTV. Sweet 16 (regional semifinal) games are broadcast on CBS and TBS. Through 2015, all games from the Elite Eight (regional final) onwards are shown on CBS exclusively. Beginning in 2016, CBS and TBS will split coverage of the Elite Eight. CBS and TBS will alternate coverage of the Final Four and national championship game, with TBS getting the final two rounds in even numbered years, and CBS getting the games in odd numbered years. March Madness On Demand would remain unchanged, although Turner is allowed to develop their own service.
The CBS broadcast provides the NCAA with over 500 million dollars annually, and makes up over 90% of the NCAA's annual revenue.
The revenues from the multi-billion-dollar television contract are divided among the Division I basketball playing schools and conferences as follows:
The Division I Men's Basketball tournament is the only NCAA championship tournament where the NCAA does not keep the profits.
, but not all games were televised. The early rounds, in particular, were not always seen on TV.
In 1982, CBS
obtained broadcast television rights to the NCAA tournament.
began showing the opening rounds of the tournament. This was the network's first contract signed with the NCAA for a major sport, and helped to establish ESPN's following among college basketball fans. ESPN showed six first-round games on Thursday and again on Friday, with CBS then picking up a seventh game at 11:30 pm ET. Thus, 14 of 32 first-round games were televised. ESPN also re-ran games overnight. At the time, there was only one ESPN network, with no ability to split its signal regionally, so ESPN showed only the most competitive games. During the 1980s, the tournament's popularity on television soared, no doubt due to the extensive coverage provided by ESPN.
, using CBS graphics and announcers. CBS and TNN were both owned by Viacom at the time.)
Through 2010, CBS broadcasted the remaining 63 games of the NCAA tournament proper. Most areas saw only eight of 32 first round games, seven second round games, and four regional semifinal games (out of the possible 56 games during these rounds; there would be some exceptions to this rule in the 2000s). Coverage preempted regular programming on the network, except during a 2 hour window from about 5 ET until 7 ET when the local affiliates could show programming. The CBS format resulted in far fewer hours of first-round coverage than under the old ESPN format but allowed the games to reach a much larger audience than ESPN was able to reach.
During this period of near-exclusivity by CBS, the network provided to its local affiliates three types of feeds from each venue: constant feed, swing feed, and flex feed. Constant feeds remain primarily on a given game, and are used primarily by stations with a clear local interest in a particular game. Despite its name, a constant feed will occasionally veer away to other games for brief updates (as is typical in most American sports coverage), but coverage generally remains with the initial game. A swing feed tends to stay on games believed to be of natural interest to the locality, such as teams from local conferences, but may leave that game to go to other games that during their progress become close matches. On a flex feed, coverage bounces around from one venue to another, depending on action at the various games in progress. If one game is a blowout, coverage can switch to a more competitive game. A flex feed is provided when there are not games that have a significant natural local interest for the stations carrying them, allowing the flex game to be the best game in progress. Station feeds are planned in advance and stations have the option of requesting either constant or flex feed for various games.
began broadcasting all games otherwise not shown on local television with its Mega March Madness premium package. The DirecTV system used the subscriber's zip code
to black out games which could be seen on broadcast television. Prior to that, all games were available on C-Band satellite and were picked up by sports bars.
In 2003, CBS struck a deal with Yahoo!
to offer live streaming of the first three rounds of games under its Yahoo! Platinum service, for $16.95 a month. In 2004, CBS began selling viewers access to March Madness On Demand, which provided games not otherwise shown on broadcast television; the service was free for AOL
subscribers. In 2006, March Madness On Demand was made free, and continues to be so today to online users.
In addition, CBS College Sports Network (formerly CSTV) had broadcast two "late early" games that would not otherwise be broadcast nationally. These were the second games in the daytime session in the Pacific Time Zone
, to avoid starting games before 10 AM. These games are also available via March Madness on Demand and on CBS affiliates in the market areas of the team playing. In other markets, newscasts, local programming or preempted CBS morning programming are aired. CBS-CS is scheduled to continue broadcasting the official pregame and postgame shows and press conferences from the teams involved.
NCAA partner AT&T Mobility also broadcasts all games via the MobiTV
infrastructure, which is available on phones compatible with AT&T's Mobile TV service. For the iPhone
, a premium-charge application is available via the App Store to watch the games.
and analog
had the option of airing separate games on their HD and SD channels, to take advantage of the available high definition coverage. Beginning in 2007, all games in the tournament (including all first and second round games) were available in high definition, and local stations were required to air the same game on both their analog and digital channels. However, due to satellite limitations, first round "constant" feeds were only available in standard definition. Moreover, some digital television stations, such as WRAL-TV
in Raleigh, North Carolina
, choose to not participate in HDTV broadcasts of the first and second rounds and the regional semifinals, and used their available bandwidth to split their signal into digital subchannel
s to show all games going on simultaneously. By 2008, upgrades at the CBS broadcast center allowed all feeds, flex and constant, to be in HD for the tournament.
Has happened only once, in 2008
, when Kansas, North Carolina, UCLA, and Memphis all won their regionals. (Memphis's season was later vacated by the NCAA due to use of an ineligible player).
Two #1 seeds making it to the championship game
Has happened six times:
Tournaments with NO #1 seeds in the Final Four
Has happened three times:
Additional #1 seed trivia
In 2011, John Calipari also accomplished that feat, taking Kentucky (2011) to the Final Four after also reaching the tournament's last weekend previously with Memphis (2008) and UMass (1996). The latter two tournament appearances were later vacated due to NCAA sanctions on those programs.
Largest margin of victory in a championship game
30 points, by UNLV in 1990
(103-73, over Duke)
Smallest margin of victory in a championship game
1 point, on six occasions
Overtime games in a championship game
Seven times the championship game has been tied at the end of regulation. On one of those occasions (1957
) the game went into double and then triple overtime.
Largest point differential accumulated over the entire tournament
Teams winning the championship and obtaining a margin of 10 points in every game of the tournament
Achieved seven times by six different schools
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single-elimination
Single-elimination tournament
A single-elimination tournament, also called a knockout, cup or sudden death tournament, is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match or bracket is immediately eliminated from winning the championship or first prize in the event...
tournament
Tournament
A tournament is a competition involving a relatively large number of competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:...
held each spring in the United States, featuring 68 college basketball
College basketball
College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....
teams, to determine the national championship in the top tier of college basketball. The tournament, organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
(NCAA), was created in 1939
1939 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
-External links:* on Shrp Sports * , source for much of the information on this page.-See also:* 1939 NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament...
by the National Association of Basketball Coaches
National Association of Basketball Coaches
The National Association of Basketball Coaches , headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, is an American organization of college men's basketball coaches...
, and was the brainchild of Ohio State university coach Harold Olsen
Harold Olsen
Harold G. Olsen was a college men's basketball coach. The Rice Lake, Wisconsin native was the head coach of the Ohio State University from 1922 to 1946. That year he became the first head coach of the BAA's Chicago Stags, where he coached almost three seasons before being replaced by Philip...
. Held mostly in March, it is known informally as March Madness or the Big Dance, and has become one of the most prominent annual sporting events in the United States.
The tournament teams include champions from 31 Division I conferences (which receive automatic bid
Automatic bid
Automatic bid is a term generally used to describe a bid or berth to a tournament, granted based on performance in prior competition, and not based on subjective picking...
s), and 37 teams which are awarded at-large berth
At-large bid
An at-large bid is a bid or berth in a sporting tournament granted by invitation, not right. This term is most commonly used in the United States to refer to berths that the NCAA grants in its annual Division I men's and women's basketball tournaments, although at-large berths are granted in almost...
s. These "at-large" teams are chosen by an NCAA selection committee, as detailed below. The 68 teams are divided into four regions and organized into a single elimination "bracket", which predetermines, when a team wins a game, which team it will face next. Each team is "seeded", or ranked, within its region. After an initial four games between eight lower-seeded teams, the tournament takes place over the course of three weekends, at pre-selected neutral sites around the United States. Lower-seeded teams are placed in the bracket against higher seeded teams. Each weekend cuts three-fourths of the teams, from a Round of 64, to a "Sweet Sixteen", to a "Final Four"; the Final Four usually play on the first weekend in April. These four teams, one from each region, battle it out in one destination for the national championship.
The tournament has been at least partially televised since 1969, and today, with games covered by CBS
College Basketball on CBS
College Basketball on CBS presented by State Farm is a presentation of men's NCAA Division I basketball games on CBS...
, TBS, TNT, and truTV, all games are available for viewing nationwide. As television coverage has grown, so too has the tournament's popularity and place in American culture. Today, millions of Americans "fill out a bracket", predicting winners of all 67 games.
With 11 national titles, UCLA
UCLA Bruins men's basketball
The UCLA Bruins men's basketball program, established in 1920, owns a record 11 Division I NCAA championships. UCLA teams coached by John Wooden won 10 national titles in 12 seasons from 1964 to 1975, including 7 straight from 1967 to 1973. UCLA went undefeated a record 4 times, in 1964, 1967,...
holds the record for the most NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championships; John Wooden
John Wooden
John Robert Wooden was an American basketball player and coach. Nicknamed the "Wizard of Westwood", he won ten NCAA national championships in a 12-year period — seven in a row — as head coach at UCLA, an unprecedented feat. Within this period, his teams won a record 88 consecutive games...
coached UCLA to 10 of its 11 titles. The University of Kentucky
Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
The Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team, representing the University of Kentucky, is the winningest in the history of college basketball, both in all-time wins and all-time winning percentage. Kentucky's all-time record currently stands at 2058–647...
is second, with 7 national titles, while Indiana University
Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball
The Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team is the intercollegiate men's basketball program representing Indiana University . The school competes in the Big Ten Conference in Division I of the NCAA. The Hoosiers play on Branch McCracken Court at the Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana on the IU...
and the University of North Carolina
North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball
The North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball program is the intercollegiate men's basketball of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and is considered one of the most successful programs in NCAA history...
are tied for third with 5 national titles. 2010 champion Duke University
Duke Blue Devils men's basketball
The Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team is the college basketball program representing Duke University in the Atlantic Coast Conference of NCAA Division I...
ranks fifth with 4 national titles.
Current tournament format
The NCAA has changed the tournament format several times since its inception, most often reflecting an expansion of the field. This section describes the tournament as it has operated since 2011. For changes over the course of its history, and to see how the tournament operated in past years, go to Format history, below.
Qualifying
A total of 68 teams qualify for the tournament played in March and April. Thirty-one (31) teams earn automatic bids by winning their respective conference tournaments. Thirty (30) of the 31 conferences hold tournaments to determine their respective automatic qualifiers. Only the Ivy LeagueIvy League
The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group...
does not conduct a post-season tournament; its automatic bid goes to the regular-season conference champion.
The remaining thirty-seven (37) tournament slots are granted to at-large
At-large bid
An at-large bid is a bid or berth in a sporting tournament granted by invitation, not right. This term is most commonly used in the United States to refer to berths that the NCAA grants in its annual Division I men's and women's basketball tournaments, although at-large berths are granted in almost...
bids, which are determined by the Selection Committee
NCAA basketball tournament selection process
The selection process for College basketball's NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship determines which 68 teams will enter the tournament, known as March Madness, and where they will be seeded and placed in the bracket...
, a special committee appointed by the NCAA. The committee also determines where all sixty-eight teams are seeded and placed in the bracket.
Regions
The tournament is split into four regions and each region has at least sixteen teams, but four additional teams are added per the decision of the Selection Committee. (See First Four). The committee is charged with making each of the four regions as close as possible in overall quality of teams.The names of the regions vary from year to year, and are broadly geographic (such as "Southeast", "East" or "Midwest"). The selected names roughly correspond to the location of the four cities hosting the regional finals. For example, in 2011, the regions were named East (Newark, New Jersey), West (Anaheim, California), Southwest (San Antonio, Texas), and Southeast (New Orleans). However, oftentimes the chosen names for the regions appear counterintuitive to some observers, such as in 1990, when Atlanta hosted the East regional and Richmond hosted the Southeast regional.
Seeding and the Bracket
The selection committee seeds the whole field of 68 teams from 1-68, but does not make this information public. Instead, the committee divides the teams amongst the regions. The top four teams will be distributed among the four regions, and each will receive a #1 seed within that region. The next four ranked teams will also be distributed among the four regions, each receiving a #2 seed with their region, and the process continues down the line. Carried to its logical conclusion, this would give each region seventeen teams seeded 1-17, but as seen below, this is complicated somewhat (see The First Four).The bracket is thus set in stone, and in the semifinals, the champion of top #1 seed's region will play against the champion of the fourth No. 1 seed's region, and the champion of the second-ranked #1 seed's region will play against the champion of third-ranked #1 seed's region.
The selection committee is also instructed to place teams so that whenever possible, conference teams cannot meet until the regional finals. In addition, they are also instructed to avoid any possible rematches of regular season or previous year's tournament games during the Rounds of 32 and 64.
Venues
In the men's tournament, all sites are nominally neutral: teams are prohibited from playing tournament games on their home courts prior to the Final Four (though in some cases, a team may be fortunate enough to play in or near its home state or city). Under current NCAA rules, any court on which a team hosts more than three regular-season games (in other words, not including conference tournament games) is considered a "home court".However, while a team can be moved to a different region if its home court is being used in any of the first two weeks of the tournament, the Final Four venue is determined years in advance, and cannot be changed regardless of participants. For this reason, in theory a team could play in a Final Four on its home court; in reality, this would be unlikely, since the Final Four is usually staged at a venue larger than most college basketball arenas.
Rounds
The tournament has several rounds. They are currently called- The First Four
- The Second Round (also known as "the Round of 64")
- The Third Round (also known as "the Round of 32")
- The Regional Semi-finals (participating teams are popularly known as the "Sweet Sixteen")
- The Regional Finals (participating teams are commonly known as the "Elite Eight")
- The National Semi-finals (participating teams are officially referred to as the "Final Four")
- The National Final
The tournament is single-elimination; this format increases the chance of Cinderella
Cinderella (sports)
In American and Canadian sports, a Cinderella or "Cinderella Story" refers to a team or player who advances much further in a tournament or career than originally anticipated. Cinderellas tend to gain much media and fan attention as they move closer to the championship game at the end of the...
advancing in the tournament. This is because, although these lower-seeded teams are forced to play stronger teams, they need only win once to advance, instead of winning a majority of games in a series, such as is done in professional basketball.
The First Four
The appellation "First Four" refers to the number of games played, not the number of teams. First held in 2011, the First Four is played between the lowest four at-large qualifying teams and the lowest four automatic bid (conference champion) teams. This does not, however, mean that these are necessarily the lowest eight teams in the field. The four games are held to determine which four teams will assume a place amongst the teams participating in the Round of 64. Unlike all the other early games in the tournament, the teams are not matched with an eye toward disparity, but rather, of equality. This is because in one game two teams may be vying for a #16 seed in the Round of 64, but in another game the two teams may be vying for perhaps a #12 seed, or even higher.While most NCAA tournament games are played over the weekend, the First Four games are played during the week, between Selection Sunday and the weekend immediately following. Once the First Four games are played, the four winning teams assume their places in the bracket of 64 teams, and must play again that weekend, with little rest.
The Round of 64 and the Round of 32
In the Second Round (the Round of 64), the #1 seed plays the #16 seed in all regions; the #2 team plays the #15, and so on. The effect of this seeding structure ensures that the better a team is seeded, the worse-seeded (and presumably weaker) their opponents will be. Sixteen second-round games are played on the Thursday following the "First Four" round. The remaining sixteen second-round games are played Friday. At this point the field is whittled down to 32 teams.The Third Round (the Round of 32) is played on Saturday and Sunday immediately following the second round. The third round consists of Thursday's winners playing in eight games on Saturday, followed by Friday's winners playing in the remaining eight third-round games on Sunday. Thus, after the first weekend, 16 teams remain, commonly called the "Sweet Sixteen."
Regional semifinals and finals
The teams that are still alive after the first weekend advance to the regional semifinals (the Sweet Sixteen) and finals (the Elite EightElite Eight
The term Elite Eight, or less commonly called "Great Eight", refers to the final eight teams in the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship or the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship; and, thus, represents the national quarterfinals. In Division I, the Elite Eight consists of the...
), which are played on the second weekend of the tournament (again, the games are split into Thursday/Saturday and Friday/Sunday). Four regional semi-final games are played Thursday and four are played Friday. After Friday's games, 8 teams (the Elite Eight) remain. Saturday features two regional final games matching Thursday's winners and Sunday's two final games match Friday's winners. After the second weekend of the tournament, the four regional champions emerge as the "Final Four."
Final Four
The winners of each region advance to the Final Four, where the national semifinals are played on Saturday and the national championship is played on Monday. As noted above, which regional champion play which, and in which semifinal they play, is determined by the overall rankings of the four #1 seeds in the original bracket, not on the seeds of the eventual Final Four teams themselves.Tournament associated terms
As indicated below, none of these phrases are exclusively used in regards to the NCAA tournament. Nonetheless, they are widely associated with the tournament, sometimes for legal reasons, sometimes just because it's become part of the American sports vernacular.March Madness
March Madness is a popular term for season-ending basketball tournaments played in March. March Madness is also a registered trademark currently owned exclusively by the NCAA.H. V. Porter
H. V. Porter
H. V. Porter , born Henry Van Arsdale Porter, was an athletic administrator, inventor, and coach. He served at the top of his profession for almost 30 years and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1960...
, an official with the Illinois High School Association
Illinois High School Association
The Illinois High School Association is one of 521 state high school associations in the United States, designed to regulate competition in most interscholastic sports and some interscholastic activities at the high school level. It is a charter member of the National Federation of State High...
(and later a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame
Basketball Hall of Fame
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States, honors exceptional basketball players, coaches, referees, executives, and other major contributors to the game of basketball worldwide...
), was the first person to use March Madness to describe a basketball tournament. Porter published an essay named March Madness in 1939, and in 1942 used the phrase in a poem, Basketball Ides of March. Through the years the use of March Madness picked up steam, especially in Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, and other parts of the Midwest
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
. During this period the term was used almost exclusively in reference to state high school tournaments. In 1977 Jim Enright published a book about the Illinois tournament entitled March Madness.
Fans began connecting the term to the NCAA tournament in the early 1980s. Evidence suggests that CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
sportscaster Brent Musburger
Brent Musburger
Brent Woody Musburger is an American sportscaster for the ESPN and ABC television networks. Formerly with CBS Sports and one of the original members of their legendary program The NFL Today, Musburger has covered NASCAR, NBA, MLB, NCAA football and basketball games. Musburger has also served as a...
, who had worked for many years in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
before joining CBS, popularized the term during the annual tournament broadcasts.
Only in the 1990s did either the IHSA or NCAA think about trademark
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
ing the term, and by that time a small television production company named Intersport had beaten them both to the punch. IHSA eventually bought the trademark rights from Intersport, and then went to court to establish its primacy. IHSA sued GTE Vantage, an NCAA licensee that used the name March Madness for a computer game based on the college tournament. In 1996, in a historic ruling, Illinois High School Association v. GTE Vantage, Inc., the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the courts in the following districts:* Central District of Illinois* Northern District of Illinois...
created the concept of a "dual-use trademark," granting both the IHSA and NCAA the right to trademark the term for their own purposes.
Following the ruling, the NCAA and IHSA joined forces and created the March Madness Athletic Association to coordinate the licensing of the trademark and investigate possible trademark infringement. One such case involved a company that had obtained the internet domain name
Domain name
A domain name is an identification string that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control in the Internet. Domain names are formed by the rules and procedures of the Domain Name System ....
marchmadness.com and was using it to post information about the NCAA tournament. In 2003, in March Madness Athletic Association v. Netfire, Inc., the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* Eastern District of Louisiana* Middle District of Louisiana...
held that March Madness was not a generic term, and ordered Netfire to relinquish the domain name to the NCAA.
Later in the 2000s, the IHSA relinquished its ownership share in the trademark, although it retained the right to use the term in connection with high school championships. In October 2010, the NCAA reached a settlement with Intersport, paying $17.2 million for the latter company's license to use the trademark.
Final Four
The term Final Four refers to the last four teams remaining in the playoff tournament. These are the champions of the tournament's four regional brackets, and are the only teams remaining on the tournament's final weekend. (While the term "Final Four" was not used in the early decades of the tournament, the term has been applied retroactively to include the last four teams in tournaments from earlier years, even when only two brackets existed.)Some claim that the phrase Final Four was first used to describe the final games of Indiana's
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
annual high school basketball tournament. But the NCAA, which has a trademark on the term, says Final Four was originated by a Plain Dealer sportswriter, Ed Chay, in a 1975 article that appeared in the Official Collegiate Basketball Guide. The article stated that Marquette University
Marquette Golden Eagles
The Marquette Golden Eagles are the intercollegiate athletic teams of Marquette University....
“was one of the final four” in the 1974 tournament. The NCAA started capitalizing the term in 1978 and turning it into a trademark several years later.
In recent years, the term Final Four has spread into other sports besides basketball. Tournaments which use Final Four include the Euroleague
Euroleague
Euroleague Basketball, commonly known as the Euroleague, is the highest level tier and most important professional club basketball competition in Europe, with teams from up to 18 different countries, members of FIBA Europe. For sponsorship reasons, for five seasons starting with 2010–2011, it is...
in basketball, national basketball competitions in several European countries and the now-defunct European Hockey League. Together with the name Final Four, these tournaments have adopted an NCAA-style format in which the four surviving teams compete in a single-elimination tournament held in one place, typically, during one weekend. The derivative term "Frozen Four" is used by the NCAA to refer to the final rounds of the Division I men's and women's ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
tournaments. Until 1999, it was just a popular nickname for the last two rounds of the hockey tournament; officially, it was also called the Final Four.
Cinderella team
Although there is no official definition of what constitutes a CinderellaCinderella (sports)
In American and Canadian sports, a Cinderella or "Cinderella Story" refers to a team or player who advances much further in a tournament or career than originally anticipated. Cinderellas tend to gain much media and fan attention as they move closer to the championship game at the end of the...
team, there does seem to be a consensus that such teams represent small schools, are seeded rather low in the tournament, and achieve at least one unexpected win in the tournament. The term became popularized as a result of CCNY
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
's run through the tournament in 1950. Since 1950, the term has seen use in other sports as well, though nowhere is it as prominent as in the NCAA tournament.
Bracketology
For decades, fans have been entering into office pools or private gambling-related contests as to who can predict the tournament most correctly; President Barack ObamaBarack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
has referred to the filling out of a tournament bracket as a "national pastime". Filling out a tournament bracket with predictions is called the practice of bracketology
Bracketology
Bracketology is the process of predicting the field of the NCAA Basketball Tournament, named as such because it is commonly used to fill in tournament brackets for the postseason...
, and sports programming during the tournament is rife with commentators comparing the accuracy of their predictions. On the Dan Patrick
Dan Patrick
Daniel Patrick Pugh , professionally known as Dan Patrick, is an American sportscaster, radio personality, and actor from Mason, Ohio...
radio show, a wide variety of celebrities from various fields (such as Darius Rucker
Darius Rucker
Darius Rucker is an American musician. He first gained fame as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Hootie & the Blowfish, which he founded in 1986 at the University of South Carolina along with Mark Bryan, Jim "Soni" Sonefeld and Dean Felber...
, Charlie Sheen
Charlie Sheen
Carlos Irwin Estevez , better known by his stage name Charlie Sheen, is an American film and television actor. He is the youngest son of actor Martin Sheen....
, and Brooklyn Decker
Brooklyn Decker
Brooklyn Danielle Decker is an American fashion model and actress best known for her appearances in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, including the cover of the 2010 issue. In addition to working for Victoria's Secret for the 2010 "Swim" collection, she has ventured into television with guest...
) have posted full brackets with predictions. President Obama's bracket is posted on the White House website.
There are many different tournament prediction scoring systems. Most award points for correctly picking the winning team in a particular match up, with increasingly more points being given for correctly predicting later round winners. Some provide bonus points for correctly predicting upsets, the amount of the bonus varying based on the degree of upset.
There are 2^63 or 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 (9.2 quintillion) possibilities for the possible winners in a 64 team NCAA bracket, making the odds of randomly picking a perfect bracket (i.e. without weighting for seed number) 9.2 quintillion to 1. With the expansion of the tournament field to 68 teams in 2011, the odds are now increased to 2^67 or 147,573,952,589,676,412,928 (147.57 quintillion) possibilities.
Format history
The NCAA tournament has changed its format many times over the years. Below are listed many of these changes.
Expansion of field
- The NCAA tournament has expanded a number of times throughout its history. This is a breakdown of the history of the tournament format:
- 1939–1950: eight teams
- 1951–1952: 16 teams
- 1953–1974: varied between 22 and 25 teams
- 1975–1978: 32 teams
- 1979: 40 teams
- 1980–1982: 48 teams
- 1983: 52 teams (four play-in games before the tournament)
- 1984: 53 teams (five play-in games before the tournament)
- 1985–2000: 64 teams
- 2001–2010: 65 teams (with an opening round game to determine whether the 64th or 65th team plays in the first round)
- 2011–present: 68 teams (four play-in games in the first round before all remaining teams compete in the second round)
- After the conclusion of the 2010 tournament2010 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe first and second round games were played at the following sites:*March 18 / 20*March 25 / 27*March 26 / 28Each regional winner advanced to the Final Four, held on April 3 and 5 in Indianapolis, Indiana at Lucas Oil Stadium, hosted by the Horizon League and Butler University, as per the NCAA's...
, there was much speculation about increasing the tournament size to as many as 128 teams. On April 1, 2010, the NCAA announced that it was looking at expanding to 96 teams for 2011. On April 22, 2010, the NCAA announced a new television contract with CBS/Turner and that the field would expand the field, but only to 68 teams.
Other changes
- Prior to 1975, only one team per conference could be in the NCAA tournament. However, after several highly ranked teams in the country were denied entrance into the tournament (e.g., South Carolina, which was 14-0 in conference play in 1970, Southern Cal which was ranked #2 in the nation in 1971, and Maryland which was ranked #3 in the nation in 1974), the NCAA began to place at-large teams in the tournament, instead of just conference champions.
- Currently, there are no consolation games, but there was a third-place game until 1981. Additionally, each regional had a third-place game through the 1975 tournament.
- Beginning in 2001, the field was expanded from 64 to 65 teams, adding to the tournament what was informally known as the "play-in game". This was in response to the creation of the Mountain West ConferenceMountain West ConferenceThe Mountain West Conference , popularly known as the Mountain West, is the youngest of the college athletic conferences affiliated with the NCAA’s Division I FBS . The MWC officially began operations in July 1999...
in 1999. Originally, the winner of the MWC tournamentMountain West Conference Men's Basketball TournamentThe Mountain West Conference men's basketball tournament is held annually to determine the men's basketball champion from the Mountain West Conference. The winner receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament, although they did not in the 1999–2000...
did not receive an automatic bid, and doing so would mean the elimination of one of the at-large bids. As an alternative to eliminating an at-large bid, the NCAA expanded the tournament to 65 teams2001 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 2001 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 65 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 13, 2001 with the play-in game, and ended with the championship game on April 2 in...
. The #64 and #65 seeds were seeded in a regional bracket as the 16a/16b seeds, and then played the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Opening Round Game (the "play-in game") on the Tuesday preceding the first weekend of the tournament. This game was always played at the University of Dayton ArenaUniversity of Dayton ArenaUniversity of Dayton Arena is a 13,455-seat multi-purpose arena in Dayton, Ohio. The arena opened in 1969. It is home to the University of Dayton Flyers basketball teams....
in Dayton, Ohio. - In 2011, the tournament expanded to 68 teams. Four "play-in" games are now played, officially known as the "First Four". However, the teams playing in the First Four are not automatically seeded #16; their seeding is determined by the committee on Selection Sunday. Explaining the reasoning for this format, selection committee chairman Dan Guerrero said, "We felt if we were going to expand the field it would create better drama for the tournament if the First Four was much more exciting. They could all be on the 10 line or the 12 line or the 11 line."
- In the 1985 to 2002 tournaments, all teams playing at a first- or second-round site fed into the same regional site. Since 2002, the tournament has used the "pod system" designed to limit the early-round travel of as many teams as possible. In the pod system, each regional bracket is divided into four-team pods. The possible pods by seeding are:
- Pod #1: 1v16, 8v9
- Pod #2: 2v15, 7v10
- Pod #3: 3v14, 6v11
- Pod #4: 4v13, 5v12
- Each of the eight second- and third-round (formerly first- and second-round) sites is assigned two pods, where each group of four teams play each other. A host site's pods may be from different regions, and thus the winners of each pod would advance into separate regional tournaments.
- Since 2004, the semi-final matches during the first day of the Final Four weekend have been determined by a procedure based upon the original seeding of the full field. Prior to 2004, the pitting of regional champions in the semi-finals was simply random.
- From 1985 to 2010, the round consisting of 64 teams and 32 games was called the "first round", while the round consisting of 32 teams and 16 games was called the "second round". Starting in 2011, the "First Four" became the first round. The round after the "First Four" is now called the "second round", and consists of 64 teams playing 32 games; it is played on Thursday and Friday. The next round, the "third round", consists of 32 teams playing 16 games that are played on Saturday and Sunday.
Venues
For a list of all the cities and stadiums that have hosted the Final Four, go to Host cities, below.Stadium size and domes
Since 19971997 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1997 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 13, 1997, and ended with the championship game on March 31 in Indianapolis, Indiana...
, the NCAA has required that all Final Four sessions take place in domed stadiums with a minimum capacity of 40,000, usually having only a half of the dome in use. The last small arena to host the Final Four was The Meadowlands in 1996
1996 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1996 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 14, 1996, and ended with the championship game on April 1 at Continental Airlines Arena in...
. As of 2009
2009 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The first and second round games were played at the following sites:First and Second Rounds: Thursday and Saturday, March 19 and 21, 2009-Qualifying teams:-Brackets:Results to date * – Denotes overtime periodAll times in U.S. EDT....
, the minimum was raised to 70,000, by adding additional seating on the floor of the dome, and raising the court on a platform three feet above the dome's floor, which is usually crowned for football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
, like the setup at Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
's Metrodome
Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, commonly called the Metrodome, is a domed sports stadium in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Opened in 1982, it replaced Metropolitan Stadium, which was on the current site of the Mall of America in Bloomington and Memorial Stadium on the University...
.
The first instance of a domed stadium
Dome
A dome is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various materials have a long architectural lineage extending into prehistory....
being used for a NCAA Tournament Final Four was the Houston Astrodome
Reliant Astrodome
Reliant Astrodome, also known as the Houston Astrodome or simply the Astrodome, is the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas, USA. The stadium is part of the Reliant Park complex...
in 1971
1971 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1971 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 25 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 13, 1971, and ended with the championship game on March 27 in Houston, Texas...
, but the Final Four would not return to a dome until 1982
1982 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1982 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 48 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 11, 1982, and ended with the championship game on March 29 in New Orleans, Louisiana...
, when the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans hosted the event for the first time.
"Home court" advantage
Since the inception of the modern Final Four in 19521952 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
-External links:* on Shrp Sports * , source for much of the information on this page....
, only once has a team played a Final Four on its actual home court. But through the 2011 tournament, three other teams have played the Final Four in their home cities, one other team has played in its metropolitan area, and six additional teams have played the Final Four in their home states through the 2010 tournament. Kentucky (1958
1958 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1958 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 24 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball in the United States. It began on March 11, 1958, and ended with the championship game on March 22 in...
), UCLA (1968
1968 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1968 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 23 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 8, 1968, and ended with the championship game on March 23 in Los Angeles, California...
, 1972
1972 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1972 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 25 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA University Division college basketball. It began on March 11, 1972, and ended with the championship game on March 25 in Los Angeles, California...
, 1975
1975 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1975 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 32 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 15, 1975, and ended with the championship game on March 31 in San Diego, California...
) and North Carolina State (1974
1974 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1974 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 25 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It was the first tournament to officially be designated as a Division I championship—previously, NCAA member...
) won the national title; Louisville (1959
1959 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1959 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 23 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball in the United States. It began on March 7, 1959, and ended with the championship game on March 21 in Louisville,...
) and Purdue (1980
1980 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1980 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 48 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 6, 1980, and ended with the championship game on March 24 in Indianapolis, Indiana...
) lost in the Final Four; and California (1960
1960 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1960 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 25 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball in the United States. It began on March 7, 1960, and ended with the championship game on March 19 in Daly City,...
), Duke (1994
1994 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1994 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 17, 1994, and ended with the championship game on April 4 in Charlotte, North Carolina...
), Michigan State (2009
2009 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The first and second round games were played at the following sites:First and Second Rounds: Thursday and Saturday, March 19 and 21, 2009-Qualifying teams:-Brackets:Results to date * – Denotes overtime periodAll times in U.S. EDT....
) and Butler (2010
2010 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The first and second round games were played at the following sites:*March 18 / 20*March 25 / 27*March 26 / 28Each regional winner advanced to the Final Four, held on April 3 and 5 in Indianapolis, Indiana at Lucas Oil Stadium, hosted by the Horizon League and Butler University, as per the NCAA's...
) lost in the final.
The biggest advantage was in 1959 when Louisville played at its regular home of Freedom Hall
Freedom Hall
Freedom Hall is a multipurpose arena in Louisville, Kentucky, on the grounds of the Kentucky Exposition Center, which is owned by the Commonwealth of Kentucky...
; however, they lost to West Virginia in the semifinals. The following year, Cal had nearly as large an edge, as they only had to cross San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
to play in the Final Four at the Cow Palace
Cow Palace
Cow Palace is an indoor arena, in Daly City, California, situated on the city's border with neighboring San Francisco, notable as a sporting arena.-History:...
in Daly City
Daly City, California
Daly City is the largest city in San Mateo County, California, United States, with a 2010 population of 101,123. Located immediately south of San Francisco, it is named in honor of businessman and landowner John Daly.-History:...
; the Golden Bears lost in the championship game to Ohio State. UCLA had a similar advantage in 1968 and 1972 when it advanced to the Final Four at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena
Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena
The Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena is a multi-purpose arena, in the University Park neighborhood, of Los Angeles, California, at Exposition Park. It is located next to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, just south of the campus of the University of Southern California.-History:The Los Angeles...
, not many miles from the Bruins' homecourt of Pauley Pavilion
Pauley Pavilion
Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion, commonly known as Pauley Pavilion, is an indoor arena located in the Westwood Village district of Los Angeles, California, on the campus of UCLA. It is home to the UCLA Bruins men's and women's basketball teams...
(and also UCLA's home arena before the latter venue opened in 1965); unlike Louisville and Cal, the Bruins won the national title on both occasions. Butler lost the 2010 title 6 miles (9.7 km) from its Indianapolis campus.
Before the Final Four was established, the East and West regionals were held at separate sites, with the winners advancing to the title game. During that era, three teams, all from Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, played in the East Regional at Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden (1925)
Madison Square Garden was an indoor arena in New York City, the third of that name. It was built in 1925 and closed in 1968, and was located on Eighth Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets in Manhattan on the site of the city's trolley car barns. It was the first Garden that was not located near...
—frequently used as a "big-game" venue by each team—and advanced at least to the national semifinals. NYU won the East Regional in 1945
1945 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1945 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 8 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 22, 1945, and ended with the championship game on March 27 in New York City...
but lost in the title game, also held at the Garden, to Oklahoma A&M
1944–45 Oklahoma A&M Aggies men's basketball team
The 1944–45 Oklahoma A&M Aggies men's basketball team represented Oklahoma A&M College, now known as Oklahoma State University, in NCAA competition in the 1944–45 season.-NCAA tournament:*West** Oklahoma A&M 62, Utah 37*Final Four...
. CCNY
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
played in the East Regional in both 1947
1947 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
-External links:* on Shrp Sports * , source for much of the information on this page....
and 1950
1950 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1950 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 8 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 23, 1950, and ended with the championship game on March 28 in New York City, New York...
; the Beavers lost in the 1947 East final to eventual champion Holy Cross
Holy Cross Crusaders men's basketball
The Holy Cross Crusaders men's basketball team represents the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, in NCAA Division I competition. The team competes in the Patriot League and plays their home games in the Hart Center...
but won the 1950 East Regional and national titles at the Garden.
In 1974, North Carolina State won the NCAA tournament without leaving their home state, North Carolina. The team was put in the East Region, and played its regional games at home arena Reynolds Coliseum
Reynolds Coliseum
William Neal Reynolds Coliseum is a multi-purpose arena located in Raleigh, North Carolina on the North Carolina State University campus. The arena was built to host a variety of events, including agricultural expositions and NC State basketball games...
. NC State played the final four and national championship games at nearby Greensboro Coliseum
Greensboro Coliseum
The Greensboro Coliseum Complex is an entertainment complex located in College Hill neighborhood of Greensboro, North Carolina. Opening in 1959, the arena was one of the largest venues in the South, with a seating capacity of over 7,000...
.
While not their home state, Kansas has played in the championship game in Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
, only 45 minutes from their campus in Lawrence, Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas
Lawrence is the sixth largest city in the U.S. State of Kansas and the county seat of Douglas County. Located in northeastern Kansas, Lawrence is the anchor city of the Lawrence, Kansas, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Douglas County...
, not just once, but four times. In 1940, 1953, and 1957 they lost the championship game each time at Municipal Auditorium. In 1988, playing at Kansas City's Kemper Arena
Kemper Arena
Kemper Arena is a 19,500 seat indoor arena, in Kansas City, Missouri.It is named for R. Crosby Kemper Sr., a member of the powerful Kemper financial clan and who donated $3.2 million, from his estate for the arena...
, Kansas won the championship, over Big Eight rival Oklahoma.
Flag controversy
The NCAA has banned the Bi-Lo CenterBi-Lo Center
The BI-LO Center is an arena located in downtown Greenville, South Carolina, that is used for concerts, football, and hockey. The arena is currently used by the Greenville Force of the Southern Indoor Football League and the Greenville Road Warriors of the ECHL.- History :The BI-LO Center was...
and Colonial Life Arena in South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
from hosting tournament games, despite their sizes (16,000 and 18,000 seats, respectively) because of an NAACP
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, usually abbreviated as NAACP, is an African-American civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909. Its mission is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to...
protest at the Bi-Lo Center during the 2002 first and second round tournament games over that state's refusal to take down the Confederate Battle Flag from their state capitol. Following requests by the NAACP and Black Coaches Association, the Bi-Lo Center, and the newly built Colonial Center, which was built for purposes of hosting the tournament, were banned from hosting any future tournament events.
Trophies and rituals
Cutting down the nets
As a tournament ritual, the winning team cuts down the nets at the end of regional championship games as well as the national championship game. Starting with the seniors, and moving down by classes, players each cut a single strand off of each net; the head coach cuts the last strand connecting the net to the hoop, claiming the net itself. This tradition is credited to Everett CaseEverett Case
Everett N. Case , nicknamed "Gray Fox", was a basketball coach most notable for his tenure at North Carolina State University, from 1946 to 1964....
, the coach of North Carolina State, who stood on his players' shoulders to accomplish the feat after the Wolfpack won the Southern Conference tournament in 1947.
Team Awards
The NCAA awards the National Champions a gold plated Wooden NCAA National Championship trophy. The loser of the championship game receives a silver plated National Runner-Up trophy for second place. All four Final Four teams receive a bronze plated NCAA Regional Championship trophy.The champions also receive a commemorative gold championship ring, and the other three Final Four teams receive Final Four rings.
The National Association of Basketball Coaches
National Association of Basketball Coaches
The National Association of Basketball Coaches , headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, is an American organization of college men's basketball coaches...
also presents a more elaborate marble/crystal trophy to the winning team. Ostensibly, this award is given for taking the top position in the NABC's end-of-season poll, but this is invariably the same as the NCAA championship game winner. In 2005, Siemens AG
Siemens AG
Siemens AG is a German multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Munich, Germany. It is the largest Europe-based electronics and electrical engineering company....
acquired naming rights to the NABC trophy, which is now called the Siemens Trophy. Formerly, the NABC trophy was presented right after the standard NCAA championship trophy, but this caused some confusion. Since 2006, the Siemens/NABC Trophy has been presented separately at a press conference the day after the game.
Most Outstanding Player
After the championship trophy is awarded, one player is selected and then awarded the Most Outstanding PlayerNCAA Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player
At the conclusion of the NCAA men's and women's Division I basketball championships , the Associated Press selects a Most Outstanding Player. The MOP need not be, but almost always is a member of the Championship team, especially since the third place game was eliminated after 1981...
award (which almost always come from the championship team). It is not intended to be the same as a Most Valuable Player award although it is sometimes informally referred to as such.
Current television contracts
Since 2010, the NCAA has had a joint contract with CBS and Turner SportsTurner Sports
Turner Sports is the division of Turner Broadcasting System responsible for sports broadcasts on Turner channels including TBS, TNT, and TruTV, and for operating the interactive properties , , , and...
, a division of Time Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
(which co-owns the CW Television Network
The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
with CBS). The current contract runs through 2024 and, for the first time in history, provides for the nationwide broadcast each year of all games of the tournament. All First Four games air on truTV. A featured second- or third-round game in each time "window" is broadcast on CBS, while all other games are shown either on TBS
TBS (TV channel)
TBS , stylized in the logo as tbs, is an American cable television channel owned by Time Warner that shows a variety of programming, with a focus on comedy. TBS was originally known as WTCG, a UHF terrestrial television station that broadcast from Atlanta, Georgia, during the late 1970s...
, TNT or truTV. Sweet 16 (regional semifinal) games are broadcast on CBS and TBS. Through 2015, all games from the Elite Eight (regional final) onwards are shown on CBS exclusively. Beginning in 2016, CBS and TBS will split coverage of the Elite Eight. CBS and TBS will alternate coverage of the Final Four and national championship game, with TBS getting the final two rounds in even numbered years, and CBS getting the games in odd numbered years. March Madness On Demand would remain unchanged, although Turner is allowed to develop their own service.
The CBS broadcast provides the NCAA with over 500 million dollars annually, and makes up over 90% of the NCAA's annual revenue.
The revenues from the multi-billion-dollar television contract are divided among the Division I basketball playing schools and conferences as follows:
- 1/6 of the money goes directly to the schools based on how many sports they play (one "share" for each sport starting with 14, which is the minimum needed for Division I membership).
- 1/3 of the money goes directly to the schools based on how many scholarships they give out (one share for each of the first 50, two for each of the next 50, ten for each of the next 50, and 20 for each scholarship above 150).
- 1/2 of the money goes to the conferences based on how well they did in the six previous men's basketball tournaments (counting each year separately, one share for each team getting in, and one share for each win except in the Final Four and, prior to the 2008 tournament, the Play-in gamePlay-in gameThis article is about play in games in general, for the most common use of the term, see NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Opening Round game A play in game is a game at the beginning of a tournament that forces the lowest qualifiers for tournament to play each other before the main portion...
). In 2007, based on the 2001 through 2006 tournaments, the Big East received over $14.85 million, while the eight conferences that did not win a first-round game in those six years received slightly more than $1 million each.
The Division I Men's Basketball tournament is the only NCAA championship tournament where the NCAA does not keep the profits.
History of television coverage
CBS has been the major partner of the NCAA in televising the tournament for much of its history, but there have been many changes in coverage since the tournament was first broadcast in 1969.Early broadcast coverage
From 1969 to 1981, the NCAA tournament aired on NBCCollege Basketball on NBC
College Basketball on NBC is a former television program created and produced by NBC Sports that broadcast NCAA Division I men's basketball games. The program existed in some shape or form from 1969–1998. From 1969–1981, NBC covered the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament...
, but not all games were televised. The early rounds, in particular, were not always seen on TV.
In 1982, CBS
College Basketball on CBS
College Basketball on CBS presented by State Farm is a presentation of men's NCAA Division I basketball games on CBS...
obtained broadcast television rights to the NCAA tournament.
ESPN & CBS share coverage
The same year as CBS obtained rights to the Big Dance, ESPNCollege Basketball on ESPN
College Basketball on ESPN is a presentation of the college basketball television package on the ESPN family of networks. The television network broadcasts games of all the major conferences and many mid-major conferences of Division I NCAA basketball....
began showing the opening rounds of the tournament. This was the network's first contract signed with the NCAA for a major sport, and helped to establish ESPN's following among college basketball fans. ESPN showed six first-round games on Thursday and again on Friday, with CBS then picking up a seventh game at 11:30 pm ET. Thus, 14 of 32 first-round games were televised. ESPN also re-ran games overnight. At the time, there was only one ESPN network, with no ability to split its signal regionally, so ESPN showed only the most competitive games. During the 1980s, the tournament's popularity on television soared, no doubt due to the extensive coverage provided by ESPN.
CBS takes over
However, ESPN became a victim of its own success, as CBS was awarded the rights to cover all games of the NCAA tournament, starting in 1991. Only with the introduction of the so-called "play-in" game (between the 64 seed and the 65 seed) in the 2000s, did ESPN get back in the game (and actually, the first time this "play-in" game was played in 2001, the game was aired on TNNSpike TV
Spike is an American cable television channel. It launched on March 7, 1983 as The Nashville Network , a joint venture of WSM, Inc...
, using CBS graphics and announcers. CBS and TNN were both owned by Viacom at the time.)
Through 2010, CBS broadcasted the remaining 63 games of the NCAA tournament proper. Most areas saw only eight of 32 first round games, seven second round games, and four regional semifinal games (out of the possible 56 games during these rounds; there would be some exceptions to this rule in the 2000s). Coverage preempted regular programming on the network, except during a 2 hour window from about 5 ET until 7 ET when the local affiliates could show programming. The CBS format resulted in far fewer hours of first-round coverage than under the old ESPN format but allowed the games to reach a much larger audience than ESPN was able to reach.
During this period of near-exclusivity by CBS, the network provided to its local affiliates three types of feeds from each venue: constant feed, swing feed, and flex feed. Constant feeds remain primarily on a given game, and are used primarily by stations with a clear local interest in a particular game. Despite its name, a constant feed will occasionally veer away to other games for brief updates (as is typical in most American sports coverage), but coverage generally remains with the initial game. A swing feed tends to stay on games believed to be of natural interest to the locality, such as teams from local conferences, but may leave that game to go to other games that during their progress become close matches. On a flex feed, coverage bounces around from one venue to another, depending on action at the various games in progress. If one game is a blowout, coverage can switch to a more competitive game. A flex feed is provided when there are not games that have a significant natural local interest for the stations carrying them, allowing the flex game to be the best game in progress. Station feeds are planned in advance and stations have the option of requesting either constant or flex feed for various games.
Viewing options emerge
In 1999, DirecTVDirecTV
DirecTV is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider and broadcaster based in El Segundo, California. Its satellite service, launched on June 17, 1994, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, Latin America, and the Anglophone Caribbean. ...
began broadcasting all games otherwise not shown on local television with its Mega March Madness premium package. The DirecTV system used the subscriber's zip code
ZIP Code
ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...
to black out games which could be seen on broadcast television. Prior to that, all games were available on C-Band satellite and were picked up by sports bars.
In 2003, CBS struck a deal with Yahoo!
Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
to offer live streaming of the first three rounds of games under its Yahoo! Platinum service, for $16.95 a month. In 2004, CBS began selling viewers access to March Madness On Demand, which provided games not otherwise shown on broadcast television; the service was free for AOL
AOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
subscribers. In 2006, March Madness On Demand was made free, and continues to be so today to online users.
In addition, CBS College Sports Network (formerly CSTV) had broadcast two "late early" games that would not otherwise be broadcast nationally. These were the second games in the daytime session in the Pacific Time Zone
Pacific Time Zone
The Pacific Time Zone observes standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time . The clock time in this zone is based on the mean solar time of the 120th meridian west of the Greenwich Observatory. During daylight saving time, its time offset is UTC-7.In the United States...
, to avoid starting games before 10 AM. These games are also available via March Madness on Demand and on CBS affiliates in the market areas of the team playing. In other markets, newscasts, local programming or preempted CBS morning programming are aired. CBS-CS is scheduled to continue broadcasting the official pregame and postgame shows and press conferences from the teams involved.
NCAA partner AT&T Mobility also broadcasts all games via the MobiTV
MobiTV
MobiTV, Inc. claims to be a leading provider of "end-to-end mobile media solutions". The MobiTV converged media platform delivers live TV, video on-demand and the ability to download and store content for offline viewing to millions of users on all major wireless networks and major mobile...
infrastructure, which is available on phones compatible with AT&T's Mobile TV service. For the iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
, a premium-charge application is available via the App Store to watch the games.
HDTV coverage
The Final Four has been broadcast in HDTV since 1999. From 2000 to 2004, only one first/second round site and one regional site were designated as HDTV sites. In 2005, all regional games were broadcast in HDTV, and four first and second round sites were designated for HDTV coverage. Local stations broadcasting in both digitalDigital television
Digital television is the transmission of audio and video by digital signals, in contrast to the analog signals used by analog TV...
and analog
Analog television
Analog television is the analog transmission that involves the broadcasting of encoded analog audio and analog video signal: one in which the message conveyed by the broadcast signal is a function of deliberate variations in the amplitude and/or frequency of the signal...
had the option of airing separate games on their HD and SD channels, to take advantage of the available high definition coverage. Beginning in 2007, all games in the tournament (including all first and second round games) were available in high definition, and local stations were required to air the same game on both their analog and digital channels. However, due to satellite limitations, first round "constant" feeds were only available in standard definition. Moreover, some digital television stations, such as WRAL-TV
WRAL-TV
WRAL-TV, virtual channel 5 , is a television station in Raleigh, North Carolina. WRAL-TV has been the flagship station of Capitol Broadcasting Company since its inception, and is currently the CBS affiliate for the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill/Fayetteville area, known collectively as the Triangle...
in Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
, choose to not participate in HDTV broadcasts of the first and second rounds and the regional semifinals, and used their available bandwidth to split their signal into digital subchannel
Digital subchannel
In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a means to transmit more than one independent program at the same time from the same digital radio or digital television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compression techniques to reduce the size of each individual...
s to show all games going on simultaneously. By 2008, upgrades at the CBS broadcast center allowed all feeds, flex and constant, to be in HD for the tournament.
Outside of the United States
Though it is an American sporting event, the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament is watched in some other countries.- In CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, TSNThe Sports NetworkThe Sports Network, commonly abbreviated as TSN, is a Canadian English language Category C specialty channel and is Canada's leading English language sports TV channel. TSN premiered in 1984, in the first group of Canadian specialty cable channels...
has owned the rights to the tournament since 2011, as a result of an international deal between the NCAA and ESPN InternationalESPN InternationalESPN International is a family of networks around the world. It was begun in 1989 and is operated by ESPN. It consists of:Asia: *ESPN SEA*ESPN SEA 2*ESPN China*ESPN Hong Kong*ESPN India*ESPN Malaysia...
(which is a minority investor in TSN). - In Australia, the ONE HD network simulcasts the CBS game coverage in HD. ESPN Australia and ESPNHD Australia also simulcast CBS game coverage. As with the Canadian telecast, ONE HD only airs selected games during the later stages of the tournament.
- In Europe, ESPN America simulcasts the NCAA tournament, including games shown on CBS College Sports, taking the suggested national feed.
"Cinderella" teams
Cinderella teams are responsible for much of the excitement in the tournament, and sometimes the performance of Cinderellas prove to be more memorable than the actual tournament victories.Most successful low seeds
These are the lowest seeds to reach each round since expansion to 64 teams in 1985:- A #15 seed has reached the Round of 32 four times:
- RichmondRichmond Spiders men's basketballThe Richmond Spiders men's basketball team represents the University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia and currently competes in the Atlantic 10 Conference...
in 19911991 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1991 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 14, 1991, and ended with the championship game on April 1 in Indianapolis, Indiana... - Santa ClaraSanta Clara BroncosThe Broncos are various sports teams of Santa Clara University. The athletic program currently has 19 varsity sports, 9 men's sports and 10 women's. Additionally there are 18 club sports teams that compete intercollegiately. The school colors are red and white...
in 19931993 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1993 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 18, 1993, and ended with the championship game on April 5 in New Orleans, Louisiana... - Coppin StateCoppin State UniversityCoppin State University is a historically black college located in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is part of the University System of Maryland...
in 19971997 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1997 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 13, 1997, and ended with the championship game on March 31 in Indianapolis, Indiana... - HamptonHampton UniversityHampton University is a historically black university located in Hampton, Virginia, United States. It was founded by black and white leaders of the American Missionary Association after the American Civil War to provide education to freedmen.-History:...
in 20012001 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 2001 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 65 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 13, 2001 with the play-in game, and ended with the championship game on April 2 in...
- A #14 seed has reached the Sweet Sixteen (Regional Semi-finals) twice:
- Cleveland StateCleveland State Vikings men's basketballCleveland State Vikings men's basketball started in 1929. Before as Fenn College they were known as the Fenn College Foxes. Cleveland State has been in Division I since 1972. They are a member of the Horizon League Cleveland State was formerly in the Mid-Continent Conference...
in 19861986 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1986 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 13, 1986, and ended with the championship game on March 31 in Dallas, Texas... - ChattanoogaUniversity of Tennessee at ChattanoogaThe University of Tennessee at Chattanooga is a public university located in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The University, often referred to as UTC or simply "Chattanooga" , is one of three universities and two other affiliated institutions in the University of Tennessee System; the others being in...
in 19971997 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1997 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 13, 1997, and ended with the championship game on March 31 in Indianapolis, Indiana...
- A #12 seed has reached the Elite Eight (Regional Finals) once:
- MissouriMissouri Tigers men's basketballThe Missouri Tigers men's basketball team represents the University of Missouri in the Big 12 Conference. The Tigers are located in Columbia, Missouri. The team last played in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament in 2011. The Missouri Tigers men's basketball team plays its home games at...
in 20022002 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 2002 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 65 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 12, 2002, and ended with the championship game on April 1 in Atlanta, Georgia...
- An #11 seed has reached the Final Four and played in the national semi-final game three times:
- LSULSU Tigers basketballThe Louisiana State Tigers basketball team represents Louisiana State University in NCAA Division I men's college basketball. The team is currently coached by Trent Johnson and has enjoyed recent success, including a Final Four run in the 2005–2006 season. Past coaches include John Brady, Press...
in 19861986 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1986 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 13, 1986, and ended with the championship game on March 31 in Dallas, Texas... - George Mason in 20062006 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 2006 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 65 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2005–06 basketball season...
- Virginia Commonwealth2010–11 VCU Rams men's basketball teamThe 2010–11 VCU Rams men's basketball team represented Virginia Commonwealth University in the Colonial Athletic Association conference during the 2010–11 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Rams, led by second year head coach Shaka Smart, played their home games at the Stuart C. Siegel...
in 20112011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe following sites were selected to host each round of the 2011 tournament:First Four*March 15 and 16**University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, OhioSecond and third rounds*March 17 and 19**Verizon Center, Washington, D.C....
- A #8 seed has reached the National Finals (Championship Game) three times, though one was vacated by the NCAA:
- UCLAUCLA Bruins men's basketballThe UCLA Bruins men's basketball program, established in 1920, owns a record 11 Division I NCAA championships. UCLA teams coached by John Wooden won 10 national titles in 12 seasons from 1964 to 1975, including 7 straight from 1967 to 1973. UCLA went undefeated a record 4 times, in 1964, 1967,...
in 19801980 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1980 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 48 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 6, 1980, and ended with the championship game on March 24 in Indianapolis, Indiana...
, though the Bruins' appearance was vacated due to recruiting violations involving two players on that team. - Villanova1984–85 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball teamThe 1984–85 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team represented Villanova University. The Head Coach was Rollie Massimino. The team played its home games at Villanova Field House in Villanova, Pennsylvania, and was a member of the Big East Conference...
in 19851985 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1985 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. This was the first year the field was expanded to 64 teams, from 53 in the previous year's tournament. It began... - Butler2010–11 Butler Bulldogs men's basketball teamThe 2010–11 Butler Bulldogs men's basketball team represented Butler University in the 2010–11 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Their head coach was Brad Stevens, serving his 4th year. The Bulldogs played their home games at the Hinkle Fieldhouse, which has a capacity of approximately 10,000...
in 20112011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe following sites were selected to host each round of the 2011 tournament:First Four*March 15 and 16**University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, OhioSecond and third rounds*March 17 and 19**Verizon Center, Washington, D.C....
- A #8 seed has won the National Championship once:
- Villanova Wildcats1984–85 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball teamThe 1984–85 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team represented Villanova University. The Head Coach was Rollie Massimino. The team played its home games at Villanova Field House in Villanova, Pennsylvania, and was a member of the Big East Conference...
in the 1985 tournament1985 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1985 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. This was the first year the field was expanded to 64 teams, from 53 in the previous year's tournament. It began...
.
Best performances by #16 seeds
No team as a #16 seed has ever defeated a #1 seed since the field was expanded to 64 teams, though on four occasions, a #16 seed has come within a single basket of winning:- PrincetonPrinceton Tigers men's basketballThe Princeton Tigers men's basketball team is the intercollegiate men's basketball program representing Princeton University. The school competes in the Ivy League in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association . The Tigers play home basketball games at the Jadwin Gymnasium in...
lost to Georgetown in 19891989 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1989 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 16, 1989, and ended with the championship game on April 3 in Seattle, Washington...
(1 point, 50–49) - East Tennessee StateEast Tennessee State Buccaneers men's basketballThe East Tennessee State Buccaneers are the basketball team that represents East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tennessee. ETSU currently competes in the Atlantic Sun Conference. The team last played in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament in 2010...
lost to OklahomaOklahoma Sooners men's basketball-1908-1980:The Sooners enjoyed moderate success on the court during this era, posting only 16 losing records in their first 72 seasons. They were coached by 9 different coaches during this period, beginning with Bennie Owen , and ending with Dave Bliss in 1980...
in 19891989 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1989 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 16, 1989, and ended with the championship game on April 3 in Seattle, Washington...
(1 point, 72–71) - Western CarolinaWestern Carolina UniversityWestern Carolina University is a coeducational public university located in Cullowhee, North Carolina, United States. The university is a constituent campus of the University of North Carolina system....
lost to PurduePurdue Boilermakers men's basketballThe Purdue Boilermakers basketball team is a college basketball program that competes in NCAA Division I and is a member of the Big Ten Conference. Purdue basketball holds the record for most Big Ten Championships with 22, along with being the only program in the conference to boast winning records...
in 19961996 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1996 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 14, 1996, and ended with the championship game on April 1 at Continental Airlines Arena in...
(2 points, 73–71) - Additionally, while ultimately Murray StateMurray State Racers men's basketballMurray State Racers men's basketball program represents intercollegiate men's basketball at Murray State University. The school competes in the Ohio Valley Conference in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and play home games at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky. Steve...
lost to Michigan StateMichigan State Spartans men's basketballThe Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represents Michigan State University and competes in the Big Ten Conference of NCAA Division I. The team currently plays at the Breslin Student Events Center...
by 4 points in 19901990 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1990 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 15, 1990, and ended with the championship game on April 2 in Denver, Colorado...
, they were the only #16 team to ever take a game into overtimeOvertime (sports)Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw. In most sports, this extra period is only played if the game is required to have a clear winner, as in single-elimination...
.
Additional low-seed trivia
- The University of Pennsylvania's 1979 Final Four appearance is also notable as they made it as a #9 seed—out of 10 teams in their region—making them the lowest seed to make the Final Four in the Pre-64-team era.
- The pairing of #8 seed Butler and #11 seed Virginia Commonwealth2010–11 VCU Rams men's basketball teamThe 2010–11 VCU Rams men's basketball team represented Virginia Commonwealth University in the Colonial Athletic Association conference during the 2010–11 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Rams, led by second year head coach Shaka Smart, played their home games at the Stuart C. Siegel...
in the 2011 National Semifinals game had the lowest seeded combination (#8 v. #11) ever to play in a National Semifinals game. - RichmondRichmond SpidersThe Richmond Spiders represent the University of Richmond, a member of the NCAA's Division I and a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference for all sports except football and women's golf, which participate as members of the Colonial Athletic Association....
is the only team to win first round games ranked as a #15, #14, #13, and #12 seed. - Butler is the only team to make consecutive Final Fours while not being a #1 or #2 seed either time (#5 in 2010, #8 in 2011).
Notable point spread upsets
As noted above, despite numerous instances of early-round tournament upsets, no #1 seed has ever lost in the first round to a #16 seed. However, while seeding is one way of measuring the impact of an upset, prior to the implementation of seeding, point spread was the better determinant of an upset, and a loss by a highly favored team remains for many the definition of "upset".- Biggest point-spread upsets since expansion to 64 teams in 1985:
- Santa ClaraSanta Clara BroncosThe Broncos are various sports teams of Santa Clara University. The athletic program currently has 19 varsity sports, 9 men's sports and 10 women's. Additionally there are 18 club sports teams that compete intercollegiately. The school colors are red and white...
+19.5 over ArizonaArizona Wildcats men's basketballThe Arizona Wildcats basketball team is the intercollegiate men's basketball program representing the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The team competes in the Pacific-12 Conference of NCAA Division I. They are currently coached by Sean Miller.Arizona has a long and rich...
64–61 in 19931993 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1993 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 18, 1993, and ended with the championship game on April 5 in New Orleans, Louisiana... - Coppin StateCoppin State UniversityCoppin State University is a historically black college located in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is part of the University System of Maryland...
+18.5 over South CarolinaSouth Carolina Gamecocks men's basketballThe South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball team represents the University of South Carolina and competes in the Southeastern Conference. The program attained national prominence under hall of fame coach Frank McGuire, posting a 205-65 record and three NCAA Sweet 16 appearances from 1967-1976...
78–65 in 19971997 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1997 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 13, 1997, and ended with the championship game on March 31 in Indianapolis, Indiana... - HamptonHampton UniversityHampton University is a historically black university located in Hampton, Virginia, United States. It was founded by black and white leaders of the American Missionary Association after the American Civil War to provide education to freedmen.-History:...
+17.5 over Iowa StateIowa State Cyclones men's basketballThe Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball team represents Iowa State University and competes in the Big 12 Conference of NCAA Division I.-Johnny Orr era :...
58–57 in 20012001 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 2001 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 65 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 13, 2001 with the play-in game, and ended with the championship game on April 2 in...
- Santa Clara
- Biggest point-spread upsets in NCAA Championship Game history:
- Connecticut1998–99 Connecticut Huskies men's basketball teamThe 1998–1999 Connecticut Huskies men's basketball team represented the University of Connecticut in the 1998–1999 NCAA Division I basketball season. Coached by Jim Calhoun, the Huskies played their home games at the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut, and on campus at the Harry A....
+9.5 over Duke1998–99 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball teamThe 1998–99 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team represented Duke University. The Head Coach was Mike Krzyzewski. The team played its home games in the Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina, and was a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference....
, 77–74, in 1999 - Villanova1984–85 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball teamThe 1984–85 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team represented Villanova University. The Head Coach was Rollie Massimino. The team played its home games at Villanova Field House in Villanova, Pennsylvania, and was a member of the Big East Conference...
+9 over Georgetown1984–85 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball teamThe 1984–85 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team represented Georgetown University. The Head Coach was John Thompson. The team was a member of the Big East Conference.-Roster:-NCAA basketball tournament:*East**Georgetown 68, Lehigh 43...
, 66–64, in 1985 - Kansas +8 over Oklahoma1987–88 Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball teamThe 1987–88 Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team represented the University of Oklahoma in competitive college basketball during the 1987–88 NCAA Division I season. The Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team played its home games in the Lloyd Noble Center and was a member of the National...
, 83–79, in 1988 - North Carolina State1982–83 NC State Wolfpack men's basketball teamThe 1982–83 North Carolina State Wolfpack men's basketball team represented North Carolina State University. The Wolfpack were a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference.-NCAA basketball tournament:*Mideast**North Carolina State 69, Pepperdine 67...
+7.5 over Houston1982–83 Houston Cougars men's basketball teamThe 1982–83 Houston Cougars men's basketball team represented the University of Houston. The Head Coach was Guy Lewis. The team played its home games in the Hofheinz Pavilion in Houston, Texas, and was then a member of the Southwest Conference.- Roster :...
, 54–52 in 1983 - Texas Western1965–66 Texas Western Miners men's basketball teamThe 1965–66 Texas Western Miners basketball team represented Texas Western University, now known as the University of Texas at El Paso and was coached by Hall of Fame coach Don Haskins. The team made history by winning the 1966 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament in 1966, becoming the...
+6.5 over Kentucky1965–66 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball teamThe 1965–66 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team represented the University of Kentucky in NCAA competition in the 1965–66 season. Coached by Adolph Rupp, the team had no player taller than 6'5"/1.96 m—unusually small even for that era—and became known as "Rupp's Runts"...
, 72–65 in 1966
- Connecticut
Highly seeded teams
While people are often fascinated by the improbable Cinderella stories, sometimes unusual things have happened with the top-seeded teams, as well.#1 seeds and the Final Four
All four #1 seeds making it to the Final FourHas happened only once, in 2008
2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 65 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2007–08 basketball season...
, when Kansas, North Carolina, UCLA, and Memphis all won their regionals. (Memphis's season was later vacated by the NCAA due to use of an ineligible player).
Two #1 seeds making it to the championship game
Has happened six times:
- 19821982 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1982 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 48 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 11, 1982, and ended with the championship game on March 29 in New Orleans, Louisiana...
North Carolina defeated Georgetown - 19931993 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1993 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 18, 1993, and ended with the championship game on April 5 in New Orleans, Louisiana...
North Carolina defeated Michigan - 19991999 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1999 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 11, 1999, and ended with the championship game on March 29 at Tropicana Field in St....
Connecticut defeated Duke - 20052005 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 2005 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 65 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 15, 2005, and ended with the championship game on April 4 at the Edward Jones Dome in St...
North Carolina defeated Illinois - 20072007 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 2007 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 65 NCAA schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2006–07 basketball season...
Florida defeated Ohio State - 20082008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 65 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2007–08 basketball season...
Kansas defeated Memphis
Tournaments with NO #1 seeds in the Final Four
Has happened three times:
- 19801980 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1980 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 48 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 6, 1980, and ended with the championship game on March 24 in Indianapolis, Indiana...
– Louisville1979–80 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team-NCAA basketball tournament:*Midwest**Louisville 71, Kansas State 69**Louisville 66, Texas A&M 55**Louisville 86, Louisiana State 66*Final Four** Louisville 80, Iowa 72** Louisville 59, UCLA 54-Awards and honors:...
– #2 (champion), IowaIowa Hawkeyes men's basketballThe Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team represents the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, as a member of the Big Ten Conference and the National Collegiate Athletic Association. They currently play in 15,500-seat Carver-Hawkeye Arena, along with the school's women's basketball, wrestling, and...
– #5, PurduePurdue Boilermakers men's basketballThe Purdue Boilermakers basketball team is a college basketball program that competes in NCAA Division I and is a member of the Big Ten Conference. Purdue basketball holds the record for most Big Ten Championships with 22, along with being the only program in the conference to boast winning records...
– #6, UCLAUCLA Bruins men's basketballThe UCLA Bruins men's basketball program, established in 1920, owns a record 11 Division I NCAA championships. UCLA teams coached by John Wooden won 10 national titles in 12 seasons from 1964 to 1975, including 7 straight from 1967 to 1973. UCLA went undefeated a record 4 times, in 1964, 1967,...
– #8 - 20062006 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 2006 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 65 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2005–06 basketball season...
– UCLAUCLA Bruins men's basketballThe UCLA Bruins men's basketball program, established in 1920, owns a record 11 Division I NCAA championships. UCLA teams coached by John Wooden won 10 national titles in 12 seasons from 1964 to 1975, including 7 straight from 1967 to 1973. UCLA went undefeated a record 4 times, in 1964, 1967,...
– #2, Florida – #3 (champion), LSULSU Tigers basketballThe Louisiana State Tigers basketball team represents Louisiana State University in NCAA Division I men's college basketball. The team is currently coached by Trent Johnson and has enjoyed recent success, including a Final Four run in the 2005–2006 season. Past coaches include John Brady, Press...
– #4, George Mason2005-06 George Mason Patriots men's basketball teamThe 2005–06 George Mason Patriots men's basketball team represented George Mason University in the 2005–2006 NCAA Basketball season, and is best known for their success in the NCAA Tournament, having reached the Final Four.-Season notes:...
– #11 - 20112011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe following sites were selected to host each round of the 2011 tournament:First Four*March 15 and 16**University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, OhioSecond and third rounds*March 17 and 19**Verizon Center, Washington, D.C....
– Connecticut – #3 (champion), Kentucky – #4, Butler – #8, Virginia Commonwealth2010–11 VCU Rams men's basketball teamThe 2010–11 VCU Rams men's basketball team represented Virginia Commonwealth University in the Colonial Athletic Association conference during the 2010–11 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Rams, led by second year head coach Shaka Smart, played their home games at the Stuart C. Siegel...
– #11
Additional #1 seed trivia
- In 1997, Arizona achieved a record that can never be broken, when it became the only team to beat three #1 seeds in a single tournament. (Due to tournament structure, it is impossible to play a team from each one of the regions in a single tournament, thus the most #1 seeds any team can play in a single tournament is three.)
- In 2011, the highest seed to advance to the Final Four was #3 seed Connecticut, making the 2011 tournament the only time that neither a #1 seed nor a #2 seed advanced into the final weekend of play. In the same tournament, Butler made history as the first program to make consecutive Final Fours while not being seeded #1 or #2 in either season.
- There have been sixteen teams that have entered the tournament undefeated. Four of those teams were from UCLA, and those four UCLA teams won each of those tournaments. However, of the other twelve teams entering the tournament undefeated, only three went on to win the tournament. For details, see table below
Teams #1 in national polls
The following teams entered the tournament ranked #1 in at least one of the AP, UPI, or USA Today polls and won the tournament:
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Undefeated teams not in the Big Dance
The NCAA tournament has undergone dramatic expansion since the 1970s, and since the tournament was expanded to 48 teams in 1980, no undefeated teams have failed to qualify. But before that, there were six occasions on which a team achieved perfection in the regular season, yet did not appear in the NCAA tournament.- In 1939, Long Island University finished the regular season undefeated but decided to accept instead an invitation to the NIT (which they won) instead of the NCAA tournament.
- In 1940, Seton Hall finished the regular season 19–0, but their record had been built largely against weak teams and thus did not earn them an invitation to the postseason tournament.
- In 1944, Army finished the regular season undefeated. But owing to World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the Cadets did not accept an invitation to postseason play. - In 1954, Kentucky finished 25–0 and were invited to the tournament, but declined the invitation.
- In 1973 the North Carolina State Wolfpack finished the regular season 27–0 and ranked #2 (behind undefeated and eventual tournament champion UCLA) but were barred from participating in the NCAA tournament while on probation for recruiting violations.
- In 1979, the Alcorn State UniversityAlcorn State UniversityAlcorn State University is an historically black university comprehensive land-grant institution in Lorman, Mississippi. It was founded in 1871-History:...
Braves finished the regular season 27-0, but did not receive an invitation to the NCAA Tournament. The Braves accepted a bid to the NIT, where they lost in the second round to eventual NIT champion Indiana.
Champions excluded the next year
There have been six times in which the tournament did not include the reigning champion (the previous year's winner):- 1978 champion1978 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1978 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 32 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 11, 1978, and ended with the championship game on March 27 in St. Louis, Missouri...
KentuckyKentucky Wildcats men's basketballThe Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team, representing the University of Kentucky, is the winningest in the history of college basketball, both in all-time wins and all-time winning percentage. Kentucky's all-time record currently stands at 2058–647...
went 19–12 in 1979. The Wildcats accepted an invitation to the National Invitation Tournament1979 National Invitation Tournament-Semifinals & Finals:* Third Place - Alabama 96, Ohio State 86...
, losing their first round game in overtime to ClemsonClemson Tigers men's basketballThe Clemson Tigers men's basketball team is a college basketball program that competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference in the NCAA Division I. The current head coach is Brad Brownell.-Team history:...
, 68–67. - Both 1979 champion1979 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1979 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 40 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 9, 1979, and ended with the championship game on March 26 in Salt Lake City, Utah...
Michigan StateMichigan State Spartans men's basketballThe Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represents Michigan State University and competes in the Big Ten Conference of NCAA Division I. The team currently plays at the Breslin Student Events Center...
and 1979 runner up Indiana StateIndiana State Sycamores men's basketballThe Indiana State Sycamores basketball is the NCAA Division I men's basketball program of Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana. They currently compete in the Missouri Valley Conference...
failed to qualify for the 1980 NCAA tournament. Furthermore, neither was invited to the National Invitation Tournament1980 National Invitation Tournament-Semifinals & Finals:*Third Place - Illinois 84, UNLV 74...
. (It is noteworthy that Indiana State lost Larry BirdLarry BirdLarry Joe Bird is a former American NBA basketball player and coach. Drafted into the NBA sixth overall by the Boston Celtics in 1978, Bird started at small forward and power forward for thirteen seasons, spearheading one of the NBA's most formidable frontcourts that included center Robert Parish...
to graduation, and Magic JohnsonMagic JohnsonEarvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. is a retired American professional basketball player who played point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . After winning championships in high school and college, Johnson was selected first overall in the 1979 NBA Draft by the Lakers...
left Michigan State after his sophomore season to enter the 1979 NBA draft following the 1979 NCAA tournament.) - 1986 champion1986 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1986 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 13, 1986, and ended with the championship game on March 31 in Dallas, Texas...
LouisvilleLouisville Cardinals men's basketballThe Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team is the 18th winningest college basketball team in NCAA Division I history and has the 10th best winning percentage in college basketball history. Currently coached by Rick Pitino, the Cardinals of the University of Louisville have been to 37 NCAA...
went 18–14 in 1987. The team declined an invitation to the postseason National Invitation Tournament1987 National Invitation Tournament-Semifinals & Finals:*Third Place - Nebraska 76, Arkansas-Little Rock 67...
. - 1988 champion1988 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1988 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 17, 1988, and ended with the championship game on April 4 returning to Kansas City, Missouri...
Kansas was ineligible for participation in the 1989 NCAA tournament due to NCAA sanctions for recruiting violations. However, their overall record (19-12), combined with their sixth place finish in the Big Eight, would likely have kept them out of the tournament anyway. - Both 2007 champion2007 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 2007 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 65 NCAA schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2006–07 basketball season...
Florida and 2007 runner up Ohio State failed to qualify for the 2008 NCAA tournament. Both accepted invitations to that year's postseason National Invitation Tournament2008 National Invitation Tournament-Semifinals and Final:Played at Madison Square Garden in New York City on April 1 and 3* - Overtime game.-External links:*...
. Each made it to that tournament's final four. Florida fell to the University of MassachusettsUMass Minutemen basketballThe UMass Minutemen basketball team, also known as the Massachusetts Minutemen, represents the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, Massachusetts, in NCAA Division I men's competition...
in the semifinals, but Ohio State defeated UMass in the NIT Championship Game to win the tournament. - 2009 champion2009 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe first and second round games were played at the following sites:First and Second Rounds: Thursday and Saturday, March 19 and 21, 2009-Qualifying teams:-Brackets:Results to date * – Denotes overtime periodAll times in U.S. EDT....
North Carolina2009–10 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball teamThe 2009–10 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Their head coach was Roy Williams. The team played its home games in the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and is a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They...
went 16–16 in 2010. The Tar Heels accepted an invitation to the National Invitation Tournament2010 National Invitation Tournament-Arizona State Bracket:-Virginia Tech Bracket:-Mississippi State Bracket:-NIT Final Four - NIT Semifinals and NIT Championship Game:Played at Madison Square Garden in New York City-See also:*2010 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament...
, in which they reached the finals and were defeated by Dayton2009–10 Dayton Flyers men's basketball teamThe 2009–10 Dayton Flyers men's basketball team represented the University of Dayton in the 2009–10 college basketball season. This was head coach Brian Gregory's seventh season at Dayton. The Flyers compete in the Atlantic 10 Conference and played their home games at the University of Dayton Arena...
.
Most National Championships
- 10 National Championships
- John WoodenJohn WoodenJohn Robert Wooden was an American basketball player and coach. Nicknamed the "Wizard of Westwood", he won ten NCAA national championships in a 12-year period — seven in a row — as head coach at UCLA, an unprecedented feat. Within this period, his teams won a record 88 consecutive games...
(1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975)
- 4 National Championships
- Mike Krzyzewski (1991, 1992, 2001, 2010)
- Adolph RuppAdolph RuppAdolph Frederick Rupp was one of the most successful coaches in the history of American college basketball. Rupp is fourth in total victories by a men's NCAA Division I college coach, winning 876 games in 41 years of coaching...
(1948, 1949, 1951, 1958)
- 3 National Championships
- Jim CalhounJim CalhounJames A. Calhoun is the head coach of the University of Connecticut's men's basketball team. His teams have won three national championships , played in four Final Fours , won the 1988 NIT championship, and have won seven Big East tournament championships...
(1999, 2004, 2011) - Bob Knight (1976, 1981, 1987)
- Several coaches have won two championships
National Championships among Active Coaches
- 4 Mike Krzyzewski (1991, 1992, 2001, 2010)
- 3 Jim CalhounJim CalhounJames A. Calhoun is the head coach of the University of Connecticut's men's basketball team. His teams have won three national championships , played in four Final Fours , won the 1988 NIT championship, and have won seven Big East tournament championships...
(1999, 2004, 2011) - 2 Billy DonovanBilly DonovanWilliam John "Billy" Donovan, Jr. is an American college basketball coach and a former college and professional basketball player. Donovan is the current head coach of the Florida Gators men's basketball team of the University of Florida...
(2006, 2007) - 2 Roy WilliamsRoy Williams (coach)Roy Williams is head coach of the men's basketball team at the University of North Carolina. After averaging nearly an 80% win percentage in 15 seasons at the University of Kansas, he became the eighteenth head coach at North Carolina when he replaced Matt Doherty in 2003...
(2005, 2009) - 1 Jim BoeheimJim BoeheimJames Arthur "Jim" Boeheim is the head coach of the men's basketball team at Syracuse University. Boeheim has guided the Orange to eight Big East regular season championships, five Big East Tournament championships, and 28 NCAA Tournament appearances, including three appearances in the national...
(2003) - 1 Steve FisherSteve FisherSteve Fisher is an American college basketball coach currently at San Diego State University.Fisher attended Illinois State University, where he helped lead the Redbirds to the 1967 Division II Final Four. After school, he became a high school coach in Park Forest, Illinois. In 1979, he accepted...
(1989) - 1 Tom IzzoTom IzzoTom Izzo is an American college basketball coach. Since 1995, he has been the head coach for the Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team, presiding over a prolonged period of success....
(2000) - 1 Rick PitinoRick PitinoRick Pitino is an American basketball coach. Since 2001, he has been the head coach at the University of Louisville. He has also served as head coach at Boston University, Providence College and the University of Kentucky, leading that program to the NCAA championship in 1996...
(1996) - 1 Bill SelfBill SelfBill Self is an American college men's basketball coach at the University of Kansas, where he led the Jayhawks to the 2008 NCAA national championship....
(2008) - 1 Tubby SmithTubby SmithOrlando "Tubby" Smith is an American college basketball coach. He is currently the men's basketball head coach at the University of Minnesota...
(1998)
Schools Winning a National Championship under Multiple Coaches
- Four coaches
- KentuckyKentucky Wildcats men's basketballThe Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team, representing the University of Kentucky, is the winningest in the history of college basketball, both in all-time wins and all-time winning percentage. Kentucky's all-time record currently stands at 2058–647...
: Adolph RuppAdolph RuppAdolph Frederick Rupp was one of the most successful coaches in the history of American college basketball. Rupp is fourth in total victories by a men's NCAA Division I college coach, winning 876 games in 41 years of coaching...
, Joe B. HallJoe B. Hall-See also:*Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball*NCAA Men's Division I Final Four appearances by coaches- External links :* at unofficial Fan Site* * *...
, Rick PitinoRick PitinoRick Pitino is an American basketball coach. Since 2001, he has been the head coach at the University of Louisville. He has also served as head coach at Boston University, Providence College and the University of Kentucky, leading that program to the NCAA championship in 1996...
, and Tubby SmithTubby SmithOrlando "Tubby" Smith is an American college basketball coach. He is currently the men's basketball head coach at the University of Minnesota...
- Three coaches
- Kansas: Phog AllenPhog AllenForrest Clare "Phog" Allen was an American basketball and baseball player, coach of American football, basketball, and baseball, college athletics administrator, and osteopathic physician...
, Larry BrownLarry Brown (basketball)Lawrence Harvey "Larry" Brown is an American basketball coach and former player. He most recently served as head coach of the National Basketball Association's Charlotte Bobcats....
, and Bill SelfBill SelfBill Self is an American college men's basketball coach at the University of Kansas, where he led the Jayhawks to the 2008 NCAA national championship.... - North CarolinaNorth Carolina Tar Heels men's basketballThe North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball program is the intercollegiate men's basketball of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and is considered one of the most successful programs in NCAA history...
: Frank McGuireFrank McGuireFrank Joseph McGuire was an American athletic coach who gained his greatest renown in collegiate basketball....
, Dean SmithDean SmithDean Edwards Smith is a retired American head coach of men's college basketball. Originally from Emporia, Kansas, Smith has been called a “coaching legend” by the Basketball Hall of Fame. Smith is best known for his successful 36-year coaching tenure at the University of North Carolina at Chapel...
, and Roy WilliamsRoy Williams (coach)Roy Williams is head coach of the men's basketball team at the University of North Carolina. After averaging nearly an 80% win percentage in 15 seasons at the University of Kansas, he became the eighteenth head coach at North Carolina when he replaced Matt Doherty in 2003...
- Two coaches
- IndianaIndiana Hoosiers men's basketballThe Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team is the intercollegiate men's basketball program representing Indiana University . The school competes in the Big Ten Conference in Division I of the NCAA. The Hoosiers play on Branch McCracken Court at the Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana on the IU...
: Branch McCrackenBranch McCrackenBranch McCracken was a college men's basketball coach.As a player at Indiana, the Monrovia, Indiana native was a three-year letter winner for Hall of Fame coach Everett Dean...
and Bob Knight - Michigan StateMichigan State Spartans men's basketballThe Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represents Michigan State University and competes in the Big Ten Conference of NCAA Division I. The team currently plays at the Breslin Student Events Center...
: Jud HeathcoteJud HeathcoteGeorge Melvin "Jud" Heathcote is a former college basketball coach. He was a head coach for 24 seasons at the collegiate level: five at Montana and 19 at Michigan State...
and Tom IzzoTom IzzoTom Izzo is an American college basketball coach. Since 1995, he has been the head coach for the Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team, presiding over a prolonged period of success.... - North Carolina StateNC State Wolfpack men's basketballThe NC State Wolfpack men's basketball team represents North Carolina State University in NCAA Division I men's basketball competition. The Wolfpack currently competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference, of which it was a founding member....
: Norm SloanNorm SloanNorman Sloan , nicknamed "Stormin' Norman," was an American college basketball player and coach. Sloan played college basketball for North Carolina State University, and thereafter, he was the men's basketball head coach for Presbyterian College, The Citadel, the University of Florida and North...
and Jim ValvanoJim ValvanoJames Thomas Anthony "Jim" Valvano , nicknamed Jimmy V, was an American college basketball coach.While the head basketball coach at North Carolina State University, he won the 1983 NCAA Basketball Tournament against high odds...
. - UCLAUCLA Bruins men's basketballThe UCLA Bruins men's basketball program, established in 1920, owns a record 11 Division I NCAA championships. UCLA teams coached by John Wooden won 10 national titles in 12 seasons from 1964 to 1975, including 7 straight from 1967 to 1973. UCLA went undefeated a record 4 times, in 1964, 1967,...
: John Wooden and Jim HarrickJim HarrickJim Harrick is an American former basketball coach who coached at Pepperdine University, UCLA, the University of Rhode Island and the University of Georgia over a combined total of 23 seasons.-Biography:...
Most different teams taken to the Final Four
- Rick PitinoRick PitinoRick Pitino is an American basketball coach. Since 2001, he has been the head coach at the University of Louisville. He has also served as head coach at Boston University, Providence College and the University of Kentucky, leading that program to the NCAA championship in 1996...
has been to the Final Four with three different schools: ProvidenceProvidence Friars men's basketballThe Providence Friars men's basketball team represents Providence College in NCAA Division I competition, in which they are a founding member of the Big East Conference. They play their home games at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island...
(1987); KentuckyKentucky Wildcats men's basketballThe Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team, representing the University of Kentucky, is the winningest in the history of college basketball, both in all-time wins and all-time winning percentage. Kentucky's all-time record currently stands at 2058–647...
(1993, 1996, and 19971996–97 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball teamThe 1996–97 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team represented University of Kentucky coached by Rick Pitino . The team was a member of the Southeast Conference and played their home games at Rupp Arena.-NCAA basketball tournament:*East...
), and LouisvilleLouisville Cardinals men's basketballThe Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team is the 18th winningest college basketball team in NCAA Division I history and has the 10th best winning percentage in college basketball history. Currently coached by Rick Pitino, the Cardinals of the University of Louisville have been to 37 NCAA...
(2005).
In 2011, John Calipari also accomplished that feat, taking Kentucky (2011) to the Final Four after also reaching the tournament's last weekend previously with Memphis (2008) and UMass (1996). The latter two tournament appearances were later vacated due to NCAA sanctions on those programs.
Point differentials
Point differentials, or margin of victory, can be viewed either by the championship game, or by a team's performance over the whole tournament.Championship victory margins
Largest margin of victory in a championship game
30 points, by UNLV in 1990
1990 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1990 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 15, 1990, and ended with the championship game on April 2 in Denver, Colorado...
(103-73, over Duke)
Smallest margin of victory in a championship game
1 point, on six occasions
- Indiana 69, Kansas 68 (19531953 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1953 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 22 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 10, 1953, and ended with the championship game on March 18 in Kansas City, Missouri...
) - North Carolina 54, Kansas 53/3OT1957 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship GameThe 1957 NCAA Basketball Championship Game featured Wilt Chamberlain and the Kansas Jayhawks against the undefeated North Carolina Tar Heels. The game went into triple-overtime, the only championship game to have ever done so, leading many pundits to call it one of, if not the best college...
(19571957 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1957 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 23 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 11, 1957, and ended with the championship game on March 23 in Kansas City, Missouri...
) - California 71, West Virginia 70 (19591959 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1959 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 23 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball in the United States. It began on March 7, 1959, and ended with the championship game on March 21 in Louisville,...
) - North Carolina 63, Georgetown 62 (19821982 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1982 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 48 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 11, 1982, and ended with the championship game on March 29 in New Orleans, Louisiana...
) - Indiana 74, Syracuse 73 (19871987 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1987 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 12, 1987, and ended with the championship game on March 30 in New Orleans, Louisiana...
) - Michigan 80, Seton Hall 79/OT (19891989 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1989 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 16, 1989, and ended with the championship game on April 3 in Seattle, Washington...
)
Overtime games in a championship game
Seven times the championship game has been tied at the end of regulation. On one of those occasions (1957
1957 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship Game
The 1957 NCAA Basketball Championship Game featured Wilt Chamberlain and the Kansas Jayhawks against the undefeated North Carolina Tar Heels. The game went into triple-overtime, the only championship game to have ever done so, leading many pundits to call it one of, if not the best college...
) the game went into double and then triple overtime.
- North Carolina 54, Kansas 53/3OT (19571957 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1957 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 23 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 11, 1957, and ended with the championship game on March 23 in Kansas City, Missouri...
) - Utah 42, Dartmouth 40/OT (19441944 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament-External links:* on Shrp Sports * , source for much of the information on this page....
) - Cincinnati 65, Ohio St. 60/OT (19611961 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1961 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 24 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball in the United States. It began on March 14, 1961, and ended with the championship game on March 25 in Kansas...
) - Loyola 60, Cincinnati 58/OT (19631963 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1963 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 25 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball in the United States. It began on March 9, 1963, and ended with the championship game on March 23 in Louisville,...
) - Michigan 80, Seton Hall 79/OT (19891989 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1989 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 16, 1989, and ended with the championship game on April 3 in Seattle, Washington...
) - Arizona 84, Kentucky 79/OT (19971997 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1997 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 13, 1997, and ended with the championship game on March 31 in Indianapolis, Indiana...
) - Kansas 75, Memphis 68/OT (20082008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 65 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2007–08 basketball season...
)
Accumulated victory margins
Largest point differential accumulated over the entire tournament
- 1996 Kentucky (+129)
- 2009 North Carolina (+121)
- 1990 UNLV (+112)
- 2001 Duke (+101)
- 2006 Florida (+96)
Teams winning the championship and obtaining a margin of 10 points in every game of the tournament
Achieved seven times by six different schools
- Oregon(19391939 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament-External links:* on Shrp Sports * , source for much of the information on this page.-See also:* 1939 NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament...
) - Indiana (19811981 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1981 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 48 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 12, 1981, and ended with the championship game on March 30 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
) - UCLA (19671967 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1967 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 23 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 11, 1967, and ended with the championship game on March 25 in Louisville, Kentucky...
) - Michigan State (19791979 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1979 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 40 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 9, 1979, and ended with the championship game on March 26 in Salt Lake City, Utah...
and 20002000 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 2000 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 16, 2000, and ended with the championship game on April 3 in Indianapolis, Indiana...
) - Duke (20012001 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 2001 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 65 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 13, 2001 with the play-in game, and ended with the championship game on April 2 in...
) - North Carolina (20092009 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe first and second round games were played at the following sites:First and Second Rounds: Thursday and Saturday, March 19 and 21, 2009-Qualifying teams:-Brackets:Results to date * – Denotes overtime periodAll times in U.S. EDT....
)
First round seed pairing results
Since the inception of the 64-team tournament in 1985, each seed-pairing has played a total of 108 first-round games, with the following results:- The #1 seed is 108–0 against the #16 seed (100%).
- The #2 seed is 104–4 against the #15 seed (96.30%).
- The #3 seed is 92–16 against the #14 seed (85.19%).
- The #4 seed is 85–23 against the #13 seed (78.70%).
- The #5 seed is 72–36 against the #12 seed (66.67%).
- The #6 seed is 72–36 against the #11 seed (66.67%).
- The #7 seed is 65–43 against the #10 seed (60.19%).
- The #8 seed is 51–57 against the #9 seed (47.22%).
Host cities
This table lists all the cities that have hosted the Final Four, as well as what stadiums the Final Four was played in. For additional information about a particular year's tournament, click on the year to go directly to that year's NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.| Year | City | Venue | Champion |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1939 1939 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament -External links:* on Shrp Sports * , source for much of the information on this page.-See also:* 1939 NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament... |
Evanston, Illinois | Patten Gymnasium | Oregon |
| 1940 1940 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1940 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 8 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the participating champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 20, 1940, and ended with the championship game on March 30 in Kansas City, Missouri... |
Kansas City, Missouri | Municipal Auditorium | Indiana |
| 1941 1941 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament -External links:* on Shrp Sports * , source for much of the information on this page.-See also:* 1941 NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament... |
Kansas City, Missouri | Municipal Auditorium | Wisconsin |
| 1942 1942 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament -External links:* on Shrp Sports * , source for much of the information on this page.*... |
Kansas City, Missouri | Municipal Auditorium | Stanford |
| 1943 1943 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament -External links:* on Shrp Sports * , source for much of the information on this page.... |
New York City | Madison Square Garden | Wyoming |
| 1944 1944 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament -External links:* on Shrp Sports * , source for much of the information on this page.... |
New York City | Madison Square Garden | Utah |
| 1945 1945 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1945 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 8 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 22, 1945, and ended with the championship game on March 27 in New York City... |
New York City | Madison Square Garden | Oklahoma A&M |
| 1946 1946 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament -External links:* on Shrp Sports * , source for much of the information on this page.... |
New York City | Madison Square Garden | Oklahoma A&M |
| 1947 1947 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament -External links:* on Shrp Sports * , source for much of the information on this page.... |
New York City | Madison Square Garden | Holy Cross |
| 1948 1948 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament -External links:* on Shrp Sports * , source for much of the information on this page.... |
New York City | Madison Square Garden | Kentucky |
| 1949 1949 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1949 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 8 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 18, 1949, and ended with the championship game on March 26 in Seattle, Washington... |
Seattle, Washington | Hec Edmundson Pavilion | Kentucky |
| 1950 1950 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1950 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 8 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 23, 1950, and ended with the championship game on March 28 in New York City, New York... |
New York City | Madison Square Garden | CCNY |
| 1951 1951 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1951 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 16 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 20, 1951, and ended with the championship game on March 27 at Williams Arena in Minneapolis,... |
Minneapolis, Minnesota | Williams Arena | Kentucky |
| 1952 1952 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament -External links:* on Shrp Sports * , source for much of the information on this page.... |
Seattle, Washington | Hec Edmundson Pavilion | Kansas |
| 1953 1953 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1953 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 22 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 10, 1953, and ended with the championship game on March 18 in Kansas City, Missouri... |
Kansas City, Missouri | Municipal Auditorium | Indiana |
| 1954 1954 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1954 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 24 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 8, 1954, and ended with the championship game on March 20 in Kansas City, Missouri... |
Kansas City, Missouri | Municipal Auditorium | LaSalle |
| 1955 1955 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament -West region:-National Championship:-External links:* on Shrp Sports * , source for much of the information on this page.... |
Kansas City, Missouri | Municipal Auditorium | San Francisco |
| 1956 1956 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament -Midwest Region:-West Region:-Far West Region:-Final Four:-Notes:* Canisius's first-round victory over the second-ranked North Carolina State Wolfpack, considered by many to be among the top ten upsets in tournament history, set a record for most overtime periods in a Division I Men's tournament... |
Evanston, Illinois | McGaw Hall | San Francisco |
| 1957 1957 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1957 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 23 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 11, 1957, and ended with the championship game on March 23 in Kansas City, Missouri... |
Kansas City, Missouri | Municipal Auditorium | North Carolina |
| 1958 1958 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1958 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 24 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball in the United States. It began on March 11, 1958, and ended with the championship game on March 22 in... |
Louisville, Kentucky | Freedom Hall | Kentucky |
| 1959 1959 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1959 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 23 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball in the United States. It began on March 7, 1959, and ended with the championship game on March 21 in Louisville,... |
Louisville, Kentucky | Freedom Hall | California |
| 1960 1960 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1960 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 25 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball in the United States. It began on March 7, 1960, and ended with the championship game on March 19 in Daly City,... |
San Francisco | Cow Palace | Ohio State |
| 1961 1961 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1961 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 24 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball in the United States. It began on March 14, 1961, and ended with the championship game on March 25 in Kansas... |
Kansas City, Missouri | Municipal Auditorium | Cincinnati |
| 1962 1962 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament -Mideast region:-Midwest region:-West region:-Final Four:-External links:* on Shrp Sports * , source for much of the information on this page.... |
Louisville, Kentucky | Freedom Hall | Cincinnati |
| 1963 1963 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1963 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 25 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball in the United States. It began on March 9, 1963, and ended with the championship game on March 23 in Louisville,... |
Louisville, Kentucky | Freedom Hall | Loyola Chicago |
| 1964 1964 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1964 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 25 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball in the United States. It began on March 9, 1964, and ended with the championship game on March 21 in Kansas... |
Kansas City, Missouri | Municipal Auditorium | UCLA |
| 1965 1965 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1965 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 23 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 8, 1965, and ended with the championship game on March 20 in Portland, Oregon... |
Portland, Oregon | Memorial Collesium | UCLA |
| 1966 1966 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1966 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 22 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 7, 1966, and ended with the championship game on March 19 in College Park, Maryland... |
College Park, Maryland | Cole Field House | UTEP |
| 1967 1967 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1967 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 23 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 11, 1967, and ended with the championship game on March 25 in Louisville, Kentucky... |
Louisville, Kentucky | Freedom Hall | UCLA |
| 1968 1968 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1968 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 23 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 8, 1968, and ended with the championship game on March 23 in Los Angeles, California... |
Los Angeles | Sports Arena | UCLA |
| 1969 1969 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1969 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 25 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 8, 1969, and ended with the championship game on March 22 in Louisville, Kentucky... |
Louisville, Kentucky | Freedom Hall | UCLA |
| 1970 1970 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1970 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 25 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 7, 1970, and ended with the championship game on March 21 in College Park, Maryland... |
College Park, Maryland | Cole Field House | UCLA |
| 1971 1971 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1971 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 25 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 13, 1971, and ended with the championship game on March 27 in Houston, Texas... |
Houston, Texas | Astrodome | UCLA |
| 1972 1972 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1972 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 25 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA University Division college basketball. It began on March 11, 1972, and ended with the championship game on March 25 in Los Angeles, California... |
Los Angeles | Memorial Sports Arena | UCLA |
| 1973 1973 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1973 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 25 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA University Division college basketball. It began on March 10, 1973, and ended with the championship game on March 26 in St. Louis, Missouri... |
St. Louis, Missouri | St. Louis Arena | UCLA |
| 1974 1974 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1974 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 25 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It was the first tournament to officially be designated as a Division I championship—previously, NCAA member... |
Greensboro, North Carolina | Greensboro Coliseum | NC State |
| 1975 1975 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1975 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 32 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 15, 1975, and ended with the championship game on March 31 in San Diego, California... |
San Diego, California | San Diego Sports Arena | UCLA |
| 1976 1976 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1976 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 32 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 13, 1976, and ended with the championship game on March 29 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania... |
Philadelphia | The Spectrum | Indiana |
| 1977 1977 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1977 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 32 American schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the National Champion of Men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 12, 1977, and ended with the championship game on March 28 in Atlanta, Georgia. A... |
Atlanta, Georgia | The Omni | Marquette |
| 1978 1978 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1978 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 32 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 11, 1978, and ended with the championship game on March 27 in St. Louis, Missouri... |
St. Louis, Missouri | The Checkerdome | Kentucky |
| 1979 1979 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1979 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 40 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 9, 1979, and ended with the championship game on March 26 in Salt Lake City, Utah... |
Salt Lake City | Special Events Center | Michigan State |
| 1980 1980 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1980 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 48 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 6, 1980, and ended with the championship game on March 24 in Indianapolis, Indiana... |
Indianapolis, Indiana | Market Square Arena | Louisville |
| 1981 1981 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1981 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 48 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 12, 1981, and ended with the championship game on March 30 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania... |
Philadelphia | The Spectrum | Indiana |
| 1982 1982 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1982 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 48 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 11, 1982, and ended with the championship game on March 29 in New Orleans, Louisiana... |
New Orleans | Louisiana Superdome | North Carolina |
| 1983 1983 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1983 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 52 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 2, 1983, and ended with the championship game on April 4 at The Pit, then officially known... |
Albuquerque, New Mexico | The Pit | NC State |
| 1984 1984 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1984 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 53 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 13, 1984, and ended with the championship game on April 2 in Seattle, Washington. A total of... |
Seattle, Washington | Kingdome | Georgetown |
| 1985 1985 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1985 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. This was the first year the field was expanded to 64 teams, from 53 in the previous year's tournament. It began... |
Lexington, Kentucky | Rupp Arena | Villanova |
| 1986 1986 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1986 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 13, 1986, and ended with the championship game on March 31 in Dallas, Texas... |
Dallas, Texas | Reunion Arena | Louisville |
| 1987 1987 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1987 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 12, 1987, and ended with the championship game on March 30 in New Orleans, Louisiana... |
New Orleans | Louisiana Superdome | Indiana |
| 1988 1988 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1988 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 17, 1988, and ended with the championship game on April 4 returning to Kansas City, Missouri... |
Kansas City, Missouri | Kemper Arena | Kansas |
| 1989 1989 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1989 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 16, 1989, and ended with the championship game on April 3 in Seattle, Washington... |
Seattle, Washington | Kingdome | Michigan |
| 1990 1990 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1990 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 15, 1990, and ended with the championship game on April 2 in Denver, Colorado... |
Denver, Colorado | McNichols Sports Arena | UNLV |
| 1991 1991 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1991 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 14, 1991, and ended with the championship game on April 1 in Indianapolis, Indiana... |
Indianapolis, Indiana | Hoosier Dome | Duke |
| 1992 1992 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1992 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 19, 1992, and ended with the championship game on April 6 in Minneapolis, Minnesota... |
Minneapolis, Minnesota | HHH Metrodome | Duke |
| 1993 1993 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1993 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 18, 1993, and ended with the championship game on April 5 in New Orleans, Louisiana... |
New Orleans | Louisiana Superdome | North Carolina |
| 1994 1994 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1994 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 17, 1994, and ended with the championship game on April 4 in Charlotte, North Carolina... |
Charlotte, North Carolina | Charlotte Coliseum | Arkansas |
| 1995 1995 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1995 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 16, 1995, and ended with the championship game on April 3 at the Kingdome in Seattle,... |
Seattle, Washington | Kingdome | UCLA |
| 1996 1996 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1996 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 14, 1996, and ended with the championship game on April 1 at Continental Airlines Arena in... |
East Rutherford, New Jersey | Continental Airlines Arena | Kentucky |
| 1997 1997 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1997 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 13, 1997, and ended with the championship game on March 31 in Indianapolis, Indiana... |
Indianapolis, Indiana | RCA Dome | Arizona |
| 1998 1998 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1998 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 12, 1998, and ended with the championship game on March 30 at the Alamodome in San Antonio,... |
San Antonio, Texas | Alamodome | Kentucky |
| 1999 1999 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1999 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 11, 1999, and ended with the championship game on March 29 at Tropicana Field in St.... |
St. Petersburg, Florida | Tropicana Field | Connecticut |
| 2000 2000 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 2000 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 16, 2000, and ended with the championship game on April 3 in Indianapolis, Indiana... |
Indianapolis, Indiana | RCA Dome | Michigan State |
| 2001 2001 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 2001 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 65 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 13, 2001 with the play-in game, and ended with the championship game on April 2 in... |
Minneapolis, Minnesota | HHH Metrodome | Duke |
| 2002 2002 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 2002 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 65 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 12, 2002, and ended with the championship game on April 1 in Atlanta, Georgia... |
Atlanta, Georgia | Georgia Dome | Maryland |
| 2003 2003 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 2003 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 65 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 18, 2003, and ended with the championship game on April 7 in New Orleans, Louisiana... |
New Orleans | Mercedes-Benz Superdome | Syracuse |
| 2004 2004 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 2004 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 65 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 16, 2004, and ended with the championship game on April 5 at the Alamodome in San Antonio,... |
San Antonio, Texas | Alamodome | Connecticut |
| 2005 2005 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 2005 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 65 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 15, 2005, and ended with the championship game on April 4 at the Edward Jones Dome in St... |
St. Louis, Missouri | Edward Jones Dome | North Carolina |
| 2006 2006 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 2006 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 65 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2005–06 basketball season... |
Indianapolis, Indiana | RCA Dome | Florida |
| 2007 2007 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 2007 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 65 NCAA schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2006–07 basketball season... |
Atlanta, Georgia | Georgia Dome | Florida |
| 2008 2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 65 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2007–08 basketball season... |
San Antonio, Texas | Alamodome | Kansas |
| 2009 2009 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The first and second round games were played at the following sites:First and Second Rounds: Thursday and Saturday, March 19 and 21, 2009-Qualifying teams:-Brackets:Results to date * – Denotes overtime periodAll times in U.S. EDT.... |
Detroit, Michigan | Ford Field | North Carolina |
| 2010 2010 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The first and second round games were played at the following sites:*March 18 / 20*March 25 / 27*March 26 / 28Each regional winner advanced to the Final Four, held on April 3 and 5 in Indianapolis, Indiana at Lucas Oil Stadium, hosted by the Horizon League and Butler University, as per the NCAA's... |
Indianapolis, Indiana | Lucas Oil Stadium | Duke |
| 2011 2011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The following sites were selected to host each round of the 2011 tournament:First Four*March 15 and 16**University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, OhioSecond and third rounds*March 17 and 19**Verizon Center, Washington, D.C.... |
Houston, Texas | Reliant Stadium | Connecticut |
| 2012 2012 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 2012 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament will involve 68 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball... |
New Orleans | Mercedes-Benz Superdome | |
| 2013 2013 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 2013 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament will involve 68 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It is scheduled to begin on March 19, 2013 and will conclude with the championship game on April 8 at... |
Atlanta, Georgia | Georgia Dome | |
| 2014 | Arlington, Texas | Cowboys Stadium | |
| 2015 | Indianapolis, Indiana | Lucas Oil Stadium | |
| 2016 | Houston, Texas | Reliant Stadium | |
Championships, by schools
- The following is a list of all schools that have won at least one NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, along with what years they have won their championship(s).
| School | Titles | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Arizona Arizona Wildcats men's basketball The Arizona Wildcats basketball team is the intercollegiate men's basketball program representing the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The team competes in the Pacific-12 Conference of NCAA Division I. They are currently coached by Sean Miller.Arizona has a long and rich... |
1 | 1997 |
| Arkansas Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball The Arkansas Razorbacks basketball team represents the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas in NCAA Division I men's basketball competition. The school's team currently competes in the Southeastern Conference. The team last played in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament in 2008... |
1 | 1994 |
| California | 1 | 1959 |
| Cincinnati Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball The Cincinnati Bearcats basketball team is the NCAA Division I men's basketball program of the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio. They currently compete in the Big East Conference and are coached by Mick Cronin. The team last played in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament in... |
2 | 1961, 1962 |
| CCNY City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning... |
1 | 1950 |
| Connecticut Connecticut Huskies men's basketball The Connecticut Huskies is the name of the men's college basketball team representing the University of Connecticut, in Storrs, Connecticut, USA. The program is classified in the NCAA's Division I, and the team competes in the Big East Conference... |
3 | 1999, 2004, 2011 |
| Duke Duke Blue Devils men's basketball The Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team is the college basketball program representing Duke University in the Atlantic Coast Conference of NCAA Division I... |
4 | 1991, 1992, 2001, 2010 |
| Florida Florida Gators men's basketball The Florida Gators men's basketball team represents the University of Florida in the sport of basketball. The Gators compete in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I and the Southeastern Conference... |
2 | 2006, 2007 |
| Georgetown | 1 | 1984 |
| Holy Cross Holy Cross Crusaders men's basketball The Holy Cross Crusaders men's basketball team represents the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, in NCAA Division I competition. The team competes in the Patriot League and plays their home games in the Hart Center... |
1 | 1947 |
| Indiana Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball The Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team is the intercollegiate men's basketball program representing Indiana University . The school competes in the Big Ten Conference in Division I of the NCAA. The Hoosiers play on Branch McCracken Court at the Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana on the IU... |
5 | 1940, 1953, 1976, 1981, 1987 |
| Kansas | 3 | 1952, 1988, 2008 |
| Kentucky Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball The Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team, representing the University of Kentucky, is the winningest in the history of college basketball, both in all-time wins and all-time winning percentage. Kentucky's all-time record currently stands at 2058–647... |
7 | 1948, 1949, 1951, 1958, 1978, 1996, 1998 |
| La Salle La Salle Explorers men's basketball The La Salle Explorers Men's Basketball Team is the college basketball program representing La Salle University.-History:The program has been rated the 53rd "Greatest College Basketball Program of All-Time" by Street & Smith's magazine and 71st by the ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia.La Salle... |
1 | 1954 |
| Louisville Louisville Cardinals men's basketball The Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team is the 18th winningest college basketball team in NCAA Division I history and has the 10th best winning percentage in college basketball history. Currently coached by Rick Pitino, the Cardinals of the University of Louisville have been to 37 NCAA... |
2 | 1980, 1986 |
| Loyola (Chicago) Loyola Ramblers The Loyola Ramblers are the varsity sports teams of Loyola University Chicago. Most teams compete in the Horizon League of the NCAA Division I... |
1 | 1963 |
| Marquette Marquette Golden Eagles men's basketball The Marquette Golden Eagles Basketball team is the basketball team that represents Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The school's 1977 team, coached by Al McGuire, won the NCAA championship. Currently the team competes in the Big East Conference. It last played in the NCAA Division I... |
1 | 1977 |
| Maryland Maryland Terrapins men's basketball The Maryland Terrapins men's basketball team represents the University of Maryland in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I competition... |
1 | 2002 |
| Michigan Michigan Wolverines men's basketball The Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team is the intercollegiate men's basketball program representing the University of Michigan. The school competes in the Big Ten Conference in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association . The Wolverines play home basketball games at the... |
1 | 1989 |
| Michigan State Michigan State Spartans men's basketball The Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represents Michigan State University and competes in the Big Ten Conference of NCAA Division I. The team currently plays at the Breslin Student Events Center... |
2 | 1979, 2000 |
| North Carolina North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball The North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball program is the intercollegiate men's basketball of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and is considered one of the most successful programs in NCAA history... |
5 | 1957, 1982, 1993, 2005, 2009 |
| North Carolina State NC State Wolfpack men's basketball The NC State Wolfpack men's basketball team represents North Carolina State University in NCAA Division I men's basketball competition. The Wolfpack currently competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference, of which it was a founding member.... |
2 | 1974, 1983 |
| Ohio State Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball The Lucas Sapp men's basketball team represents The Ohio State University in NCAA Division I college basketball competition. The Buckeyes are a member of the Big Ten Conference. The Buckeyes won their only National Championship in 1960 and have made a total of 21 NCAA Tournament appearances... |
1 | 1960 |
| Oklahoma State (Oklahoma A&M*) | 2 | 1945, 1946 |
| Oregon Oregon Ducks men's basketball Oregon Ducks men’s college basketball is an intercollegiate basketball program that competes in the NCAA Division I and is a member of the Pac-12 Conference, representing the University of Oregon. The Ducks play their home games at Matthew Knight Arena. Oregon, then coached by Howard Hobson, won... |
1 | 1939 |
| San Francisco San Francisco Dons men's basketball The San Francisco Dons basketball team represents the University of San Francisco in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I men's college basketball. The Dons compete in the West Coast Conference, in which they have won sixteen regular season and one conference tournament... |
2 | 1955, 1956 |
| Stanford Stanford Cardinal The Stanford Cardinal is the nickname of the athletic teams at Stanford University.-Nickname and mascot history:Following its win over Cal in the first-ever Big Game in 1892, the color cardinal was picked as the primary color of Stanford's athletic teams... |
1 | 1942 |
| Syracuse Syracuse Orange men's basketball The Syracuse Orange men's basketball program is the intercollegiate men's basketball team representing Syracuse University. The program is classified in the NCAA's Division I, and the team competes in the Big East Conference... |
1 | 2003 |
| UCLA UCLA Bruins men's basketball The UCLA Bruins men's basketball program, established in 1920, owns a record 11 Division I NCAA championships. UCLA teams coached by John Wooden won 10 national titles in 12 seasons from 1964 to 1975, including 7 straight from 1967 to 1973. UCLA went undefeated a record 4 times, in 1964, 1967,... |
11 | 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1995 |
| UNLV UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball The UNLV Runnin' Rebels are a NCAA Division I men's basketball team who play at the Thomas & Mack Center in Paradise, Nevada. Their most recent appearance in the NCAA Tournament was in 2011 when they received an at–large bid to the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, earning an 8-seed in... |
1 | 1990 |
| UTEP (Then known as: Texas Western College) UTEP Miners men's basketball The UTEP Miners basketball team is an NCAA Division I men's college basketball team competing in the Conference USA. Home games are played at Don Haskins Center, located on University of Texas at El Paso's campus in El Paso.-Don Haskins Center:... |
1 | 1966 |
| Utah Utah Utes men's basketball The University of Utah Utes have consistently been one of the most successful basketball programs in the NCAA. They are currently an NCAA Division I program that plays in the Pacific-12 Conference. The school has made the NCAA Tournament 26 times, which ranks 16th in NCAA history and 3rd behind... |
1 | 1944 |
| Villanova Villanova Wildcats men's basketball This is the article about the men's basketball team from Villanova University. The team has competed since the 1920–21 season. Nicknamed the "Wildcats", Villanova is a member of the Big East Conference and the Philadelphia Big Five. The Villanova Wildcats have appeared in the NCAA... |
1 | 1985 |
| Wisconsin Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball The Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team is a NCAA Division I college basketball team competing in the Big Ten Conference. Home games are played at the Kohl Center, located on the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus in Madison, Wisconsin.... |
1 | 1941 |
| Wyoming | 1 | 1943 |
- - Prior to 1957 Oklahoma State was known as Oklahoma A&M
Undefeated teams
- The team's record here refers to their record before the first game of the NCAA tournament.
Year Team Record* Result 1951 1951 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1951 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 16 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 20, 1951, and ended with the championship game on March 27 at Williams Arena in Minneapolis,...21–0 Lost in the first round to Illinois 1956 1956 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament-Midwest Region:-West Region:-Far West Region:-Final Four:-Notes:* Canisius's first-round victory over the second-ranked North Carolina State Wolfpack, considered by many to be among the top ten upsets in tournament history, set a record for most overtime periods in a Division I Men's tournament...San Francisco 1955–56 San Francisco Dons men's basketball teamThe 1955–56 San Francisco Dons men's basketball team represented the University of San Francisco. The Dons ended the season undefeated, becoming the first NCAA basketball team to record a perfect season.-Roster:-NCAA basketball tournament:*Far West...24–0 Won the tournament 1957 1957 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1957 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 23 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 11, 1957, and ended with the championship game on March 23 in Kansas City, Missouri...North Carolina 1956–57 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball teamThe 1956–57 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team represented University of North Carolina. The Head Coach was Frank McGuire. The team played its home games at Woollen Gymnasium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and was a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference...27–0 Won the tournament 1961 1961 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1961 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 24 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball in the United States. It began on March 14, 1961, and ended with the championship game on March 25 in Kansas...Ohio State 1960–61 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball teamThe 1960–61 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team represented Ohio State University. The Head Coach was Fred Taylor.-NCAA basketball tournament:*Mideast**Ohio State 56, Louisville 55**Ohio State 87, Kentucky 74*Final Four**Ohio State 95, St...24–0 Lost in the championship game to Cincinnati 1960–61 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball teamThe 1960–61 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team represented University of Cincinnati. The Head Coach was Ed Jucker.-Regular season:*In the Crosstown Shootout, Cincinnati beat Xavier by a score of 89–53...1964 1964 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1964 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 25 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball in the United States. It began on March 9, 1964, and ended with the championship game on March 21 in Kansas...UCLA 26–0 Won the tournament 1967 1967 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1967 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 23 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 11, 1967, and ended with the championship game on March 25 in Louisville, Kentucky...UCLA 26–0 Won the tournament 1968 1968 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1968 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 23 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 8, 1968, and ended with the championship game on March 23 in Los Angeles, California...Houston 1967–68 Houston Cougars men's basketball teamThe 1967–68 Houston Cougars men's basketball team represented the University of Houston in the 1967–68 NCAA University Division men's basketball season. The team played its home games at Delmar Fieldhouse in Houston for the second consecutive season. This season marked the team's ninth year as an...28–0 Lost in the national semifinal game to UCLA 1968 1968 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1968 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 23 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 8, 1968, and ended with the championship game on March 23 in Los Angeles, California...22–0 Lost Sweet Sixteen game to 1971 1971 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1971 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 25 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 13, 1971, and ended with the championship game on March 27 in Houston, Texas...26–0 Lost Sweet Sixteen game to 1972 1972 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1972 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 25 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA University Division college basketball. It began on March 11, 1972, and ended with the championship game on March 25 in Los Angeles, California...UCLA 26–0 Won the tournament 1973 1973 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1973 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 25 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA University Division college basketball. It began on March 10, 1973, and ended with the championship game on March 26 in St. Louis, Missouri...UCLA 26–0 Won the tournament 1975 1975 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1975 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 32 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 15, 1975, and ended with the championship game on March 31 in San Diego, California...Indiana 1974–75 Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball teamThe 1974–75 Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team represented Indiana University. The Head Coach was Bob Knight. The team played its home games in the Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana, and was a member of the Big Ten Conference.-Roster:...29–0 Lost Elite Eight game to Kentucky 1974–75 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball teamThe 1974–75 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team represented University of Kentucky. The Head Coach was . The team was a member of the Southeast Conference and played their home games at Rupp Arena.-NCAA basketball tournament:*East...1976 1976 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1976 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 32 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 13, 1976, and ended with the championship game on March 29 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...Indiana 1975–76 Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball teamThe 1975–76 Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team represented Indiana University. The Head Coach was Bobby Knight. The team played its home games in the Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana, and was a member of the Big Ten Conference.-Regular season:...27–0 Won the tournament 1976 1976 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1976 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 32 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 13, 1976, and ended with the championship game on March 29 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...27–0 Lost in the national semifinal game to Michigan 1979 1979 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1979 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 40 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 9, 1979, and ended with the championship game on March 26 in Salt Lake City, Utah...Indiana State 28–0 Lost in the championship game to Michigan State 1978–79 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball teamThe 1978–1979 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball season.-Regular season:...1991 1991 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1991 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 14, 1991, and ended with the championship game on April 1 in Indianapolis, Indiana...UNLV 1990–91 UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball teamThe 1990–91 UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball team represented the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in NCAA Division I men's competition in the 1990–91 season...30–0 Lost in the national semifinal game to Duke
See also
- List of NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Champions
- NCAA Men's Division I Final Four appearances by schoolNCAA Men's Division I Final Four appearances by schoolThis is a list of NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Final Four appearances by school. Schools whose names are italicized are no longer in Division I and can no longer be included in the tournament. Several teams have vacated Final Four appearances and are marked with an * with...
- NCAA Men's Division I Final Four appearances by coachesNCAA Men's Division I Final Four appearances by coachesThis is a list of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Regional Championships by coach. The current names of the NCAA Tournament regions are the East, Southeast, Southwest, and West...
- List of the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four participants
- NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship recordsNCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship records-Champions, runners-up and locations:* Vacated this due to NCAA violations.† denotes overtime games. Multiple †'s indicate number of overtimes.-Single game wins:-Final Four appearances:-Multiple championship coaches:-NCAA Championships:...
- NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament all-time team recordsNCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament all-time team recordsThis is a list of NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament all-time records, as of 2010. Schools whose names are italicized are no longer in Division I, and can no longer be included in the tournament...
- NCAA Men's Division II Basketball ChampionshipNCAA Men's Division II Basketball ChampionshipThe NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship is an annual championship tournament for colleges and universities that are members of NCAA Division II, a grouping of schools in the United States that are generally smaller than the higher-profile institutions of Division I...
- NCAA Men's Division III Basketball ChampionshipNCAA Men's Division III Basketball ChampionshipThe NCAA holds an annual tournament to determine the Division III Men's Basketball Championship.Since 1996, the Division III men's basketball championship has been held at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, Virginia. The event has been hosted by the Old Dominion Athletic Conference and the City of...
- NCAA Women's Division I Basketball ChampionshipNCAA Women's Division I Basketball ChampionshipThe NCAA Women's Division I Championship is an annual college basketball tournament for women. Held each April, the Women's Championship was inaugurated in the 1981–82 season...
- AIAW Women's Division I Basketball Championship
- Selection Sunday
- Pre-NCAA Basketball Champions
- National Invitation TournamentNational Invitation TournamentThe National Invitation Tournament is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. There are two NIT events each season. The first, played in November and known as the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off , was founded in 1985...
- 1922 National Intercollegiate Basketball Tournament1922 National Intercollegiate Basketball TournamentThe 1922 National Intercollegiate Basketball Tournament was the first national championship tournament ever held in intercollegiate basketball. The 1921–22 Wabash College Little Giants team won the championship game, 43–23, over Kalamazoo College. The tournament was held among conference champions...
- NAIA national men's basketball championshipNAIA national men's basketball championshipThe National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Men's Basketball National Championship has been held annually since 1937 . The tournament was established by James Naismith to crown a national champion for smaller colleges and universities...
External links
- NCAA Men's Basketball
- NCAA Basketball Record Books
- NCAA Basketball Sportsline
- NCAA Basketball FOXSports.com on MSN
- NCAA Basketball Yahoo! Sports
- NCAA Basketball NBC
- NCAA Basketball ESPN
- NCAA Basketball Historical Stats and Scores
- Washington Post NCAA Tournament Database
- NCAA Vault video archive (Adobe FlashAdobe FlashAdobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
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