Sixty-eight teams, each with its own history, some of it obscure, some legendary, some good, some bad. Here’s a blast from the past for each.
Akron
The Zips have never won an NCAA tournament game in five previous appearances, but they’ve looked good trying. For years they have been closely affiliated with Nike and its LeBron James apparel line, seeing that LeBron is an even more famous Akron product than Goodyear tires. Nike put out a new LeBron shoe last fall that had a map of Akron on the sole.
Alabama
The Tide were ousted in the Sweet 16 by Loyola Marymount in 1990, but Wimp Sanderson obviously understood something no other coach did, which was how to slow down the Lions’ unstoppable offense. Loyola Marymount won its first two tournament games 111-92 and 149-115. The Lions would eventually lose in the Elite Eight to UNLV 131-101. Just before that, they beat Alabama. It was 62-60.
Auburn
The Tigers have played only one Final Four game in their history, and lost it in a way maybe no one ever has. In 2019 they led Virginia by two points when the Cavaliers’ Kyle Guy missed a last-gasp 3-pointer from the corner. Auburn wins! Hold it. A whistle, and a foul on Samir Doughty for a slight bump on Guy, who proceeded to calmly hit three throws with 0.6 seconds left. Virginia won 63-62. A true gut punch — one Guy free throw at a time.
Arizona
It’s pretty well known the 1997 Wildcats were the last Pac-12 team — the last West Coast team for that matter — to win the national championship. Less remembered is what it took: Six tournament wins by a combined 32 points, and two overtime games. They were also the only No. 4 seed to ever win the title until UConn joined them last April.
🏀 2024 MARCH MADNESS: Official bracket | Bracket Challenge Game
Baylor
In the first 71 NCAA tournaments, Baylor won a total of three games. In the past 13 under Scott Drew, the Bears have won 19 and a national championship.
Boise State
The Broncos are a perfectly imperfect 0-9 in their NCAA tournament history, but maybe that should come with an asterisk. In 2015 they were sent to the First Four in Dayton to play against... Dayton, with one of the most fervent crowds in the nation. Boise State is the only team in the past 40 years that had to play a true road game in the NCAA tournament, and the 56-55 loss suggested the Broncos might have had that first win in any other gym in America.
BYU
This will be the 31st NCAA tournament for the Cougars. That’s the most for any program never to get to the Final Four.
College of Charleston
The nation found out about the Cougars in 1997 when they upset Maryland 75-66 and nearly did the same to Arizona before losing 73-69. Arizona ended up the national champion.
Clemson
Of the eight schools that traditionally made up the ACC for decades, the Tigers are the only program never to get to the Final Four. Five of the seven won national championships.
Colgate
In the high-wire act that is the one-bid conference tournament — a single misstep and it’s all over — the Raiders somehow stay ahead of the pressure. This will be their fifth consecutive NCAA tournament. Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina and UCLA can’t say that.
Colorado
On the historic day Dean Smith passed Adolph Rupp’s all-time win record with his 877th victory, someone had to be the victim. That would be Colorado, 73-56, in the second round in 1997.
Colorado State
It probably can’t get much sweeter than this for the Rams. When they had advanced to their only Elite Eight in 1969, know who they had to upset to get there? Colorado, 64-56.
UConn
It took 61 NCAA tournaments for the Huskies to finally get to the Final Four, in 1999. But once they knew the way, they became trophy hogs. They’ve won 21 percent of all the national championships handed out since then.
Creighton
The first six coaches to take the Bluejays to the NCAA tournament won a total of nine games. Current coach Greg McDermott has won that many by himself.
Dayton
Probably no college basketball team in America was hurt more than the Flyers when the pandemic wiped out the 2020 NCAA tournament. They were 29-2, had won 20 in a row and were a certain No. 1 seed. A generational powerhouse. Who knows what could have been? “It went from us being one of the best teams in the nation to everything stopping,” team star Obi Toppin said.
Drake
The TV viewers in the eastern half of the nation didn’t even see the second semifinal of the 1969 Final Four. What they missed was unheralded Drake taking mighty UCLA to the wire before losing 85-82. They forced 22 Bruin turnovers and very nearly ended Lew Alcindor’s career before he ever got to his threepeat. Two days later they thrashed Dean Smith and North Carolina 104-84 in the third-place game.
Duke
Among the remarkable things Mike Krzyzewski accomplished: He coached a Final Four team in five different decades. But his teams weren’t always on the bright side of history. The 103-73 pounding Duke took from UNLV in 1990 remains the most lopsided loss ever in the national championship game — and is also the only time a team scored 100.
Duquesne
True, it’s been 47 years since the last NCAA tournament bid for the Dukes, but this program can say something no other team in the bracket can claim. In 1955, Duquesne’s Dick Ricketts was the overall No. 1 pick in the NBA draft by the St. Louis Hawks. In 1956, the Dukes’ Si Green was the first overall pick by the Rochester Royals. Seven decades later, Duquesne remains the only team in the nation to ever have back-to-back No. 1 selections. But they didn't make the tournament either year.
Florida
On January 8, 2007, Florida mashed Ohio State 41-14 in the BCS title game to win the football national championship. Eighty-four days later, it was the Gators and Buckeyes again — in the title game at the Final Four. Florida won 84-75 to repeat as champions. The Gators are still the last team to do it. Some thought them in trouble that February when they lost three games in 11 days by 13, 10 and 10 points. They weren’t.
Florida Atlantic
Here’s another way to understand how the world changed so suddenly for Owls last season. They were 179th in attendance, averaging 2,238. Their loss to San Diego State at the Final Four in Houston was played before 73,860 — or 35,810 more than their combined attendance in 17 home games.
Gonzaga
The Zags just made it 25 Selection Sundays in a row to get their name called. That means Mark Few has never coached a team in his career that didn’t play in the NCAA tournament.
Grambling State
Wouldn’t Eddie Robinson be proud? His legendary Grambling State program sent 200 players into professional football. And now the basketball team has grabbed its first NCAA tournament bid.
Grand Canyon
The Lopes, citizens of the Division I world for only 11 years, have made three NCAA tournaments in four seasons. The Drew family coaching tree — father Homer at Valparaiso, sons Scott at Baylor and Bryce at Valparaiso, Vanderbilt and Grand Canyon — have combined for 26 NCAA tournament bids.
Howard
Kenneth Blakeney: Miracle worker. In his first season in 2019-20, the Bison went 4-29, their 16th losing record in 18 years. But now Howard is going back to the NCAA tournament for a second consecutive season. Pretty good for a guy who took seven years away from coaching to work in marketing for Under Armour.
Houston
Six Final Fours, no championships. Only the Cougars can claim that rather bittersweet feat, though if it is any consolation, all six times they lost to the national champion. Check back on this in three weeks.
Illinois
The Illini have never lifted a national championship trophy but that could have changed in 1989. Michigan won the title but had to get past Illinois in a classic semifinal 83-81. The game had 33 lead changes.
Iowa State
Remember something while watching the Cyclones make life difficult for the opposition this week as a No. 2 seed: Three years ago, they were 2-22.
James Madison
This is not the first March rodeo for the Dukes, In the early 1980s, they took out Georgetown, Ohio State and West Virginia in consecutive years. In 1982, they pushed North Carolina to the wall before losing 52-50, holding Michael Jordan to six points. Two weeks later, the Tar Heels were national champions.
Kansas
Thirty-six years after the fact, the 1988 Danny Manning-led Jayhawks are still a shining example of why numbers don’t always matter. They entered the tournament with 11 defeats; only six teams in the entire field had more. They’re still the national champions with the most season losses.
Kentucky
True, Kentucky’s 17 trips to the Final Four are a massive feat. But consider how much larger the trophy case in Lexington might have to be. The Wildcats have lost in the regional championship game 21 times. Seven of the defeats were by two or one points or in overtime.
Long Beach State
The Beach — back then they were the 49ers — once were a major player in the NCAA tournament, going four consecutive years in the early 1970s with an interesting new coach named Jerry Tarkanian. In 1971, they pushed UCLA to the limit in the Elite Eight before losing 57-55. It was the closest call those Bruins had on the road to a fifth consecutive national title.
Longwood
The Lancers had a hand in one of the biggest upsets in NCAA tournament history. At least their coach did. Griff Aldrich was director of recruiting for his college roommate Ryan Odom at UMBC starting in 2016 and helped put together the roster that became the first No. 16 seed to ever topple a No. 1 when the Retrievers shocked Virginia in 2018. Longwood noticed and hired Aldrich as coach the same spring.
Marquette
No matter how many times the final seconds of Marquette’s 1977 national championship game win over North Carolina are replayed, Al McGuire will still be crying on the sidelines as his coaching career ticked away. It remains the last time a championship coach retired, making title night his final game.
McNeese
This time last year the Cowboys were 11-23, and that made 11 losing seasons in a row. Now they’re 30-3 and in the NCAA tournament. The improvement of 19 wins is one of the biggest one-year turnaround in NCAA history.
Michigan State
Since 1999, Tom Izzo has taken the Spartans to the Final Four eight times. The rest of the Big Ten combined has made it 10 times.
Mississippi State
The Bulldogs lost one of the most important NCAA tournament games ever played. In 1963, with the South still deep in segregation, Mississippi teams were prohibited by unwritten rule to play any integrated teams. When Mississippi State was paired with Loyola Chicago — who started four Black players — an injunction was served to prevent the Bulldogs from participating, but the team decided to sneak out of the state before anyone could say no and met the Ramblers in East Lansing. Loyola won 61-51 on its way to the national championship. It became known as the Game of Change.
Montana State
The Bobcats have the post-season history pretty well covered. First-year coach Matt Logie has now led a team into the NCAA tournament in Division I, II and III. And Montana State once played seven times in the NAIA tournament.
Morehead State
The Ohio Valley Conference was born in 1948. Morehead State is the only original member left.
Nebraska
Maybe this year. The Cornhuskers are 0-7 all-time in the NCAA tournament. They’ll have to beat Texas A&M on Friday to break the spell. Notice who the Nebraska women are playing in their first-round game the same day? Yep, Texas A&M.
Nevada
The Wolf Pack had never won an NCAA tournament game before 2004 but seemed to like the feel of it. After upsetting No. 7 seed Michigan State they took out No. 2 Gonzaga to get to their first Sweet 16.
New Mexico
The Lobos lost their first NCAA tournament game ever in 1968 to Santa Clara, then to add to the pain also dropped the regional third-place game — yeah, there once was such a thing — to New Mexico State. All that on their home court. New Mexico had to play without center Greg Howard, their third-leading scorer and top rebounder, because he was a junior college transfer. In the NCAA regulations of the day, that made him ineligible for the postseason.
North Carolina
The Tar Heels’ 1957 national championship might still be the greatest display of endurance the Final Four has ever seen. North Carolina went three overtimes to beat Michigan State and 24 hours later went three overtimes again to edge Kansas. The Tar Heels did it without much depth. The bench provided only four points combined in the two games.
NC State
The Wolfpack own two memorable national championships — upsetting Houston in 1983 and ending John Wooden’s streak of seven consecutive titles at UCLA in 1974. But for maybe the most lasting impact North Carolina State has had on March, go back to 1947 when the Wolfpack won the Southern Conference. Their coach was Everett Case, a former high school coach in Indiana, where the ritual was cutting down nets after a title victory. He had the 1947 Wolfpack do the same thing. Other college teams quickly took up the idea, and that’s why someone will be cutting down the nets in Arizona on April 8.
Northwestern
It was always a little ironic. Northwestern’s gym was the site of the championship game for the first NCAA tournament in 1939, but it would be 78 years before the Wildcats were invited to the party they had originally hosted. Now they’ve been in three of the past seven.
Oakland
In 40 years as Golden Grizzlies coach, Greg Kampe has often been known for giving his offense the green light from long range, so grad student Jack Gohlke is a fitting player to help Oakland to its fourth NCAA tournament. He has taken 335 shots this season. Only eight of them weren’t 3-pointers. He is hitting 37 percent from beyond the arc and his 12.2 scoring average includes only four 2-pointers all year. In 1993-94, Kampe’s team put up an even thousand 3-point shots.
Ole Miss
The Rebels have won only five NCAA tournament games in their history, the fewest in the SEC. Kentucky, on the other SEC hand, has won 132.
Oregon
Someone had to win the first-ever NCAA tournament. Why not the Webfoots? That was their official nickname when they defeated Ohio State 46-33 in the inaugural national championship game in 1939. The listed attendance was 5,500. It would take Oregon 78 years to get back to the Final Four, in 2017. Those Ducks brought the 1939 trophy with them but lost to North Carolina by a point.
Saint Mary's (CA)
The Gaels understand the value of winning their conference tournament to get an automatic NCAA bid. In 2018 they lost in the WCC tournament but still finished 28-5... and were left out. That matches the most wins ever for a team not to get an at-large bid.
Saint Peter's
They’re baaaack. Two years ago, the Peacocks lost 11 games during the regular season and couldn’t beat Siena and Canisius. They could, however, beat Kentucky and Purdue to become the first No. 15 seed to get to an Elite Eight.
Samford
The first tournament bid in 24 years is yet another landmark for a place that once was a Confederate hospital and a place where Union troops shielded freed slaves. The school has also been pretty good at producing national championship football coaches for Florida State. Both Bobby Bowden and Jimbo Fisher are alums.
San Diego State
There had been 83 previous Final Fours and no team ever — ever — had been behind and then won a game with a buzzer-beater. Until Lamont Butler took the last-gasp jumper for the Aztecs last April against Florida Atlantic.
South Carolina
Remember when the Gamecocks charged to the Final Four in 2017? That month included the only four NCAA tournament victories for South Carolina in the past 50 years.
South Dakota State
The Jackrabbits are 0-6 in the NCAA tournament, all since 2012, but they have been stubborn outs, playing Baylor, Maryland, Ohio State and Providence all to single digits.
Stetson
Make way for the tournament rookie Hatters, so named because John B. Stetson — inventor of the cowboy hat — was a big benefactor.
TCU
The Horned Frogs went to only one NCAA tournament from 1972-97 and that was 1987. Their point guard that season who had 10 assists and played 78 of 80 minutes in two tournament games was Jamie Dixon. Now he coaches them.
Tennessee
The Vols’ lone advancement to the Elite Eight came in 2010, but that team had already achieved a place in Tennessee lore before March. With the roster down to six scholarship players due to suspensions, the Vols upset No. 1 Kansas 76-68, the biggest shot: a late three-pointer from a walk-on freshman named Skylar McBee.
Texas
When the Longhorns took the floor in 1947, opponents were likely not in awe. Three of the Texas starters were 5-10 or shorter. They were dubbed the Mighty Mice. They went 26-2 and played in the Final Four, losing by one point to Oklahoma and then beating CCNY 54-50 for third place, the only game on the Final Four level Texas has ever won. It would be 56 years before the Longhorns ever got back.
Texas A&M
Nobody ever won an NCAA tournament game quite like the Aggies in 2016. They trailed Northern Iowa 69-57 with 35 seconds left in the second round. Thirty-two seconds and four Northern Iowa turnovers later, the game was 71-71 and going to overtime. Somehow Texas A&M had managed that historic rally with only one three-pointer. The Aggies won in the second OT 92-88.
Texas Tech
The Red Raiders’ 92-73 win over North Carolina in the 1996 second round was shattering. At least that’s what Texas Tech’s Darvin Ham did to the backboard with one of the more spectacular dunks in tournament history. His basket tied the Tar Heels 16-16 in the first half, but then the game had to be delayed 29 minutes to find a new backboard. Ham had to take a shower during the hiatus to wash the glass off. He now coaches the Los Angeles Lakers.
UAB
The last man to repeat as national college player of the year — pre-Zach Edey — was Virginia’s Ralph Sampson, who was knocked out of the tournament his junior year by UAB in the Sweet 16. It was a different world then. Virginia was the No. 1 seed in the region but had to play UAB on its home court in Birmingham.
Utah State
In 1962, John Wooden’s career record at UCLA in the NCAA tournament was 0-4, but his Bruins finally won a game — against Utah State. The Aggies will forever be the first victim. From that moment, Wooden would go 47-6 in the tournament.
Vermont
When T.J. Sorrentine put in a 28-foot shot to more or less clinch the No. 13 seed Catamounts’ overtime upset of No. 4 seed Syracuse in 2005 — Vermont’s first-ever postseason win — television announcer Gus Johnson exclaimed Sorrentine had hit it from the parking lot! The phrase stuck like Vermont maple syrup on a fork. Every Catamount fan knows it. Years later when Sorrentine married, the wedding party dropped in at a sports bar and the DJ that night recognized Sorrentine. He quickly put on a replay of Johnson’s call.
Virginia
The Cavaliers own one NCAA tournament distinction they likely will never lose. Their 78-74 defeat of LSU in 1981 makes them the last team ever to win the now-defunct third-place game.
Wagner
The Seahawks’ previous tournament bid was in 2003, then coached by Dereck Whittenburg who shot the most famous airball in Final Four history. It was Whittenburg’s desperation prayer that fell well short of the rim in the 1983 national championship game, where it fell into the hands of Lorenzo Charles whose dunk gave North Carolina State its immortal upset of Houston.
Washington State
The Cougars advanced to the 1941 national championship game, only the third ever played. Then the lights went out. They have won only four games in the 81 tournaments since.
Western Kentucky
Consider the top 10 programs in all-time winning percentage. All the bluebloods are up there — Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas, Duke, plus... Western Kentucky? Yep, they are at No. 8. The Hilltoppers are the only program in the top 10 without a national championship. The other nine have 40 titles combined. Western Kentucky’s lone Final Four was 53 years ago when the Hilltoppers lost to Villanova in the national semifinals 92-89 in double overtime.
Wisconsin
When the Badgers took out undefeated Kentucky in the 2015 Final Four 71-64, it was not only the spoiling of the Wildcats’ perfect season but payback. Kentucky had beaten the Badgers 74-73 in the 2014 Final Four. Their 2015 game is one of only two Final Four rematches in the past 32 years, along with Florida and UCLA in 2006-07.
Yale
The Bulldogs’ one and only NCAA tournament victory was a biggie. Making its first bracket appearance in 54 years, Yale shocked No. 5 seed Baylor 79-75 in 2016. The Ivy League did not win again until Princeton last March.
