First, a quick breakdown of every Final Four since they started having Final Fours way back in 1939, plus more interesting notes and tidbits after the table:
Brief Overview of Each Final Four Since 1939
| Year | NCAA Champion | NCAA Runner-up | Final Four Teams | Location | Title Game Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Houston | ||||
| 2010 | #1 Duke | #5 Butler | #2 West Virginia, #5 Michigan State | Indianapolis | 61-59 |
| 2009 | #1 North Carolina | #2 Michigan State | #1 UConn, #3 Villanova | Detroit | 89-72 |
| 2008 | #1 Kansas | #1 Memphis | #1 North Carolina, #1 UCLA | San Antonio | 75-68 |
| 2007 | #1 Florida | #1 Ohio State | #2 UCLA, #2 Georgetown | Atlanta | 84-75 |
| 2006 | #3 Florida | #2 UCLA | #11 George Mason, #4 LSU | Indianapolis | 73-57 |
| 2005 | #1 North Carolina | #1 Illinois | #5 Michigan State, #4 Louisville | St. Louis | 75-70 |
| 2004 | #2 UCONN | #3 Georgia Tech | #1 Duke, #2 Oklahoma State | San Antonio | 82-73 |
| 2003 | #3 Syracuse | #2 Kansas | #1 Texas, #3 Marquette | New Orleans | 81-78 |
| 2002 | #1 Maryland | #5 Indiana!!! | #1 Kansas, #2 Oklahoma | Atlanta | 64-52 |
| 2001 | #1 Duke | #2 Arizona | #3 Maryland, #1 Michigan State | Minneapolis | 82-72 |
| 2000 | #1 Michigan State | #5 Florida | #8 Wisconsin, #8 North Carolina | Indianapolis | 89-76 |
| 1999 | #1 UCONN | #1 Duke | #4 Ohio State, #1 Michigan State | St. Pete | 77-74 |
| 1998 | #2 Kentucky | #3 Utah | #3 Stanford, #1 North Carolina | San Antonio | 78-69 |
| 1997 | #4 Arizona | #1 Kentucky | #1 North Carolina, #1 Minnesota | Indianapolis | 84-79 |
| 1996 | #1 Kentucky | #4 Syracuse | #1 UMASS, #5 Mississippi State | East Rutherford | 76-67 |
| 1995 | #1 UCLA | #2 Arkansas | #4 Oklahoma State, #2 North Carolina | Seattle | 89-78 |
| 1994 | #1 Arkansas | #2 Duke | #2 Arizona, #3 Florida | Charlotte | 76-72 |
| 1993 | #1 North Carolina | #1 Michigan | #2 Kansas, #1 Kentucky | New Orleans | 77-71 |
| 1992 | #1 Duke | #6 Michigan | #2 Indiana!!!, #4 Cincinnati | Minneapolis | 71-51 |
| 1991 | #1 Duke | #3 Kansas | #1 UNLV, #2 North Carolina | Indianapolis | 72-65 |
| 1990 | #1 UNLV | #3 Duke | #4 Georgia Tech, #4 Arkansas | Denver | 103-73 |
| 1989 | #3 Michigan | #3 Seton Hall | #1 Illinois, #2 Duke | Seattle | 80-79 |
| 1988 | #6 Kansas | #1 Oklahoma | #2 Duke, #1 Arizona | Kansas City | 83-79 |
| 1987 | #1 Indiana!!! | #2 Syracuse | #1 UNLV, #6 Providence | New Orleans | 74-73 |
| 1986 | #2 Louisville | #1 Duke | #11 LSU, #1 Kansas | Dallas | 72-69 |
| 1985 | #8 Villanova | #1 Georgetown | #2 Memphis State, #1 St. John's | Lexington | 66-64 |
| 1984 | #1 Georgetown | #2 Houston | #1 Kentucky, #7 Virginia | Seattle | 84-75 |
| 1983 | #6 N.C. State | #1 Houston | #1 Louisville, #4 Georgia | Albuquerque | 54-52 |
| 1982 | #1 North Carolina | #1 Georgetown | #6 Houston, Louisville #3 | New Orleans | 63-62 |
| 1981 | #3 Indiana!!! | #2 North Carolina | #1 Virginia, #1 LSU | Philadelphia | 63-50 |
| 1980 | #2 Louisville | #8 UCLA | #6 Purdue, #5 Iowa | Indianapolis | 59-54 |
| 1979 | #2 Michigan State | #1 Indiana State | #2 DePaul, #9 Penn | Salt Lake City | 75-64 |
| 1978 | Kentucky | Duke | Arkansas, Notre Dame | St. Louis | 94-88 |
| 1977 | Marquette | North Carolina | UNLV, UNC-Charlotte | Atlanta | 67-59 |
| 1976 | Indiana!!! 32-0! | Michigan | UCLA, Rutgers | Philadelphia | 86-68 |
| 1975 | UCLA | Kentucky | Louisville, Syracuse | San Diego | 92-85 |
| 1974 | N.C. State | Marquette | UCLA, Kansas | Greensboro | 76-64 |
| 1973 | UCLA | Memphis State | Indiana, Providence | St. Louis | 87-66 |
| 1972 | UCLA | Florida State | North Carolina, Louisville | Los Angeles | 81-76 |
| 1971 | UCLA | Villanova | Western Kentucky, Kansas | Houston | 68-62 |
| 1970 | UCLA | Jacksonville | New Mexico State, St. Bonaventure | College Park | 80-69 |
| 1969 | UCLA | Purdue | Drake, North Carolina | Louisville | 92-72 |
| 1968 | UCLA | North Carolina | Ohio State, Houston | Los Angeles | 78-55 |
| 1967 | UCLA | Dayton | Houston, North Carolina | Louisville | 79-64 |
| 1966 | Texas Western | Kentucky | Duke, Utah | College Park | 72-65 |
| 1965 | UCLA | Michigan | Princeton, Wichita State | Portland | 91-80 |
| 1964 | UCLA | Duke | Michigan, Kansas State | Kansas City | 98-83 |
| 1963 | Loyala (IL) | Cincinnati | Duke, Oregon State | Louisville | 60-58 |
| 1962 | Cincinnati | Ohio State | Wake Forest, UCLA | Louisville | 71-59 |
| 1961 | Cincinnati | Ohio State | St. Joeseph's (PA), Utah | Kansas City | 70-65 |
| 1960 | Ohio State | California | Cincinnati, NYU | San Francisco | 75-55 |
| 1959 | California | West Virginia | Cincinnati, Louisville | Louisville | 71-70 |
| 1958 | Kentucky | Seattle | Temple, Kansas State | Louisville | 84-72 |
| 1957 | North Carolina | Kansas | San Francisco, Michigan State | Kansas City | 54-53 |
| 1956 | San Francisco | Iowa | Temple, SMU | Evanston | 83-71 |
| 1955 | San Francisco | LaSalle | Colorado, Iowa | Kansas City | 76-73 |
| 1954 | LaSalle | Bradley | Penn State, USC | Kansas City | 92-76 |
| 1953 | Indiana!!! | Kansas | Washington, LSU | Kansas City | 69-68 |
| 1952 | Kansas | St. John's | Illinois, Santa Clara | Seattle | 80-63 |
| 1951 | Kentucky | Kansas State | Illinois, Oklahoma State | Minneapolis | 68-58 |
| 1950 | CCNY | Bradley | N.C. State, Baylor | New York | 71-68 |
| 1949 | Kentukcy | Oklahoma State | Illinois, Oregon State | Seattle | 46-36 |
| 1948 | Kentucky | Baylor | Holy Cross, Kansas State | New York | 58-42 |
| 1947 | Holy Cross | Oklahoma | Texas, CCNY | New York | 58-47 |
| 1946 | Oklahoma State | North Carolina | Ohio State, California | New York | 43-40 |
| 1945 | Oklahoma State | NYU | Arkansas, Ohio State | New York | 49-45 |
| 1944 | Utah | Dartmouth | Iowa State, Ohio State | New York | 42-40 |
| 1943 | Wyoming | Georgetown | DePaul, Texas | New York | 46-34 |
| 1942 | Stanford | Dartmouth | Colorado, Kentucky | Kansas City | 53-38 |
| 1941 | Wisconsin | Washington State | Arkansas, Pittsburgh | Kansas City | 39-34 |
| 1940 | Indiana!!! | Kansas | Duquesne, USC | Kansas City | 60-42 |
| 1939 | Oregon | Ohio State | Oklahoma State, Villanova | Evanston | 46-33 |
Note: The number listed by each team is their tournament seed. Seeding did not occur until 1979, which interestingly is the year that many people feel changed college basketball forever: the Magic-Bird title game.
FYI, future Final Four sites include:
- 2011: Reliant Stadium — Houston, TX (April 2nd, 4th)
- 2012: Louisiana Superdome — New Orleans, LA (March 31st, April 2nd)
- 2013: Georgia Dome — Atlanta, GA (April 6th, 8th)
- 2014: Cowboys Stadium — Arlington, TX (April 5th, 7th)
- 2015: Lucas Oil Stadium — Indianapolis, IN (April 4th, 6th)
- 2016: Reliant Stadium — Houston, TX (April 2nd, 4th)
The NCAA Tournament has expanded on numerous occasions since 1939. Interestingly, before 1975 only one team per conference was allowed to be in the NCAA Tournament. Here is a breakdown of the number of teams in the tournament during each different iteration:
- 1939-1950: 8 teams
- 1951-1974: varied between 16 teams and 25 teams
- 1975-1978: 32 teams
- 1979: 40 teams
- 1980-1982: 48 teams
- 1983: 52 teams (48-team tourney with four play-in games beforehand)
- 1984: 53 teams (48-team tourney with five play-in games beforehand)
- 1985-2000: 64 teams
- 2001-2010: 65 teams (64-team tourney with one play-in or “opening round” game beforehand)
- 2011-present: 68 teams (Eight teams played in new first round called “First Four”)
Six times, the National Championship game has been decided by one point, with two of those games being decided in overtime. The most recent 1-point game was 1989 when Michigan beat Seton hall in OT. The largest margin of victory in an NCAA Championship game was 30, when UNLV beat Duke 103-73 in 1990. For more interesting news and notes, follow the link to the NCAA Tournament history page at Wikipedia. Below is a recreation of the table you will find at the above link that lists out the number of NCAA Championships won by each school, with reorganization in order of most titles:
List of Schools with the Most NCAA Tournament Championships in Mens College Basketball History
| School | Number of NCAA Titles | Years |
|---|---|---|
| UCLA | 11 | 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1995 |
| Kentucky | 7 | 1948, 1949, 1951, 1958, 1978, 1996, 1998 |
| Indiana | 5 | 1940, 1953, 1976, 1981, 1987 |
| North Carolina | 5 | 1957, 1982, 1993, 2005, 2009 |
| Duke | 4 | 1991, 1992, 2001, 2010 |
| Kansas | 3 | 1952, 1988, 2008 |
| Cincinnati | 2 | 1961, 1962 |
| UCONN | 2 | 1999, 2004 |
| Florida | 2 | 2006, 2007 |
| Louisville | 2 | 1980, 1986 |
| Michigan State | 2 | 1979, 2000 |
| N.C. State | 2 | 1974, 1983 |
| Oklahoma State | 2 | 1945, 1946 |
| San Francisco | 2 | 1955, 1956 |
| Arizona | 1 | 1997 |
| Arkansas | 1 | 1994 |
| California | 1 | 1959 |
| CCNY | 1 | 1950 |
| Georgetown | 1 | 1984 |
| Holy Cross | 1 | 1947 |
| LaSalle | 1 | 1954 |
| Loyala (IL) | 1 | 1963 |
| Marquette | 1 | 1977 |
| Maryland | 1 | 2002 |
| Michigan | 1 | 1989 |
| Ohio State | 1 | 1960 |
| Oregon | 1 | 1939 |
| Stanford | 1 | 1942 |
| Syracuse | 1 | 2003 |
| UNLV | 1 | 1990 |
| Texas Western (UTEP) | 1 | 1966 |
| Utah | 1 | 1944 |
| Villanova | 1 | 1985 |
| Wisconsin | 1 | 1941 |
| Wyoming | 1 | 1943 |
And now that this post is done, I must say that creating the two table above was quite an enjoyable experience — and a nice reminder of the wonderful tradition of IU basketball.
Only two schools have won more NCAA Championships, and hopefully Tom Crean can be the guy to add a few more to the list.
We’ll see…
About Jerod Morris
