March Madness: 2011 NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament Bracket Breakdown

March 13, 2011 By 1 Comment

For the second year in a row, we are holding an MSF Bracket Challenge over at ESPN.com. Sign up now and then fill in your brackets after they are announced on Selection Sunday.

As soon as the Selection Show starts at 6:00 ET on CBS, I’ll be updating the tables at the bottom of this post with the seeds, game dates, and locations.

If you’re planning to go to any tourney games, click here to go to our March Madness 2011 Quick Preview to get a complete breakdown of the tourney sites and discount codes (also below) to save you money on tickets. The quick preview also includes a breakdown of the how the “First Four” will work and how the revamped TV coverage will be broken down.

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March Madness 2011 Preview: NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament Tickets, Dates, Sites & TV Info

March 10, 2011 By 20 Comments
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Update: For the second year in a row, we are holding an MSF Bracket Challenge over at ESPN.com. Sign up now and then fill in your brackets after they are announced on Selection Sunday.

March Madness 2011 is going to have a bit of a different flavor than the past few because, once again, the tournament field has been expanded.

The last expansion added a 65th team and instituted a so-called “play-in” game, which matched the two lowest seeded teams against one another for the right to play the top overall seed. That game has now been eliminated (or perhaps repurposed would be a better word), and three more teams have been added to the field – bringing the total to 68 overall.

In this post we will describe how the newly minted “First Four” round will play out, as well as provide all of the March Madness 2011 dates and locations, plus March Madness 2011 ticket and TV information.

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March Madness History: Past Champions and Year-by-Year Final Four Breakdown

March 7, 2010 By 15 Comments

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

NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament History - Champions, Final Four TeamsAnd 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…

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Get Ready for March Madness 2010: NCAA Basketball Tournament Schedule and Preview

February 28, 2010 By 9 Comments
march madness 2010 - ncaa mens basketball tournament tickets - schedule - dates - sites

This post and all of our March Madness coverage this year is sponsored by Armorex Exterior Coating, the company that helps keep you inside watching sports went you want to be…not outside re-painting your house. Do it right the first time, for a lifetime.

Can you feel it? March Madness is quickly approaching. For basketball junkies from Indiana like me, there is no more exciting time of the year. 65 of the best teams in college basketball get together and decide – on the court – who is the champion.

College football…are you paying attention? (No.)

Back by popular demand, this is your March Madness 2010 preview, complete with everything you need to know about this year’s NCAA mens basketball tournament, including dates, locations, and ticket information for each of the 1st & 2nd round sites, the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 sites, and of course, the Final Four in Indianapolis.

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