Only seven teams in college basketball history have won an NCAA tournament title with an undefeated record. The first occurred in 1956, when Bill Russell averaged 20.6 points and 21 rebounds to lead San Francisco to its second consecutive title, improving on their 28-1 record from the previous year. Since then, six more teams have done so -- Magic Johnson's Michigan State team in 1987, Michael Jordan's University of North Carolina squad in 1993, Pete Newell's Notre Dame team in 1997, Jason Kidd's Texas Tech team in 2001, Roy Williams' University of Kansas team in 2005, and John Calipari's University of Kentucky team in 2009.
You might be wondering, "Why no eight-time champions?" Well, it's because after winning their first game, all eight subsequent participants lost at least one game thereafter. This is known as the "March Curse" or the "Mayfairer."
The 1956 San Francisco Dons were the first NCAA Division I men's collegiate basketball team to go undefeated and win the NCAA tournament national title.
Florida, Michigan, and Ohio State are the three teams. Ohio State was the first to achieve this accomplishment. Michigan won the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament in 1989, 41 years after the football team claimed the AP national championship in 1948. Florida has won the College Football Playoff title game twice since its inception in 2014.
In addition to these four schools, North Carolina, South Carolina, and UCLA have done so. North Carolina also claims a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) men's basketball championship. UNC's basketball team won in 1918 while attending school in North Carolina; they had moved to South Carolina before the next season began. The Tar Heels have been active members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) since the 1920s.
In addition to college sports, Michigan and Ohio State have each had a successful NBA team. Michigan played in the inaugural season of the NBA in 1946-47 and lost every game it played. The Wolverines were defeated by an average margin of 26 points per game. Ohio State went on to win the NFL championship in 1950 under the direction of Woody Hayes. The Buckeyes' playoff run ended with a loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the final game of the season.
Both universities have had success in basketball again since their last appearances in the NBA.
Duke has competed in the NCAA tournament 43 times since 1955, winning five championships, the most recent in 2015. Krzyzewski guided all five championship runs and is second in NCAA tournament titles won by a head coach only to John Wooden (ten).
He has also made multiple appearances on the National Coach of the Year Award ballot, winning it in 2006. In addition, he has been selected the National Coach of the Year five times by various publications who cover college basketball.
Duke has advanced to the NCAA Tournament every year since 1985, with the exception of 1995 when they missed out due to regulations preventing teams with non-Division I athletes from competing.
Their overall record is 710-216, including conference tournaments. Their win percentage is.796.
Duke has never lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. They are 114-0 in first round games under Krzyzewski. The only team that has ever defeated them in the first round was UCLA in 1990.
Krzyzewski became the ninth person to reach 1,000 career victories last season when Duke beat Virginia Commonwealth 89-77 in Charlottesville. The victory gave Krzyzewski his 10th championship. He is only behind John Wooden (11) for most national titles won by a head coach.
UCLA also owns the record for most straight titles, having won seven in a row from 1967 to 1973. Kentucky holds the second most championships, with eight. North Carolina ranks third with six titles, followed by Duke and Indiana, each with five. Michigan State, Maryland, and Ohio State have four apiece.
In addition to UCLA and Kentucky, other schools have three consecutive titles. North Carolina, Louisville, Kansas, and Arkansas all have such records.
There have been two teams that have won back-to-back championships in the same year. UConn did so in 2001 and 2002. Florida did it in 1996 and 1997.
UConn is the only program to win the national title in its first year of eligibility. The Huskies defeated Virginia 90-79 in New York City on April 4, 2001. The following season, UConn again defeated Virginia in the finals of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) to claim its second consecutive title. Florida's streak was ended by University of San Francisco, which upset the Gators 75-70 in the final game of the season.
There has only been one undefeated team in NCAA history. UConn started its season with a perfect 12-0 record before losing to South Carolina by one point in Storrs, Connecticut on January 10, 1976.
Villanova had the lowest record for a team that won an NCAA tournament game in 1991. The Wildcats entered the tournament at 16-14, having lost in the Big East tournament semifinals to Seton Hall. Teams with the poorest records will qualify for the NCAA tournament.
| Team | East Carolina |
|---|---|
| % | 44.83% |
| Seed | 16 |
| Conference | CAA |
| Tournament result | First Round loss |
National titles won by college basketball teams
NCAA Conference Victories 1 of 11 conference victories, appearances in the Sweet 16 Appearances in the Final Four Championships Conferences of the BCS The ACC had 148 38 11 6 Big East had 114 29 9 2 Big Ten had 110 28 10 1 Big 12 had 109 29 8 1 SEC had 106 26 6 3 Pac 12 had 83 23 4 1 American had 42 13 5 0 Women's Basketball Championship
National Champions Notre Dame 1988 NBA World Champions Louisville 2013
Regional Champions Kansas City 1996 Chicago 1997 San Antonio 1999 New York 2000 Virginia Tech 2002 Detroit 2003 Indiana 2004 Memphis 2005 Louisville 2006 Texas
Number one seeds Florida State 2007 South Carolina 2009 Kentucky 2010 Michigan State 2011 Duke 2012 Connecticut 2013 Louisville 2014 Wisconsin 2015 North Carolina 2016 Oklahoma 2017 Auburn 2018 UCF 2019 *via* forfeit
Number two seeds Georgetown 1990 Maryland 1992 Illinois 1993 Iowa State 1994 Arkansas 1995 North Carolina 1996 Virginia 1997 Minnesota 1998 Tennessee 1999 Louisville 2000 California 2001 South Carolina 2002 Michigan State 2003 Florida State 2004 UNC 2005 Kansas 2006 Syracuse 2007 Ohio State 2008 Indiana 2009 Memphis 2010 Louisville 2011 North Carolina 2012 Stanford 2013 Wichita State 2014 Oregon 2015 Villanova 2016 UMBC 2017 West Virginia 2018 X UConn 2019
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