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NCAA March Madness Fun Facts

8 Fun Facts About the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament

March 13, 2015

Some fun facts to fuel your March Madness.

NCAA March Madness Fun Facts

  • Legendary UCLA coach John Wooden (“The Wizard of Westwood”) took his team to 12 Final Four appearances, a record, and all over a 14-year period. Wooden won 10 championships overall in that time, including seven in a row.
  • The 64 teams that make it into the first round of the tournament are split into four divisions, and seeded from 1 to 16. The winner of each division meet in the Final Four. The lowest seeded teams to reach the Final Four: #11 VCU (2011), #11 George Mason (2006), and #11 LSU (1986).
  • The only time that all four final spots were held by #1 seeded teams was in 2008, with Kansas, Memphis, North Carolina, and UCLA.
  • Only three times have no #1 seeds made it to the final rounds. In 2006, the teams were #3 Florida, #2 UCLA, #4 LSU, and #11 George Mason. In 2011, it was #3 Connecticut, #8 Butler, #4 Kentucky, and #11 VCU.
  • The lowest-seeded team to ever win the whole tournament: #8 Villanova, which in 1985 beat the heavily favored top-ranked Georgetown.
  • After the championship game, the “Most Outstanding Player” award is given out. The only player to win it three times was Lew Alcindor (1967-1969) of UCLA, who later changed his named to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. In 2013, Luke Hancock of champion Louisville was named MOP even though he wasn’t a starter. And in 1983, Hakeem Olajuwon of Houston got the honor, even though his team didn’t win the title. The 1971 MOP was later vacated after honoree Howard Porter of Villanova was discovered to have signed a pro contract with an ABA team during his senior year, which made him not an amateur athlete, per NCAA rules.
  • The Final Four has been held in Kansas City 10 times, more than any other place, although the last was in 1988.
  • Most lopsided championship game: in 1990, UNLV beat Duke 103 to 73, a difference of 30 points.

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