Teams with most losses to win NCAA basketball championship
Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ is a sports statistics blog published multiple times weekly focusing on stats that go beyond the numbers.
National Association of Basketball Coaches NCAA Championship Trophy (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Tomorrow night’s NCAA men’s Division I basketball title game is all set with Kentucky (37-2) facing off against Kansas (32-6).
Should Kansas win, they would become the 16th team in tournament history to win the title with six or more losses in the season. Kentucky, on the other hand, with a win would become the first team with two or fewer losses to win the championship since UConn in 1999 (UConn was 34-2 that season).
Here’s a look at the schools that have won the men’s title with five or more losses.
Losses in title season, school, title year
11: Kansas (1988)
10: North Carolina State (1983), Villanova (1985)
9: Indiana (1981), Arizona (1997), Connecticut (2011)
7: Marquette (1977), Louisville (1986), Michigan (1989), Duke (1991), Michigan State (2000)
6: Kentucky (1958), Michigan State (1979), Connecticut (2004), Florida (2006)
5: Oregon (1939), CCNY (1950), UNLV (1990), Syracuse (2003), Florida (2007), Duke (2010)
Did you know? From 1939-76 (38 years), only three teams with five or more losses won the NCAA men’s basketball championship. From 1977 until last year (35 years), 17 different schools with five or more losses won the title. The average number of losses of the 73 previous men’s champions was 3.7.
SIX STATS you might not know about… Marquette & Wisconsin in the Big East and Big Ten conference tourneys
“SIX STATS…” is a bonus feature of Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ and is published every Friday.
Image via Wikipedia
1. Marquette has played in six Big East Conference men’s basketball tournaments. They were a #4 seed (2006), twice a #5 seed (2009 and 2010), twice a #6 (2007, 2008) and the #11 seed in 2011. They are the number 2 seed this year.
2. Wisconsin has played in 14 Big Ten Conference men’s basketball tournaments. They have been the #1 seed three times (2002, 2003 and 2008), the #2 seed twice (2004, 2007), the #3 seed twice (2005, 2011), the #4 seed four times (1999, 2006, 2009, 2010) and the #5, #6 and #10 seed once apiece. Wisconsin is the #4 seed in this year’s tourney. The last three times the Badgers were the number 4 seed in the Big Ten men’s basketball tournament they lost their first game to the #5 seed (2010, 2009 and 2006).
3. Marquette has won 8 and lost 6 in Big East tourney play.
4. Wisconsin has won 14 and lost 12 in Big Ten Conference tourney play.
5. Marquette has defeated St. John’s three times in the tournament. They have lost to Georgetown and Pittsburgh twice each in the tourney. The Golden Eagles are 5-3 in games against teams that were lower seeds than them; they are 3-3 against teams that were higher seeds.
6. Wisconsin has defeated Michigan State and Illinois three times each in the tournament. They have lost to Illinois and Ohio State three times each in the tourney. The Badgers are 3-6 in games against teams that were higher seeds than them; they are 11-6 against teams that were lower seeds. They have been beat by a lower seeded team in their first game in each of the past three seasons.
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