Schools that have multiple Final Four appearances but no title
Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ is a sports statistics blog published multiple times weekly focusing on stats that go beyond the numbers.
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This year’s quartet of men’s Final Four teams have each made multiple trips to the Final Four (Kentucky 15th, Kansas 14th, Ohio State 11th and Louisville 9th) and have each won a national title (Kentucky 7, Kansas 3, Louisville 2 and Ohio State 1).
There have been, however, several schools that have made multiple trips to the Final Four yet have not won a championship. Following are the schools that have made three or more trips to the Final Four but are still waiting for their first title. Also noted is the number of Championship Games they have played in, and the last time they played in the Final Four. Those schools with two Final Four appearances are also noted.
School, Final Four appearances (Championship Games) Last Final Four appearance
Houston……….5 (2) 1984
Illinois………….5 (1) 2005
Kansas State…4 (1) 1964
LSU……………..4 (0) 2006
Oklahoma…….4 (2) 2002
Iowa…………….3 (1) 1980
Memphis………3 (2) 2008
Texas……………3 (0) 2003
Schools with two Final Four appearances but no title: Baylor, Bradley, Butler, Colorado, Dartmouth, DePaul, Georgia Tech, NYU, Oregon State, Providence, Purdue, St. John’s, Temple, USC, Virginia, West Virginia.
Is winning a conference tournament a precursor to the Final Four?
Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ is a sports statistics blog published multiple times weekly focusing on stats that go beyond the numbers.
Rick Pitino's Louisville team is the only Final Four team this year to win its conference tournament. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Since 2000, there have been 52 different teams that have made it to the Final Four in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Over that timeframe, just under 54% of those Final Four teams (28 of the 52) played in their conference tournament championship game the week prior to the NCAA tournament. Twenty-three of the 28 won their conference tourney.
Of this year’s Final Four teams, Rick Pitino’s Louisville squad was the only one to win its conference tournament (they won the Big East Conference tournament); Kentucky and Ohio State both lost in their conference title game, while Kansas was defeated in the Big 12 conference semifinals.
In 2011, three of the Final Four teams won their conference tournament (Connecticut, Butler and Kentucky) and the fourth team, VCU, lost in the title game. In 2010, again three Final Four teams won their conference tournament (Duke, Butler and West Virginia) while Final Four participant Michigan State was defeated in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament.
Following are how well the Final Four teams since 2000 (the last 13 tournaments) did in their conference tournaments prior to the NCAA tournament.
Final Four teams that won their conference tournament: 23
Final Four teams that lost in the conference tournament title game: 5
Final Four teams that lost in the conference tournament semifinals: 14
Final Four teams that lost in the conference tournament quarterfinals: 9
Final Four teams that did not play in a conference tournament: 1
Did you know? Of the 12 teams that won the NCAA championship this century (2000-2011), eight won their conference tournament. The other four, North Carolina in 2009, North Carolina in 2005, Syracuse in 2003 and Maryland in 2002, all lost in their conference semifinals.
Did you know? The last year when none of the Final Four teams won their conference tournament was 2009.
Selection Sunday: The 2012 NCAA men’s basketball tourney is here!
Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ is a biweekly blog published every Wednesday and Sunday with a bonus “SIX STATS…” posting every Friday.
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By the end of the day, the NCAA men’s basketball tournament brackets will be complete and one of the most exciting events in sports will take center stage. Here’s a couple of stats to whet your appetite for March Madness.
Current streak of most consecutive appearances in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament (through 2011 tourney)
School, active consecutive appearances
Kansas 22
Duke 16
Wisconsin 13
Texas 13
Gonzaga 13
Pittsburgh 10
Note: The all-time record for most consecutive apppearances in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament is 27, set by North Carolina from 1975-2001. Arizona is the only other school to have more consecutive appearances than Kansas’ current streak. Arizona made an appearance in the tourney 25 consecutive years from 1985 to 2009.
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Most NCAA men’s basketball tournament wins in this century (2000-2011)
Wins in tourney from 2000-2011, School(s)
31: Duke
30: Kansas
29: North Carolina, Michigan State
26: Connecticut
23: Florida
21: Kentucky, UCLA
20: Arizona
18: Texas, Wisconsin
17: Maryland
16: Butler, Syracuse, Illinois
15: Pittsburgh
14: Memphis
13: Xavier, Gonzaga, Oklahoma
12: West Virginia, Louisville, Viilanova, Ohio State
11: Oklahoma State, Purdue
10: Tennessee
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Schools with most tournaments of “one-and-out” (lost first game in NCAA tourney) in the last 10 years (2002-2011)
Years, Schools
6: Utah State
5: Brigham Young, Pennsylvania, Winthrop
4: Belmont, East Tennessee State, Marquette, Michigan State, Northern Iowa
Note: Eight schools have been “one-and-out” in each of the last two tournaments… Georgetown, Louisville, UNLV, Oakland, UC-Santa Barbara, Utah State (has been “one-and-out” in each of the last three tourneys), Vanderbilt and Wofford
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