1. How Are The Teams Selected For March Madness
2. How Are Teams Chosen For March Madness
3. How Are The 64 Teams Picked For March Madness

Every year, the collegiate basketball season comes to a close with one of the most significant tournaments the sporting world has ever known: March Madness. Dating all the way back to 1939, throughout history the competition has provided basketball fans with a wealth of spectacular players, legendary coaches, and historical performances.

The single-elimination format and size of the field promises to leave some teams reeling from disappointment each year, while others get their moment to bask in the glory of exceeded expectations and achieved dreams. This guide is meant to celebrate those squads that truly made a lasting impact on the game. While they are not ranked in any particular order, these are the very best teams to ever participate in the March Madness tournament.

The rash of upset victories has wreaked havoc with everyone's brackets for March Madness. Just 14 out of 11 million brackets on record with ESPN. Ten players to watch during the NCAA Tournament.

Some of them captured numerous titles, while others, unfortunately, fell short. A few went on to have admirable long runs at the top, while others flamed out after only a single exceptional season. But no matter their longevity or record, each of these teams has earned their position at the top echelon of collegiate basketball. For if it wasn’t for them, March Madness might not be the institution that it has become today.

UNLV Runnin’ Rebels: 1989 – 1991

Coach: Jerry Tarkanian

Noteworthy Players:

• G – Greg Anthony
• G – Anderson Hunt
• F – Larry Johnson
• F – Stacey Augmon

Record:

• 1989 – 90: 35 W – 5 L
• 1990 – 91: 34 W – 1 L

Honors:

• 1989-90 National Champions
• 1989-90 Big West Champions
• 1990-91 Big West Champions

Bio:

The UNLV Runnin’ Rebels of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s were positively a sight to behold. Led by Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon,Anderson Hunt, and Greg Anthony, the Rebels cut through the 1989-90 March Madness tournament like a buzzsaw. They won their first-round game versus Arkansas-Little Rock by thirty points, beat Ohio State in the second round by ten, and squeaked by Ball State to survive the Sweet Sixteen by two.

In the Final Four, they took on Georgia Tech, who they beat by nine. But they saved their best performance for last. In the National Championship, they took on the Duke Blue Devils, who they promptly throttled by thirty points.

The next year they would enter the season as the consensus number-one team in the nation. They won every game that regular season before making their way to the Final Four versus Duke. However, this time their season would end in heartbreak as they lost by two, marking their first loss after a winning streak of 45 games in a row. UNLV has been trying to recapture that early-‘90s magic ever since.

Duke Blue Devils: 1990 – 1992

How Are The Teams Selected For March Madness

Coach: Mike Krzyzewski

Noteworthy Players:

• G – Bobby Hurley
• G/F – Grant Hill
• F – Christian Laettner

Record:

• 1990-91: 32W – 7L
• 1991-92: 34W – 2L

Honors:

• 1990-91 National Champions
• 1990-91 ACC Regular Season Champions
• 1991-92 National Champions
• 1991-92 ACC Regular Season Champions
• 1991-92 ACC Tournament Champions

Bio:

The early-1990s Duke Blue Devils teams led by Grant Hill, Bobby Hurley, and Christian Laettner are forever celebrated as one of the greatest college basketball teams of all time. After shocking UNLV in 1990-91, they went on to defeat Kansas in the National Championship game for this squad’s first NCAA title. The next year they started the season ranked number one.

They held their number-one ranking throughout the entire duration of the season. In the March Madness tournament, this squad was forever immortalized when Christian Laettner hit his iconic buzzer-beater in the NCAA East Regional Final in what many consider the greatest college basketball game of all time. They then went on to win a second straight national title, making the Blue Devils the first team to win back-to-back National Titles since the UCLA teams of the ‘60s and ‘70s.

UCLA Bruins: 1966 – 1968

Coach: John Wooden

Noteworthy Players:

• C – Lew Alcindor (later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar)
• G – Lucius Allen
• G – Mike Warren

Record:

• 1966-67: 30W – 0L
• 1967-68: 29W – 1L

Honors:

• 1966-67 National Champions
• 1966-67 AAWU Regular Season Conference Champions
• 1967-68 National Champions
• 1967-68 Pac-8 Champions

Bio:

In the two seasons between 1966 and 1968, John Wooden’s UCLA only lost a single game. They won back-to-back National Titles, the first of what would end up being an unimaginable seven straight championships, a feat that never has and will never be repeated again. This Bruins squad is widely considered the greatest college basketball team of all time.

UCLA was anchored by their 7-foot-2-inch center Lew Alcindor, who would later be known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. During his time in college, the Hall-of-Famer averaged 26.4 points and 15.5 rebounds per game. He also won three championships, one for each season of collegiate basketball he played. The only game lost in two seasons came at the hands of the University of Houston, whom they avenged that loss against in the NCAA National Semifinal later that year.

Houston Cougars: 1982 – 1983

Coach: Guy Lewis

Noteworthy Players:

• C – Akeem Olajuwon
• G – Clyde Drexler
• G – Michael Young

Record:

• 1982-83: 31W – 3L

Honors:

• SWC Regular Season Champions
• SWC Tournament Champions
• NCAA National Championship Runners-up

Bio:

The Houston Cougars from the early ‘80s are perhaps the most celebrated collegiate basketball team to not win a National Championship. Known for their high-flying dunks and physical play led by Clyde Drexler and Akeem Olajuwon, the University of Houston advanced to the Final Four in three consecutive seasons without ever winning the whole thing. The team was called Phi Slama Jama, and they certainly lived up to the name.

In 1983, they were seconds away from finally securing an NCAA National Championship when North Carolina State mounted a historic comeback, ending in a buzzer-beating put-back dunk that put NC State up by two, winning them the game. Drexler and Olajuwon both went pro and had Hall of Fame careers.

UCLA Bruins: 1971 – 1973

Coach: John Wooden

Noteworthy Players:

• C – Bill Walton
• G – Henry Bibby
• F – Larry Hollyfield

Record:

• 1971-72: 30W – 0L
• 1972-73: 30W – 0L

Honors:

• 1971-72 National Champions
• 1971-72 Pacific-8 Champions
• 1972-73 National Champions
• 1972-73 Pac-8 Champions

Bio:

The UCLA Bruins have yet another of the greatest basketball teams in NCAA March Madness history, with the Bill Walton-led teams that continued the dynasty that won seven straight national titles. During this stretch, they won eighty-nine consecutive games in a three-year stretch. In the 1972-73 NCAA Championship game, Bill Walton turned in the greatest offensive performance in college basketball history.

In the title game, Walton made twenty-one of twenty-two attempts, scoring forty-four points. That same season, he set a school record with five hundred and six rebounds. There has never been a program more dominant than the UCLA Bruins over the course of the ‘60s and ‘70s, and it’s unlikely that there ever will be another run of success like this again.

San Fransisco Dons: 1954 – 1956

Coach: Phil Woolpert

Noteworthy Players:

• C – Bill Russell
• G – KC Jones
• G – Hal Perry

Record:

• 1954-55: 28W – 1 L
• 1955-56: 29W – 0 L

Honors:

• 1954-55 National Champions
• 1955-56 California Basketball Association Champions
• 1955-56 National Champions

Bio:

The San Fransisco Dons was a basketball team that represented the University of San Fransisco in NCAA competition. Playing during a time of extreme racial discrimination, the team played three black athletes in their starting lineup. One of those starters was none other than Bill Russell, the Celtics Hall of Famer, who averaged over twenty points and twenty rebounds per game in his college career.

The Dons would go on to win back-to-back championships. Not only would they win, but they would also be the first squad to record an undefeated season en route to an NCAA title. The Dons also set a record for winning sixty games in a row back before March Madness was what we know it as today, which stood for many years before the UCLA dynasties.

Ohio State Buckeyes: 1959 – 1961

Coach: Fred Taylor

Noteworthy Players:

• C – Jerry Lucas
• F – John Havlicek
• F – Bob Knight

Record:

• 1959-60: 25W – 3L
• 1960-61: 27W – 1L

Honors:

• 1959-60 National Champions
• 1959-60 Big Ten Champions
• 1960-61 National Champion Runners-up
• 1960-61 Big Ten Champions

Bio:

Fred Taylor’s Ohio State Buckeyes teams of the late ‘50s and early ‘60s were cutting-edge for their time. Harnessing the outlet passing of Jerry Lucas to attack opponents with a never-ending barrage of fast breaks, the team was the best-shooting, highest-scoring college basketball team in the land. They averaged over ninety points per game, and sent all five starters to the NBA, despite there only being eight NBA franchises at the time.

After winning it all in 1959-60, the team replaced Joe Roberts in the starting lineup with a player that would go on to achieve fame for his coaching prowess: Bobby Knight. The team continued their fast-break style of play, managing to go undefeated for the majority of the season, before finally dropping a game in the National Championship game. Jerry Lucas and John Havlicek won just about every individual honor a player could win that season, including First-Team All-Big Ten.

Indiana Hoosiers: 1975 – 1976

Coach: Bobby Knight

Noteworthy Players:

• C – Kent Benson
• G – Quinn Buckner
• F – Scott May
• F – Steve Green

Record: 31W – 1L

• 1975-76:

Honors:

• Big Ten Champions
• NCAA Tournament – Elite Eight

Bio:

In Bobby Knight’s fourth year as head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers, the team had built a juggernaut. They finished the regular season undefeated at 29 – 0 and won the Big Ten Conference by going 18-0 in their conference games. The team performed so well that four of their starters were named to the All-Big Ten team at the end of the season.

Unfortunately, an injury to Scott May limited how far they would go in the NCAA tournament. May broke his arm in a win versus Purdue, making him unavailable for upcoming tournament games. In the Elite Eight, the Hoosiers met up with the Kentucky Wildcats, a team they had beaten 98 to 74 during the regular season with their full roster. Without May, the Hoosiers were outgunned 92 to 90, costing them an excellent opportunity to win a National Championship that year.

North Carolina Tar Heels: 1981 – 1982

Coach: Dean Smith

Noteworthy Players:

• G – Michael Jordan
• F – Sam Perkins
• F – James Worthy

Record:

• 1981-82: 32W – 2L

Honors:

• 1981-82 National Champions
• 1981-82 ACC Tournament Champions
• 1981-82 ACC Regular Season Champions

Bio:

The 1981-82 North Carolina Tar Heels were coached by the legend Dean Smith and featured James Worthy and Sam Perkins as their best two players, with a freshman named Michael Jordon putting in an additional 13.5 points per game as well. The team was built on tough, physical defense and lights-out shooting which left the team in first place the majority of the season, with only a small stint at number two midway through the season.

The Tar Heels lost two regular season games to Wake Forest and Virginia respectively, but after February 3rd, they would not lose again. They went on to meet Georgetown in the NCAA finals, a game in which they won by a single point after Michael Jordan’s game-winning jumper. It was the first time the world would see Jordan’s late-game heroics, though clearly not the last. This was DeanSmith’s first-ever National Championship, in his twenty-first year of coaching.

Michigan State Spartans: 1978 – 1979

Coach: Jud Heathcote

Noteworthy Players:

• G – Earvin “Magic” Johnson
• C – Jay Vincent
• F – Gregory Kelser

Record:

• 1978-79: 26W – 6L

Honors:

• 1978-79 NCAA National Champions
• 1978-79 Big Ten Champions
• 1978-79 Far West Classic Champions

Bio:

In Jud Heathcote’s third year as head coach, Michigan State assembled a team with real National Championship aspirations. Built around their star sophomore point guard, Magic Johnson – who averaged 16.1 points per game, 7.4 rebounds, and 8.2 assists – the team started the season hot with a non-conference record of 8 and 1, with their single loss coming at the hands of North Carolina.

They began their conference schedule ranked number one in the country, but struggled early on, falling to 4 and 4 in the Big Ten after eight games. That’s when something clicked, and the Spartans ran off ten consecutive wins, which eventually led to them qualifying for the NCAA tournament. Once in the tournament, Michigan State found their grove.

They defeated the number-one-seed Notre Dame to reach the Final Four for only the second time in school history, where they matched up against Penn. The Spartans blew them out of the building, winning by nearly 40 points. In the NCAA Championship game, Magic would face off against Larry Bird’s Indiana State squad, one of their first head-to-head matchups in their long, storied rivalry.

The championship game was one of the most watched college basketball games in the history of the sport, with both stand-out players battling for superiority. This time Magic would triumph, leading the Spartans to an eleven-point victory and Michigan State’s first-ever National Title. Johnson would also go on to receive Most Outstanding Player honors before declaring for the NBA draft and ending his amateur career.

Kentucky Wildcats: 1995 – 1996

Coach: Rick Pitino

Noteworthy Players:

• G – Tony Delk
• G – Derek Anderson
• F – Antoine Walker
• F – Ron Mercer
• C – Nazr Mohammed
• C – Mark Pope
• G – Jeff Sheppard
• G – Wayne Turner
• F – Walter McCarty

Record:

• 1995-96: 34W – 2L

Honors:

• 1995-96 NCAA National Champions
• 1995-96 SEC Regular Season Champions

Bio:

Rick Pitino’s 1995-96 Kentucky Wildcats are easily one of the best college basketball teams ever assembled. Nicknamed “the Untouchables,” this Wildcats squad sent an astonishing nine players to the NBA. Of those nine, three were selected in the first round: Tony Delk, Antoine Walker, and Walter McCarty.

With their superior athleticism and their almost comical amount of depth, the Wildcats were feared for their constant pressure defense, pressing opponents for the entire game and bombing threes on the offensive end. In the 1996 tournament, four of their starters shot over 40 percent from three-point range. Over the course of their six-game tournament run, they set a record for aggregate margin of victory, outscoring their opponents by a total of 129 points!

In Conclusion

Throughout NCAA history, there have been many incredible talents and remarkable runs by various programs. It’s what has made March Madness such a widely celebrated sporting event since the late 1930s. The tournament brings out the best in our greatest athletes who shine the brightest on the biggest stage.

We’ve seen Bill Russell fight against racial discrimination with his dominant play on the court. The world watched while UCLA created the greatest dynasty in the history of sports, winning seven straight championships between the ‘60s and ‘70s on the backs of Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton. Michael Jordan hit his first championship-winning buzzer beater in front of the masses, and Bird and Magic battled for supremacy of the court in the NCAA finals, the first of many times that they would compete for a basketball championship.

The legendary teams have come in many different shapes and sizes. Some rode stifling defense and three-point shooting to the title. Others utilized long outlet passes and unrelenting fast breaks. But what they all have in common is that they’ve earned their place in the March Madness history books as some of the most meaningful teams to ever grace the court.

Dear Sports Fan,

What is Selection Sunday?

Thanks,
Siobhan

— — —

Dear Siobhan,

Selection Sunday is the day that the 68 teams who have qualified for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament (March Madness) are announced. It’s also today, so let’s get down to the business of explaining how it works.

Like another facet of college, the admissions process, not all 68 open spots are open to every team equally. In college admissions, some spots (a majority at some schools, I believe) are reserved for the children of University employees, legacies whose parent attended the school, or star athletes. In the case of Selection Sunday, 32 of the 68 teams are reserved for conference champions. There are so many schools in the top division of college basketball with teams that they can’t all play each other in the regular season. Instead, their schedules are largely driven by what conference they are in. Conferences are federations of schools who agree to play with and against each other — one day soon we will write a post all about conferences. In the week leading up to Selection Sunday all but one of these conferences hold championship tournaments of their own. These conference championships are miniature versions of March Madness — single elimination tournaments that end in a championship game. The one exception is the Ivy League who disdains tournaments and simply declares the team with the best regular season record to be their champion. Each of the 32 conference winners are guaranteed a spot in the field of 68 teams that make it into the NCAA tournament. These 32 spots are called automatic bids.

How Are Teams Chosen For March Madness

The other 36 spots in the 68 team field are called at-largebids and are chosen by a selection committee. The selection committee is made up of ten college athletic directors or conference commissioners and functions just like committees everywhere. It creates controversy. According to a post about March Madness on howstuffworks.com the committee selects based on the following factors:

• Rating Percentage Index (RPI) (For more information on RPI, go to CollegeRPI.com.)
• Ranking in national polls
• Conference record
• Road record
• Wins versus ranked opponents
• The way a team finishes the regular season

Also, I would add, just like the college admissions process, the factors of instinct based on having watched the team during the year, luck, and how much coffee the committee member has had in the last half hour.

Conference is one of the most visible factors in the selection process. There’s a few conferences like the Big 12, Pac-12, Big Ten, and Atlantic 10 that are likely to get five or more teams into the tournament, then there’s a small middle of conferences that will get two or three teams, and a long tail of conferences where only the winner of their conference championship tournament will make the NCAA tournament. These three groups of conferences can colloquially be referred to as power conferences, mid-major conferences, and one-and-done conferences. Traditionally the overall winner of March Madness has almost always come from a power conference but the mid-majors are getting stronger every year. This year a mid-major, Wichita State, won every game throughout the regular season and conference championship and is thought to have a good shot to win the big tournament. The one-and-done conferences are called that because they usually only get one team into March Madness and that team usually loses in its first game.

How Are The 64 Teams Picked For March Madness

The excitement of Selection Sunday is mostly about the ten or so teams that realistically don’t know whether they will be selected for the tournament or not. These teams are called bubble teams or are said to be on the bubble which is a nice visual. In addition to the secret whims of the selection committee these teams are effected by the outcomes of the conference championships. This is because of the automatic bids that conference champions receive. In most conferences, the team (or teams depending on what type of conference this is) with the best regular season performance are pretty much locks to get into the NCAAs. If a team outside of this group surprises everyone and wins the conference tournament, they will get the automatic bid, and, if the selection committee doesn’t subtract one of the teams from that conference from their selection, then all of the teams from that conference that were going to get in will get at-large bids, the under-dog upstart will get the automatic bid, and there will be one fewer at-large bid for the bubble teams to fight over. An example of this happened last night in the Big East when Providence upset Creighton. Creighton is still likely to make the tournament but as an at-large team. Providence, which wasn’t likely to qualify, now will on an automatic bid. And a bubble team like Minnesota or Xavier, as The Big Lead supposes, will not qualify as a result.

The selection will be announced on CBS around 6 p.m. ET after the conclusion of the SEC championship game. Enjoy!