NCAA Tournament Final Four History

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The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Final Four is the national semifinals of the major college basketball teams in Division 1. 

The event normally takes place on the first Saturday in April with the two winners eventually meeting on Monday for the championship. 

The tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985 with four 16-team regional brackets and those four winners advance to "The Final Four" and our history below shows the final four schools going back to 1985. 

NCAA Final Four History

The Final Four breakdown provides all the schools that advance to the NCAA Tournament semifinals each year, along with more betting resources on the last round of the event.

Final Four Participants - Last Five Years

(Seeds) - Winner

2023
(5) San Diego State, (9) FAU
(4) UConn, (5) Miami, Fl.

2022
(2) Duke, (8) North Carolina
(2) Villanova, (1) Kansas

2021
(1) Gonzaga, (1) Baylor
(2) Houston, (11) UCLA

2020
Postponed

2019
(1) Virginia, (2) Michigan State
(3) Texas Tech, (5) Auburn

2018
(1) Villanova, (1) Kansas
(3) Michigan, (11) Loyola-Chicago

2017
(1) Gonzaga, (1) North Carolina
(3) Oregon, (7) South Carolina

2016
(1) North Carolina, (2) Oklahoma
(2) Villanova, (10) Syracuse

2015
(1) Kentucky, (1) Duke
(1) Wisconsin, (7) Michigan State

2014
(1) Florida, (2) Wisconsin
(7) UConn, (8) Kentucky

2013
(1) Louisville, (4) Syracuse
(4) Michigan, (9) Wichita State

2012
(1) Kentucky, (2) Kansas
(2) Ohio State, (4) Louisville

2011
(3) UConn, (4) Kentucky
(8) Butler, (11) VCU

2010
(1) Duke, (2) West Virginia
(5) Butler, (5) Michigan State

2009
(1) North Carolina, (1) Connecticut
(2) Michigan State, (3) Villanova

2008
(1) Kansas, (1) Memphis
(1) North Carolina, (1) UCLA

2007
(1) Florida, (1) Ohio State
(2) Georgetown, (2) UCLA

2006
(2) UCLA, (3) Florida
(4) LSU, (11) George Mason

2005
(1) North Carolina, (1) Illinois
(4) Louisville, (5) Michigan State

2004
(1) Duke, (2) Connecticut
(2) Oklahoma State, (3) Georgia Tech

2003
(1) Texas, (2) Kansas
(3) Marquette, (3) Syracuse

2002
(1) Maryland, (1) Kansas
(2) Oklahoma, (5) Indiana

2001
(1) Duke, (1) Michigan State
(2) Arizona, (3) Maryland

2000
(1) Michigan State, (5) Florida
(8) North Carolina, (8) Wisconsin

1999
(1) Connecticut, (1) Duke
(1) Michigan State, (4) Ohio State

1998
(1) North Carolina, (2) Kentucky
(3) Stanford, (3) Utah

1997
(1) Kentucky, (1) Minnesota
(1) North Carolina, (4) Arizona

1996
(1) Kentucky, (1) UMass
(4) Syracuse, (5) Mississippi State

1995
(1) UCLA, (2) Arkansas
(2) North Carolina, (4) Oklahoma State

1994
(1) Arkansas, (2) Arizona
(2) Duke, (3) Florida

1993
(1) North Carolina, (1) Kentucky
(1) Michigan, (2) Kansas

1992
(1) Duke, (2) Indiana
(4) Cincinnati, (6) Michigan

1991
(1) UNLV, (1) North Carolina
(2) Duke, (3) Kansas

1990
(1) UNLV, (3) Duke
(4) Georgia Tech, (4) Arkansas

1989
(1) Illinois, (2) Duke
(3) Seton Hall, (3) Michigan

1988
(1) Arizona, (1) Oklahoma
(2) Duke, (6) Kansas

1987
(1) UNLV, (1) Indiana
(2) Syracuse, (6) Providence

1986
(1) Duke, (1) Kansas
(2) Louisville, (11) LSU

1985
(1) St. John's, (1) Georgetown
(2) Memphis, (8) Villanova

NCAA FINAL FOUR BETTING NOTES

-- Since the tournament expanded in 1985 to 64 teams, there have only been two years where the Final Four didn’t have a No. 1 seed which occurred in 2011 and 2006. 

-- Meanwhile, there has only been one instance where all four No. 1 seeds reached the Final Four, which took place in 2008 when Kansas, Memphis, North Carolina and UCLA earned regional bids. 

-- The school with the most Final Four appearances since 1985 is Duke with 13 and right behind them is Kentucky with eight. 

-- The Duke Blue Devils have made the most consecutive appearances with five between 1988 and 1992. 

-- The highest seed ever to reach the Final Four was the No. 11, which has happened five times. 

• 1986 - LSU
• 2006 - George Mason
• 2011 - VCU
• 2018 - Loyola-Chicago
• 2021 - UCLA

-- Outside of the group above, only one double-digit seed has made the Final Four and that happened in 2016 when No. 10 Syracuse earned a trip. 

-- The most teams from a conference that made the same Final Four was three, which occurred in 1985 when St. John’s, Georgetown and Villanova earned bids from the Big East.

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NCAA FINAL FOUR CHAMPION SUCCESS

For those bettors looking for long shots, the NCAA Tournament may not be for you. 32 of 38 champions in the NCAA Tournament were top three seeds (1, 2, 3) and you dismiss the first four years of the event, 31 of the last 34 NCAA champions have been 1, 2 or a 3-seed. 

SEED (CHAMPIONSHIPS)

• 1 - 23
• 2 - 5
• 3 - 4
• 4 - 2
• 5 - 0
• 6 - 1
• 7 - 1
• 8 - 1

Ironically, the lowest seed to win the NCAA Tournament was No. 8 in Villanova and that was the inaugural year in 1985 when the event expanded to 64 schools. 

Kansas (6) and Connecticut (7) were the only other outliers to win, doing so in 1988 and 2014 respectively.

UConn captured the 2023 NCAA Tournament championship, the fifth title for the school. The Huskies are undefeated in all five of their championship game appearances and have won with three different coaches - Jim Calhoun (3), Kevin Ollie (1) and Dan Hurley (1).