States of Success: California Moves Ahead of Kentucky for Most Titles
April 2nd, 2012 - 23:29
California, buoyed by Stanford (NIT) and Concordia (DII), moved ahead of Kentucky as the state with the most national titles from each level of four-year college men's basketball - NCAA Division I, NIT, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA - despite UK's title in this year's NCAA Division I Tournament.
Illinois and Ohio are the only states to boast at least one champion from all five levels. Among the 12 states amassing a total of more than 10 national crowns, Missouri is the only one in that group without a Division I championship.
The biggest surprise among states never to capture a national title is Iowa. Following is how states stack up by national titles including the NIT and various levels of small-college basketball:
State DI NIT DII DIII NAIA Total California 15 7 5 0 3 30 Kentucky 10 3 10 0 6 29 Ohio 3 6 3 5 2 19 North Carolina 11 2 3 0 1 17 Illinois 1 6 1 6 1 15 New York 2 10 0 3 0 15 Oklahoma 2 2 1 0 10 15 Indiana 5 2 6 0 1 14 Pennsylvania 2 6 2 3 0 13 Wisconsin 2 1 0 10 0 13 Missouri 0 1 1 2 8 12 Kansas 3 1 1 0 6 11 Virginia 0 4 5 1 0 10 Texas 1 1 0 0 7 9 Michigan 3 3 0 2 0 8 Minnesota 0 2 2 1 3 8 Tennessee 0 2 1 1 4 8 Alabama 0 0 3 0 3 6 Georgia 0 0 1 0 5 6 Connecticut 3 1 1 0 0 5 Maryland 1 1 2 0 1 5 Massachusetts 1 1 1 2 0 5 Arizona 1 0 0 0 3 4 South Carolina 0 2 0 0 2 4 Utah 1 3 0 0 0 4 West Virginia 0 2 0 0 2 4 Colorado 0 1 2 0 0 3 District of Columbia 1 0 1 1 0 3 Florida 2 0 1 0 0 3 Louisiana 0 0 0 0 3 3 New Jersey 0 2 0 1 0 3 Arkansas 1 0 0 0 1 2 Rhode Island 0 2 0 0 0 2 South Dakota 0 0 2 0 0 2 Washington 0 0 2 0 0 2 Hawaii 0 0 0 0 1 1 Mississippi 0 1 0 0 0 1 Montana 0 0 0 0 1 1 Nebraska 0 1 0 0 0 1 Nevada 1 0 0 0 0 1 New Mexico 0 0 0 0 1 1 Oregon 1 0 0 0 0 1 Wyoming 1 0 0 0 0 1
NOTE: Eight states - Alaska, Delaware, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, New Hampshire, North Dakota and Vermont - have never had a four-year school win a men's national championship.