States of Success: Kentucky and California Each Boast > 20 National Titles
April 4th, 2016 - 23:40
Kentucky (31), buttressed by Louisville (NCAA DI) and Georgetown (NAIA) in 2013, moved ahead of California three years ago 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. But California moved into a tie with Kentucky two seasons ago when Vanguard (Calif.) captured the NAIA crown and moved back ahead of Kentucky last campaign when Stanford won the NIT.
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. Drury (Mo.) and Central Missouri won back-to-back DII titles earlier this decade but the state's two headline schools - Mizzou and Saint Louis - never have reached the NCAA Final Four.
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 8 5 0 4 32 Kentucky 11 3 10 0 7 31 Ohio 3 6 3 5 2 19 North Carolina 12 2 3 0 1 18 Oklahoma 2 2 1 0 11 16 Illinois 1 6 1 6 1 15 New York 2 10 0 3 0 15 Wisconsin 2 1 0 12 0 15 Indiana 5 2 6 0 1 14 Missouri 0 1 3 2 8 14 Pennsylvania 3 6 2 3 0 14 Kansas 3 1 1 0 6 11 Minnesota 0 3 2 2 3 10 Texas 1 2 0 0 7 10 Virginia 0 4 5 1 0 10 Michigan 3 3 0 2 0 8 Tennessee 0 2 1 1 4 8 Georgia 0 0 1 0 6 7 Alabama 0 0 3 0 3 6 Connecticut 4 1 1 0 0 6 Massachusetts 1 1 1 3 0 6 Maryland 1 1 2 0 1 5 Arizona 1 0 0 0 3 4 District of Columbia 1 1 1 1 0 4 Florida 2 0 2 0 0 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 Louisiana 0 0 0 0 3 3 New Jersey 0 2 0 1 0 3 South Dakota 0 0 3 0 0 3 Arkansas 1 0 0 0 1 2 Rhode Island 0 2 0 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 - never have had a four-year school win a men's national championship.