States of Success: PA Only State Among All-Time Top 12 to Win Title in 2026
Gannon's DII championship enabled Pennsylvania to become the only state among top 12 with most titles to capture a national tournament crown this year. Kentucky (32), buttressed by Georgetown College's two NAIA championships in the previous 14 years while Big Blue Nation (Kentucky) and Big Red Country (Louisville) each went without a crown, is tied with California 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.
Indiana, on the heels of DIII success two years ago by Trine, joined Illinois and Ohio as the only states to boast at least one champion from all five levels. Among the 14 states amassing a total of more than 10 national crowns, Missouri is the only one in that group without a Division I championship after Virginia's success in 2019. Drury (Mo.), Central Missouri and Northwest Missouri State won DII titles in the last decade but the state's two headline schools - Mizzou and Saint Louis - never have reached the NCAA DI Final Four.
The biggest surprise among states fond of hoops but never capturing a four-year school national title was Iowa until Graceland won NAIA crown eight years ago. After the state of Florida's two titles in 2025, following is how states stack up by national four-year school 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 8 32 Ohio 3 7 3 5 3 21 North Carolina 13 2 3 0 1 19 Missouri 0 1 7 2 8 18 Pennsylvania 4 7 3 3 0 17 Oklahoma 2 2 1 0 11 16 Wisconsin 2 1 0 13 0 16 Illinois 1 6 1 6 1 15 Indiana 5 2 6 1 1 15 New York 2 10 0 3 0 15 Texas 2 5 0 0 8 15 Virginia 1 4 5 4 0 14 Kansas 4 1 1 0 6 12 Tennessee 0 4 1 1 6 12 Minnesota 0 3 3 2 3 11 Michigan 4 3 1 2 0 10 Connecticut 6 1 1 1 0 9 Alabama 0 1 3 0 3 7 Florida 3 0 4 0 0 7 Georgia 0 0 1 0 6 7 Massachusetts 1 1 1 4 0 7 Maryland 1 1 2 0 1 5 Arizona 1 0 0 0 3 4 District of Columbia 1 1 1 1 0 4 Louisiana 0 0 0 0 4 4 New Jersey 0 3 0 1 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 South Dakota 0 0 3 0 0 3 Arkansas 1 0 0 0 1 2 Idaho 0 0 0 0 2 2 Nebraska 0 1 0 1 0 2 Rhode Island 0 2 0 0 0 2 Washington 0 0 2 0 0 2 Hawaii 0 0 0 0 1 1 Iowa 0 0 0 0 1 1 Mississippi 0 1 0 0 0 1 Montana 0 0 0 0 1 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: Six states - Alaska, Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire, North Dakota and Vermont - never have had a four-year school win a men's national championship.