National Review: State-By-State Winners and Sinners in NCAA Tournament
May 13th, 2018 - 18:35
No state has won as much as 63% of its NCAA Tournament games and none has as many as five different schools with winning playoff records. The Michigan Wolverines reaching the 2018 NCAA final instead of the Kansas Jayhawks enabled Michigan (.6284) to nudge ahead of Kansas (.6279) as the state with highest all-time winning percentage. Additional stately views of national winners and sinners you might want to review include:
- Schools from the state of North Carolina have collected more NCAA Tournament triumphs (319) than a total of 22 states including those with power-conference members such as Georgia, Missouri, New Jersey and West Virginia.
- All four ACC members in Carolina have more than 25 playoff triumphs. Each of them (Duke, North Carolina, North Carolina State and Wake Forest) has more all-time wins than entire states such as Colorado, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, Rhode Island and South Carolina.
- California is the only state with as many as 17 schools winning at least one NCAA Tournament game. Alas, less than 1/4 of them (four) have winning marks.
- Other than Syracuse, Canisius is the only current New York Division I school to compile a winning NCAA playoff record (6-4). CCNY, the NCAA's DI champion in 1950, assembled a 4-2 mark ledger before de-emphasizing its program.
- Despite Villanova's two NCAA titles in the last three seasons, Pennsylvania is the only state with at least 140 tourney victories to compile an overall losing mark (187-206).
- Syracuse (plus 29 in NY; 68-39) and Villanova (plus 28 in PA; 64-36) are the most games above .500 in states with overall losing playoff marks. On the flip side, Miami OH (minus 13; 6-19) and Murray State KY (minus 13; 3-16) are tied for most games below .500 in states with overall winning worksheets.
- Texas is tied with California for most different schools participating in the tourney with 23 although Houston (27-25) is the only institution from the Lone Star State posting a winning record. Texas (139-188) has a total of 12 Final Four teams but is more games under .500 than any state (minus 49).
- Two of the institutions have break-even marks but none of Louisiana's 12 schools appearing in the playoffs have notched a winning record. South Carolina has the most universities participate in the tourney (nine) without any of them posting a break-even or winning playoff record.
- All six Mid-American Conference members from Ohio have losing records, combining for a 19-52 mark (.268).
- Virginia and Tennessee are the winningest states in NCAA playoff competition (75 triumphs apiece) despite never having a national champion. Virginia is the only one of 12 different schools from its state and Memphis is only one of 11 different Tennessee schools appearing in the tourney to post a winning record.
- Memphis (34-26) is joined by Spokane, Wash.-based Gonzaga (31-21) as the only mid-major schools leading a state with more than 60 playoff wins.
- Alabama is the winningest state in NCAA playoff competition (45 victories) despite never having a Final Four participant. Missouri is runner-up in dubious category (31).
- The only states with fewer than 45 tourney triumphs to assemble overall winning records are Nevada (39-27 by 6-8 Nevada and 33-19 UNLV) plus New Hampshire (10-7 by Dartmouth).
- Utah is the only state saddled with as many as three schools posting tourney marks more than 10 games below .500 - Brigham Young (15-32), Utah State (6-22) and Weber State (6-17).
Following are NCAA Division I playoff cumulative records listed by most state victories through 2018:
| STATE (# of Tourney Schools) | Overall Record | Pct. | School-By-School NCAA Playoff Marks |
|---|---|---|---|
| NORTH CAROLINA (15) | 319-191 | .625 | Appalachian State (0-2), Campbell (0-1), Charlotte (7-12), Davidson (8-15), Duke (111-37), East Carolina (0-2), North Carolina (124-46), North Carolina A&T (1-10), North Carolina Central (0-3), North Carolina State (37-26), UNC Asheville (2-4), UNC Greensboro (0-3), UNC Wilmington (1-6), Wake Forest (28-23) and Western Carolina (0-1) |
| CALIFORNIA (23) | 234-212 | .525 | California (20-19), UC Davis (0-1), UC Irvine (0-1), Cal Poly (1-1), UC Santa Barbara (1-5), Cal State Bakersfield (0-1), Cal State Fullerton (2-3), Cal State Los Angeles (0-1), Cal State Northridge (0-2), Fresno State (2-6), Long Beach State (7-10), Loyola Marymount (5-5), Pacific (4-10), Pepperdine (5-14), Saint Mary's (5-9), San Diego (1-4), San Diego State (6-12), San Francisco (21-14), San Jose State (0-3), Santa Clara (11-13), Southern California (14-20), Stanford (23-16) and UCLA (106-42) |
| KENTUCKY (seven) | 232-152 | .604 | Eastern Kentucky (0-8), Kentucky (128-52), Louisville (76-43), Morehead State (6-8), Murray State (3-16), Northern Kentucky (0-1) and Western Kentucky (19-24) |
| PENNSYLVANIA (15) | 187-206 | .476 | Bucknell (2-8), Drexel (1-4), Duquesne (4-5), Lafayette (0-5), La Salle (14-11), Lebanon Valley (1-2), Lehigh (1-5), Penn (13-26), Penn State (9-11), Pittsburgh (24-27), Robert Morris (2-8), St. Francis (0-1), Saint Joseph's (19-25), Temple (33-32) and Villanova (64-36) |
| INDIANA (nine) | 178-146 | .549 | Ball State (3-7), Butler (24-16), Evansville (1-5), Indiana (66-34), IUPUI (0-1), Indiana State (5-4), Notre Dame (38-40), Purdue (39-30) and Valparaiso (2-9) |
| OHIO (12) | 171-167 | .506 | Akron (0-4), Bowling Green (1-5), Cincinnati (46-31), Cleveland State (3-2), Dayton (19-20), Kent State (4-6), Miami (6-19), Ohio University (7-14), Ohio State (56-31), Toledo (1-4), Wright State (0-3) and Xavier (28-28) |
| KANSAS (three) | 162-96 | .6279 | Kansas (107-46), Kansas State (37-34) and Wichita State (18-16) |
| NEW YORK (22) | 139-166 | .456 | Albany (1-5), Binghamton (0-1), Buffalo (1-3), Canisius (6-4), CCNY (4-2), Colgate (0-2), Columbia (2-4), Cornell (2-6), Fordham (2-4), Hofstra (0-4), Iona (1-13), Long Island (0-7), Manhattan (3-9), Marist (0-2), NYU (9-9), Niagara (2-4), St. Bonaventure (7-9), St. John's (27-31), Siena (4-6), Stony Brook (0-1), Syracuse (68-39) and Wagner (0-1) |
| TEXAS (23) | 139-188 | .425 | Baylor (13-13), Hardin-Simmons (0-2), Houston (27-25), Houston Baptist (0-1), Lamar (5-6), North Texas (0-3), Prairie View A&M (0-1), Rice (2-5), Sam Houston State (0-2), Southern Methodist (10-14), Stephen F. Austin (2-5), Texas (35-37), Texas A&M (13-15), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (0-1), Texas-Arlington (0-1), Texas Christian (5-8), Texas-El Paso (14-16), Texas-San Antonio (1-4), Texas Southern (1-8), Texas State (0-2), Texas Tech (11-17), Trinity (0-1) and West Texas A&M (0-1) |
| MICHIGAN (eight) | 137-81 | .6284 | Central Michigan (3-4), Detroit (3-6), Eastern Michigan (3-4), Michigan (59-27), Michigan State (65-31), Oakland (1-3), Wayne State (1-2) and Western Michigan (2-4) |
| OKLAHOMA (five) | 101-92 | .523 | Oklahoma (41-31), Oklahoma City (8-13), Oklahoma State (38-27), Oral Roberts (2-5) and Tulsa (12-16) |
| ILLINOIS (10) | 95-94 | .503 | Bradley (11-8), DePaul (21-25), Eastern Illinois (0-2), Illinois (40-31), Illinois-Chicago (0-3), Illinois State (3-6), Loyola of Chicago (13-5), Northern Illinois (0-3), Northwestern (1-1) and Southern Illinois (6-10) |
| WISCONSIN (four) | 83-64 | .565 | Green Bay (1-5), Marquette (41-33), Milwaukee (3-4) and Wisconsin (38-22) |
| FLORIDA (11) | 83-66 | .557 | Florida (46-19), Florida A&M (1-3), Florida Atlantic (0-1), Florida Gulf Coast (3-3), Florida International (0-1), Florida State (19-16), Jacksonville (4-5), Miami (8-10), North Florida (0-1), South Florida (2-3) and UCF (0-4) |
| VIRGINIA (12) | 75-95 | .441 | George Mason (5-6), Hampton (2-6), James Madison (4-5), Liberty (0-3), Norfolk State (1-1), Old Dominion (3-11), Radford (1-3), Richmond (8-9), Virginia (29-22), Virginia Commonwealth (13-16), Virginia Military (3-3) and Virginia Tech (6-10) |
| TENNESSEE (11) | 75-115 | .395 | Austin Peay (2-8), Belmont (0-7), Chattanooga (3-11), East Tennessee State (2-11), Lipscomb (0-1), Memphis (34-26), Middle Tennessee State (4-9), Tennessee (20-22), Tennessee State (0-2), Tennessee Tech (0-2) and Vanderbilt (10-16) |
| ARIZONA (three) | 69-52 | .570 | Arizona (56-34), Arizona State (13-16) and Northern Arizona (0-2) |
| WASHINGTON (five) | 65-59 | .524 | Eastern Washington (0-2), Gonzaga (31-21), Seattle (10-13), Washington (18-17) and Washington State (6-6) |
| UTAH (five) | 65-104 | .385 | Brigham Young (15-32), Southern Utah (0-1), Utah (38-32), Utah State (6-22) and Weber State (6-17) |
| CONNECTICUT (four) | 60-41 | .594 | Central Connecticut State (0-3), Connecticut (59-30), Fairfield (0-3) and Yale (1-5) |
| IOWA (four) | 58-58 | .500 | Drake (5-4), Iowa (29-27), Iowa State (19-19) and Northern Iowa (5-8) |
| MARYLAND (eight) | 53-55 | .491 | Coppin State (1-4), Loyola (0-2), Maryland (41-26), Maryland-Baltimore County (1-2), Morgan State (0-2), Mount St. Mary's (2-5), Navy (8-12) and Towson (0-2) |
| DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA (five) | 51-47 | .520 | American (0-3), Catholic (0-2), George Washington (4-11), Georgetown (47-29) and Howard University (0-2) |
| MASSACHUSETTS (nine) | 48-66 | .421 | Boston College (22-19), Boston University (2-7), Harvard (2-6), Holy Cross (8-13), Massachusetts (11-9), Northeastern (3-8), Springfield (0-1), Tufts (0-2) and Williams (0-1) |
| ARKANSAS (four) | 45-39 | .536 | Arkansas (42-32), Arkansas-Pine Bluff (1-1), Arkansas State (0-1) and UALR (2-5) |
| ALABAMA (nine) | 45-63 | .417 | Alabama (21-21), Alabama A&M (0-1), Alabama State (0-4), Auburn (13-9), Jacksonville State (0-1), Samford (0-2), South Alabama (1-8), Troy State (0-2) and UAB (10-15) |
| NEVADA (two) | 39-27 | .591 | Nevada (6-8) and UNLV (33-19) |
| LOUISIANA (12) | 39-75 | .342 | Louisiana-Lafayette (4-11), Louisiana-Monroe (0-7), Louisiana State (24-24), Louisiana Tech (4-5), Loyola (0-3), McNeese State (0-2), New Orleans (1-5), Nicholls State (0-2), Northwestern State (2-3), Southeastern Louisiana (0-1), Southern (1-9) and Tulane (3-3) |
| OREGON (four) | 35-38 | .479 | Oregon (23-14), Oregon State (12-20), Portland (0-2) and Portland State (0-2) |
| NEW JERSEY (seven) | 35-63 | .357 | Fairleigh Dickinson (0-5), Monmouth (1-4), Princeton (13-29), Rider (0-3), Rutgers (5-7), Saint Peter's (0-3) and Seton Hall (16-12) |
| GEORGIA (five) | 33-38 | .465 | Georgia (7-12), Georgia Southern (0-3), Georgia State (2-4), Georgia Tech (23-16) and Mercer (1-3) |
| WEST VIRGINIA (two) | 32-35 | .478 | Marshall (1-6) and West Virginia (31-29) |
| MISSOURI (four) | 31-44 | .413 | Missouri (22-27), Missouri State (3-6), Saint Louis (6-10) and Southeast Missouri State (0-1) |
| RHODE ISLAND (three) | 23-33 | .411 | Brown (0-2), Providence (15-21) and Rhode Island (8-10) |
| SOUTH CAROLINA (nine) | 22-58 | .275 | Charleston Southern (0-1), Clemson (11-12), Coastal Carolina (0-4), College of Charleston (1-5), Furman (1-7), South Carolina (8-10), South Carolina State (0-5), Winthrop (1-10) and Wofford (0-4) |
| MISSISSIPPI (six) | 19-35 | .352 | Alcorn State (3-6), Jackson State (0-3), Mississippi (5-8), Mississippi State (11-10), Mississippi Valley State (0-5) and Southern Mississippi (0-3) |
| NEW MEXICO (two) | 18-42 | .300 | New Mexico (8-16) and New Mexico State (10-26) |
| COLORADO (four) | 14-32 | .304 | Air Force (0-4), Colorado (10-16), Colorado State (4-11) and Northern Colorado (0-1) |
| MINNESOTA (one) | 13-13 | .500 | Minnesota (13-13) |
| NEBRASKA (two) | 12-29 | .293 | Creighton (12-22) and Nebraska (0-7) |
| NEW HAMPSHIRE (one) | 10-7 | .588 | Dartmouth (10-7) |
| WYOMING (one) | 9-20 | .310 | Wyoming (9-20) |
| IDAHO (three) | 9-24 | .273 | Boise State (0-7), Idaho (1-4) and Idaho State (8-13) |
| VERMONT (one) | 2-6 | .250 | Vermont (2-6) |
| MONTANA (two) | 2-15 | .118 | Montana (2-12) and Montana State (0-3) |
| NORTH DAKOTA (two) | 1-4 | .200 | North Dakota (0-1) and North Dakota State (1-3) |
| HAWAII (one) | 1-5 | .167 | Hawaii (1-5) |
| SOUTH DAKOTA (one) | 0-5 | .000 | South Dakota State (0-5) |
| DELAWARE (two) | 0-6 | .000 | Delaware (0-5) and Delaware State (0-1) |
NOTE: Two states - Alaska and Maine - never had a school participate in the NCAA Division I Tournament.