States of Success: California Moves Ahead of Kentucky for Most Titles
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.