Ad Disclosure
Past March Madness Winners: See Complete List of NCAA Men’s Tournament Champions
By Chris Wright
Last Updated:
The NCAA Tournament made its debut in 1939, and every full season since then has served to crown the college basketball national champion. This page is dedicated to detailing its rich history, from past champions to best teams and even a list of greatest players who weren’t fortunate enough to cut down the nets.
Along the way and for very good reason, the NCAA Tournament adopted the moniker “March Madness” as a way of capturing the drama and upsets that have made the tournament the best in American sports.
March Madness has introduced fans and sports bettors to players like Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Steph Curry. Michael Jordan, long before he was famous, hit a 17-foot jump shot as a freshman to help North Carolina beat Georgetown and deliver Dean Smith his first NCAA title.
March Madness is open to every team good enough to qualify. It lives in the moment, under the edict of “Survive and Advance,” which is why a No. 16 seed like Maryland-Baltimore County can upset No. 1 seed Virginia in the first round, or why a small private university like Butler University can make the national championship game in back-to-back years.
Every year, March Madness produces enough magic to be captured in the iconic “One Shining Moment” highlight reel and crown a new king of college basketball.
March Madness Past Winners
Most Recent Winner: UConn
UConn, which won the 2023 NCAA Tournament, repeated as national champions in 2024. The Huskies became the first program since Florida (2006, 2007) to win back-to-back national championships.
Their 2024 title run essentially was a 5-month flex on the rest of college basketball. The Huskies opened the season ranked No. 6 in the preseason AP Poll and spent the rest of the year safely inside the top 5. They were No. 1 by mid-January and finished the year that way, too.
UConn dominated all 6 of its NCAA Tournament opponents in March Madness, winning each game by at least 14 points. Their average victory margin was 23.3 points. The Huskies beat Alabama by 14 in the Final Four, then toppled Purdue by 15 in the national championship game.
In 2025, UConn will try to join UCLA as the only men’s programs in NCAA Tournament history to win at least 3 consecutive national titles.
Most March Madness Championships (by team)
Fifteen programs have won the NCAA Tournament at least twice:
11: UCLA
8: Kentucky
6: UConn, North Carolina
5: Duke, Indiana
4: Kansas
3: Villanova, Louisville*
2: Cincinnati, Florida, Michigan State, NC State, Oklahoma State, San Francisco.
* – This includes Louisville’s 2013 national title that the NCAA vacated
Most March Madness Championships (by coach)
10: John Wooden (UCLA)
5: Mike Krzyzewski (Duke)
4: Adolph Rupp (Kentucky)
3: Bob Knight (Indiana), Roy Williams (UNC)
2: Denny Crum (Louisville), Billy Donovan (Florida), Henry Iba (Oklahoma St.), Ed Jucker (Cincinnati), Branch McCracken (Indiana), Dan Hurley (UConn), Bill Self (Kansas), Dean Smith (North Carolina), Phil Woolpert (San Francisco), Jay Wright (Villanova)
5 Best College Players Who Never Won NCAA Tournament
Ralph Sampson, Virginia: Sampson was a 3-team Naismith Player of the Year, but he only reached the Final Four once in his record-breaking 4-year career. In the 1981 Final Four, North Carolina surrounded Sampson and held him to just 11 points as the Tar Heels won to advance to the national championship game. In 1982, the Cavaliers were upset in the second round, and in 1983, Sampson’s career ended with a 63-62 loss to eventual champion NC State in the Elite 8.
Pete Maravich, LSU: Pick an NCAA scoring record, and there’s a good chance Maravich holds it. But in addition to playing in an era without a shot clock, the NCAA Tournament was a smaller, more exclusive tournament until it began expanding in 1975. Prior to that, only conference champions were selected to play, and as unstoppable as Maravich was, LSU missed out on the NCAA Tournament in each of his 3 seasons, including his senior season in 1969-70, when he was named the Naismith Player of the Year.
David Robinson, Navy: Robinson led Navy to the NCAA Tournament 3 times and reached the Elite 8 once, but he’s best remembered for his epic performance in a first-round game against Michigan in 1987. Navy lost, but Robinson scored 50 points in his final college game before becoming the No. 1 overall pick in the 1987 NBA Draft.
JJ Redick, Duke: Duke won the 2001 NCAA Tournament, and Redick arrived in 2002-03 looking to hang more banners. He left as Duke’s all-time leading scorer and won the 2006 Naismith Award, but he only reached the Final Four 1 time — as a sophomore in 2004, when UConn outlasted Duke 79-78 en route to winning the national title.
Larry Bird, Indiana State: Whether you preferred “Bird vs. Magic” or “Magic vs. Bird,” Larry Bird was part of the greatest show in NCAA Tournament history. He led mid-major Indiana State to a perfect 33-0 record entering the national championship game against Magic Johnson and Michigan State. The Spartans double-teamed Bird throughout. Bird still scored 19 points and added 13 rebounds, but Michigan State rode Magic’s game-high 24 points to a 75-64 victory and the 1979 national championship. Bird won the Naismith Award as the nation’s best player.
The Last Undefeated National Champion
San Francisco, led by eventual Hall of Famer Bill Russell, became the first undefeated national champion, when it knocked off Iowa to win the 1956 NCAA Tournament and complete a 29-0 season.
North Carolina exceeded that accomplishment the very next year, beating Wilt Chamberlain and Kansas 54-53 in triple overtime in the title game to complete a 32-0 season.
There wasn’t another undefeated national champion until John Wooden unleashed his UCLA dynasty. Wooden coached 4 undefeated March Madness champions (1964, 30-0; 1967, 30-0; 1972, 30-0 and 1973, 30-0).
In 1976, Bob Knight’s Indiana Hoosiers completed a perfect 32-0 season by mauling Michigan 86-68 in the national championship game. That team was on a mission; its only loss in the 1975 season came in the Elite Eight.
Since then, other teams have made a run at perfection. Larry Bird’s Indiana State team was 33-0 entering the 1979 national championship game but lost to Magic Johnson and Michigan State. Defending champion UNLV was 34-0 entering the 1991 Final Four but lost to Duke — the team it destroyed 103-73 to win the 1990 national title. Kentucky was 38-0 entering the 2015 Final Four, but lost to Wisconsin. Gonzaga was 31-0 before it lost the 2021 national title game to Baylor.
Close, but not quite perfect.
The 1976 Hoosiers remain the most recent perfect national champion.
Managing Editor
A 30-time APSE award-winning editor with previous stints at the Miami Herald, The Indianapolis Star and News & Observer, Executive Editor Chris Wright oversees editorial operations for Saturday Down South.
