Fun Facts about the NCAA tournament
Posted by Scott Simonsen
Did you know? Fun facts about March Madness
Most points in a single tournament? Minimum seating capacity for a Final Four? Check out this list of interesting and odd NCAA tourney facts.
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19
Taking the court
It's been a long tradition that the tournament champions have cut down the nets to take home, but since 1986, the winning school has also been given the hardwood court, too. Many sell and/or auction off pieces to fans.
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Oldest to youngest
The oldest coach to win a title was Jim Calhoun in 2011 at the age of 68. The title of the youngest coach belongs to Emmett McCracken who led Indiana to the championship in 1940 at the age of 31.
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Against the odds
The odds of filling out a perfect bracket are one in 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 (that's quintillion).
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Lady Vols
The Tennessee Lady Vols have been to the Big Dance every year since the women's tournament was introduced in 1982.
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Points made
Glen Rice (pictured) holds the record for most points in a single tournament with 184 during Michigan's 1989 run, and Duke's Christian Laettner holds the career record with 407 points in 23 games.
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14
Overtime
The record for most overtimes in a single game is four, and it happened twice, once in 1956 and again in 1961.
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13
High scores
The record for most points scored by individual in a NCAA tournament game belongs to Austin Carr who recorded 61 points in Notre Dame's 1970 opener. Loyola Marymount scored the most amount of points by a team in one game with 149 points in 1990, while North Carolina holds the record for fewest points after recording 20 in a 1941 game.
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Uncharted territory
A No. 16 seed has never beaten a No. 1 seed.
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11
Golden era of the NIT
The NIT tournament use to take precedence over the NCAA tournament until the 1970s, when the NCAA barred teams from playing in other postseason tournaments if they declined an invitation to March Madness. In 2005, the NCAA purchased the NIT.
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10
Player to coach
Three individuals have won an NCAA championship as a player and as a coach: Joe B. Hall as a player and coach of Kentucky, Bob Knight as a player with Ohio State and coach of Indiana, and Dean Smith as a player at Kansas and coach at North Carolina.
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9
Final Four Central
Kansas City, Missouri has hosted the most Final Fours to date with 10 since 1953. Indianapolis can overtake that mark in 2035. It is now an official NCAA rule that the Final Four take place in Indianapolis (NCAA HQ) every five years. The city has hosted six times already.
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8
Huskie sweep
The Connecticut Huskies are the only school to win his-and-her national championships in the same year. The women's team won theirs one day after the men in 2004 and again in 2014.
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Everything is bigger in Texas
AT&T Stadium, home of the 2014 Final Four, with a capacity of 80,000, is the largest stadium to ever host a Final Four.
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6
Elite Status
UCLA head coach John Wooden has the most national championships with 10. Among active men's coaches, Duke's Mike Krzyzewski leads the way with four titles. UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma has won nine.
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5
Cinderella story
The lowest seed to ever win the NCAA Tournament? Villanova as a No. 8 seed in 1985.
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4
Best of the best
Only once have all four No. 1 seeds advanced to the Final Four when Kansas, North Carolina, UCLA and Memphis met in 2008.
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3
More seats
In 1997, the NCAA made it a requirement that the Final Four must be held in a dome stadium with a seating capacity of at least 40,000. In 2009, the capacity minimum was raised to 70,000.
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2
Small Dance
The first NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament was held in 1939... and consisted of only eight teams.
1
Bruin bash
Thirty-five different teams have won the NCAA tournament, but UCLA leads all schools with 11 titles.
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