Most March Madness Appearances in College Basketball
The goal of every college basketball team is to make it into the NCAA tournament in March. In every tournament, we often see the same storied basketball programs enter the tourney and try to add to their legacies.
Here are the current top five schools with the most March Madness appearances. Check out the illustrious histories of these programs below and the latest March Madness odds.
5. Duke Blue Devils: 45
The Duke Blue Devils are currently fifth for the most March Madness appearances with a whopping 45 appearances. This large number was largely from the work of the legendary Coach Mike Krzyzewski.
Coach K helped turn Duke into one of the greatest college basketball programs and they became a fixture in the tournament. Of Duke’s 45 March Madness appearances, they have won it all five times.
Current Duke coach John Scheyer is continuing the school’s legacy of greatness and will add to their current number.
4. UCLA Bruins: 51
In fourth place on the most March Madness appearances list is the UCLA Bruins. Since the NCAA tournament began in 1939, UCLA has made it into the tournament 51 times.
Sixteen of those entries into March Madness were led by the iconic John Wooden, who won a record 10 national titles. After Wooden laid down the blueprint for greatness and they are a common fixture at the tournament.
They will attempt to make it into the Big Dance in the upcoming tournament.
3. Kansas Jay Hawks: 52
Right above UCLA at #3 on the most March Madness appearances list are the Kansas Jay Hawks at 52. Kansas has been one of the elite college basketball programs since the late 1980s.
Roy Williams started the Jay Hawks’ legacy of greatness and made them a staple in the tournament. Bill Self took the torch after Williams and became one of the most winning coaches of all time.
It’s an extremely rare occurrence that we don’t see Kansas in the tournament.
2. North Carolina Tar Heels: 53
The iconic North Carolina Tar Heels are currently in second with the most March Madness appearances with 53. Dean Smith helped start the Tar Heels legacy for greatness with legendary players like James Worthy and Michael Jordan.
Decades later, Smith’s protege, Roy Williams took the helm and continued North Carolina’s legacy of prestige. Since 1975, North Carolina has missed the tournament just three times in fifty years.
This year, the school has once again locked their spot in the upcoming March Madness tournament.
1. Kentucky Wildcats: 61
Out of all of the school’s with the most March Madness appearances, Kentucky has the most with 61. Kentucky was arguably the first powerhouse program in college basketball started by the legendary Adolph Rupp.
The Wildcats are always a fixture in the big tournament and have a history of legendary coaches. Everyone from Adolph Rupp, Rick Pitino, Tubby Smith, and John Calipari have continued their legacy of greatness.
Current head coach Mark Pope will look to boost the number to 62 next year.
