Credit: Image Credit: C. Morgan Engel/Contributor / NCAA Photos / Getty Images
Data Summary
- UConn women's basketball has taken home 12 championship trophies, making it the team with the most NCAA basketball championships.[1]
- UCLA men's basketball has 11 championship wins.[2]
- UConn has won 18 NCAA college basketball championships, combining wins from the school's men's and women's programs.
- UConn won the 2024-2025 NCAA women's basketball championship, and Florida won the men's tournament.[1], [2]
- The lowest seed to win in March Madness history was Villanova's men's basketball team in 1985, which won as an eight seed.[2]
The Big Dance, better known as March Madness, is one of the largest and most anticipated tournaments in all of college sports.
Whether you're a diehard Tar Heel or Bruin, here's all you need to know about tournament winners throughout the history of college basketball postseason championships.
Most Men's NCAA Basketball Championships
UCLA has won the most championships in the history of men's college basketball, with 11 wins since 1939. The Bruins have won 13% of the championships.[2]
UConn has won six championships since the start of the tournament.[2]
Kentucky has established itself as a historic powerhouse with eight championships to its name, followed by North Carolina with six wins.[2]
The "Blue Bloods," including North Carolina, Duke, Kansas, and Kentucky, have won just over 27% of all the championships since 1939.[2]
36 different universities account for 85 years of championships.[2]
Other Universities That Have Won Since 1939
Two-Time College Basketball Champions
Cincinnati: 1961 & 1962
Louisville: 1980 & 1986
NC State: 1974 & 1983
Oklahoma State: 1945 & 1946
Michigan State: 1979 & 2000
San Francisco: 1955 & 1956
One-Time College Basketball Champions
Arizona: 1997
Arkansas: 1994
Baylor: 2021
UC Berkeley: 1959
Georgetown: 1984
Holy Cross: 1947
La Salle: 1954
Loyola Chicago: 1963
Marquette: 1977
Maryland: 2002
Michigan: 1989
Ohio State: 1960
Oregon: 1939
Stanford: 1942
Syracuse: 2003
UNLV: 1990
Utah: 1944
UTEP: 1966
Virginia: 2019
Wisconsin: 1941
Wyoming: 1943
Did You Know…
Back in 1938, the first postseason tournament took place at Madison Square Garden in New York City, where two local New York universities, two universities from the East, and two universities from the West competed for the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) title.[3]
Sound familiar? Now the NIT is a separate, slightly less prestigious tournament that teams compete in each year if they do not make the NCAA tournament.
The NCAA Tournament officially began in 1939, where eight men's teams competed for the title. That year, the Oregon Ducks became the first NCAA championship winners.
Most Women's NCAA Basketball Championships
UConn and Tennessee, with 12 and eight titles respectively, account for roughly half of championships won since 1982.[1]
The South Carolina Gamecocks secured their third championship in the 2023-2024 March Madness tournament.[1]
The Stanford, Baylor, and South Carolina women's basketball programs have each won three championships in the 41 years since the start of the tournament.[1]
Other Universities That Have Won Since 1982
Two-Time College Basketball Champions
Louisiana Tech: 1982 & 1988
Notre Dame: 2001 & 2018
USC: 1983 & 1984
One-Time College Basketball Champions
Maryland: 2006
North Carolina: 1994
Old Dominion: 1985
Purdue: 1999
Texas: 1986
Texas A&M: 2011
Texas Tech: 1993
LSU: 2023
Did You Know…
The NCAA began using the slogan March Madness
to describe the women's tournament in the final months of 2021.[4] The women's tournament officially began 40 years ago in 1982, and, ever since, women's college basketball has skyrocketed in popularity.
In the current NIL landscape, women's basketball ranks third for highest-compensated college athletes, receiving 12.6% of total nationwide NIL money.[5]
The Most NCAA Basketball Championships Overall
So, who can claim to be the winningest college overall?
The programs at UConn have won 18 titles in total, making it the overall title holder by an nine-championship margin.[1], [2]
North Carolina has a combined total of seven titles, six of which coming from the men's program.[1], [2]
Baylor and Stanford claim four championships each. Three of each of their four titles were taken home by the women's teams.
All three of South Carolina's wins were gained by the school's women's team.
Did You Know…
A high school referee first used the term March Madness
back in 1939, but in 1982, the NCAA tournament adopted the phrase. Women's teams played in their first-ever basketball championship tournament that same year.[6]
March Madness has a long and complicated history. The tournament has expanded from eight teams all the way to 68 since 1939, and there are plans of expanding it further.[7]
Lowest Seed to Win March Madness
Villanova's men's basketball team, entering the tournament as an eight seed, was the lowest seed to win March Madness in 1985, 66-64 over Georgetown.[2]
Sources
DI Women's Basketball Championship History, The National Collegiate Athletic Association. Accessed April 2025. (back to content ⤶)
Men's Final Four Records Book, The National Collegiate Athletic Association. Accessed April 2025. (back to content ⤶)
How the NCAA Overtook Its Rival, The NIT, Sports History Weekly. March 24, 2019. (back to content ⤶)
Thames, Alanis. N.C.A.A. to Use 'March Madness' Slogan for Women's Basketball, Too, The New York Times. Sept. 29, 2021. (back to content ⤶)
Balasaygun, Kaitlin. In the college sports pay era, female athletes are emerging as big economic winners, CNBC. October 15, 2022. (back to content ⤶)
Wilco, Daniel. March Madness History- The Ultimate Guide, The National Collegiate Athletic Association. Jan. 4, 2022. (back to content ⤶)
Dobbertean, Chris. Reimagining College Basketball's Postseason, Blogging the Bracket. Jan. 20, 2023. (back to content ⤶)
