2024 MARCH MADNESS
Which team has won the most March Madness tournaments?
The most successful team in the history of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament hasn’t won in nearly three decades. We look at the top five.
It may come as a surprise to younger readers, but UCLA are the most decorated team in the history of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, better known to the general public as March Madness. Any fan under 30 years old will have never seen the Bruins lift the trophy in their lifetime.
UCLA’s 29-year March Madness trophy drought continues
The most recent of UCLA’s 11 national titles came back in 1995, when a team coached by Jim Harrick saw off the Arkansas Razorbacks 89-78 in the championship game in Seattle.
Under legendary head coach John Wooden, the Bruins were March Madness winners 10 times between 1964 and 1975, a golden period that included a run of seven titles in a row, before adding their most recent championship two decades later.
The closest UCLA have come since then was in 2006, when Ben Howland’s team went down 73-57 to the Florida Gators in the final in Indianapolis.
The jewel in the Southern Californian collegiate crown has also reached the Final Four on four occasions since 1995, most recently 2021′s event in Indianapolis. That year, in the semi-finals, the Bruins were beaten 93-90 in overtime by the Gonzaga Bulldogs.
Wooden March Madness’ most decorated coach
Wooden’s 10 national championships makes him the tournament’s most successful coach, ahead of Mike Krzyzewski, who led Duke to each of their five titles between 1991 and 2015.
The fifth most winning team is Kansas, who have four titles to their name, while Duke’s haul of March Madness triumphs puts them joint-fourth with Indiana and last year’s champions UConn on the list of the competition’s most decorated teams. North Carolina is next with six wins, while Kentucky completes the podium with eight wins behind leader UCLA.
March Madness’ most successful teams
| Rank | Team | Titles | Years won |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UCLA | 11 | 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1995 |
| 2 | Kentucky | 8 | 1948, 1949, 1951, 1958, 1978, 1996, 1998, 2012 |
| 3 | North Carolina | 6 | 1957, 1982, 1993, 2005, 2009, 2017 |
| 4 (joint) | Duke | 5 | 1991, 1992, 2001, 2010, 2015 |
| 4 (joint) | Indiana | 5 | 1940, 1953, 1976, 1981, 1987 |
| 4 (joint) | UConn | 5 | 1999, 2004, 2011, 2014, 2023 |
| 5 | Kansas | 4 | 1952, 1988, 2008, 2022 |
March Madness 2024: matchups set after Selection Sunday
Following Selection Sunday on March 17, the 68-team line-up for March Madness 2024 is all set. UCLA will have to wait at least another year to find their winning ways again, as they were eliminated from the Pac-12 competition. Reigning champions UConn will kick off their campaign to repeat as the top seed.