FanPost

Who Owned the Decade/Century/Millennium in the NCAA Tournament?

Hello, college basketball fans!

Now that the 2019 NCAA Tournament is over, we can look at the last decade and see who were the most successful teams and conferences were in the men's NCAA Tournament over that span to see who were the premiere programs in college basketball.

For the purposes of these lists, "First Four" wins do not count as wins and First Four losses do not count as "trips" in the tournament.

Teams that won 10 or more games (Average of one game per season):

1st Round 2nd Round Sweet 16 Regional Final Final Four Runner Up Champion Trips Wins Sweet 16 Final 4 Champs
1 Kentucky SEC 0 1 1 3 2 1 1 9 31 8 4 1
2 Duke ACC 2 1 2 3 0 0 2 10 26 7 2 2
3 North Carolina ACC 0 3 2 2 0 1 1 9 24 6 2 1
4 Kansas Big 12 0 4 1 3 1 1 0 10 24 6 2 0
5 Michigan State Big 10 2 2 2 1 3 0 0 10 21 6 3 0
6 Gonzaga WCC 0 5 2 2 0 1 0 10 20 5 1 0
7 Wisconsin Big 10 2 1 4 0 1 1 0 9 18 6 2 0
8 Michigan Big 10 2 1 2 1 0 2 0 8 18 5 2 0
9 Florida SEC 1 2 0 4 1 0 0 8 18 5 1 0
10 Villanova Big East 2 5 0 0 0 0 2 9 17 2 2 2
11 Syracuse ACC 1 2 2 1 2 0 0 8 17 5 2 0
12 Louisville ACC 3 1 1 1 1 0 1 8 16 4 2 1
13 Butler Big East 0 4 1 0 0 2 0 7 16 3 2 0
14 Ohio State Big 10 1 3 2 1 1 0 0 8 14 4 1 0
15 Connecticut AAC 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 4 13 2 2 2
16 Virginia ACC 2 2 1 1 0 0 1 7 13 3 1 1
17 Oregon Pac 10 0 2 2 1 1 0 0 6 13 4 1 0
18 Arizona Pac 10 2 0 2 3 0 0 0 7 13 5 0 0
19 West Virginia Big 12 2 1 3 0 1 0 0 7 11 4 1 0
20 Purdue Big 10 2 2 3 1 0 0 0 8 11 4 0 0
21 Xavier Big East 1 2 3 1 0 0 0 7 11 4 0 0
22 Baylor Big 12 2 1 2 2 0 0 0 7 11 4 0 0

If you count tournament wins, the Kentucky Wildcats are the team of the decade. They made four Final Fours (2011, 2012, 2014, and 2015) and won the 2012 National Championship. Kentucky actually missed the 2013 NCAA Tournament. On the other hand, the UConn Huskies, Duke Blue Devils, and Villanova Wildcats each won two national championships. Duke finished second in the decade with 26 wins. The Kansas Jayhawks has the most wins for a team that didn't win a national championship (24, tied for third with the North Carolina Tar Heels). Virginia and Connecticut have the fewest number of wins for a team that won at least one championship (UConn has two championships but only 13 wins total so they only won one NCAA game outside of their 2011 and 2014 championship runs). On the other hand, the Arizona Wildcats won 13 games but didn't make a Final Four (three Regional Final losses), the most number of wins for any team that didn't make a Final Four. The Gonzaga Bulldogs are the only "mid major" to make the list but they finished with 20 wins, sixth on the list. Gonzaga, Duke, Kansas, and the Michigan State Spartans (21 wins, fifth in the decade) made the tournament every year in the 2010's, North Carolina missed in 2010 after winning the 2009 National Championship. Notably absent from this list is this year's runner up, the Texas Tech Red Raiders, who only won 8 games since 2010 and have only made 3 NCAA Tournaments in that span.

By conference:

ACC: 130 wins, 36 Sweet 16's, 9 Final 4's, 5 Championships

Big Ten: 101 wins, 29 Sweet 16's, 8 Final 4's

SEC: 79 wins, 21 Sweet 16's, 7 Final 4's, 1 Championship

Big 12: 78 wins, 22 Sweet 16's, 5 Final 4's

Big East: 58 wins, 12 Sweet 16's, 4 Final 4's, 2 Championships

Pac-12: 46 wins, 15 Sweet 16's, 1 Final 4

AAC: 37 wins, 6 Sweet 16's, 3 Final 4's, 2 Championships

No doubt that the ACC is the top conference. Four different ACC teams (if you still count Louisville's vacated 2013 championship) have won the title and five different teams have made a Final Four. In fact, eleven of the fifteen members made at least Sweet 16 (including perennial doormat Clemson last year!) Boston College is the only ACC team to not make the NCAA Tournament. Georgia Tech and Wake Forest have one first round win each.

The Big Ten, based on wins and Sweet 16's, is clearly the #2 conference. They were close to winning, losing in the national championship game three times (Michigan lost in 2013 and 2018 and Wisconsin in 2015). Michigan State (2010, 2015, and 2019), and Ohio State (2012) also made the Final Four. Rutgers hasn't made the NCAA's the entire decade (their last NCAA appearance was 1991!). Penn State and Nebraska each made one NCAA appearance and lost their first game. Northwestern made their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance and won one game in 2017.

The SEC and Big 12 are pretty close with Kentucky's championship the difference (they beat the Big 12's Kansas in the title game that year). The two conferences think they are better than the Big Ten but they'd be nothing without their big guns. In the SEC, South Carolina made the 2017 Final Four but didn't even make the NCAA Tournament any other year this decade (in fact, they've made two appearances since 2000). Auburn made the Final Four this year but won one game this decade other than that. The only other SEC team that won 10 or more games since 2010 was the Florida Gators (18), who made the 2014 Final Four. The SEC has two dead weights that have no tournament wins (Georgia and Mississippi State) and four others with just one win. So almost half of the SEC has one or fewer NCAA wins in the NCAA Tournament.

As for the Big 12, Texas Tech was a nobody until 2018. Before then, the Big 12 was Kansas and the Nine Dwarfs. Oklahoma also made the Final Four but won just 7 games the entire decade. West Virginia made the Final Four but it was while they were a member of the Big East. TCU and Oklahoma State failed to win an NCAA game since 2010 although Oklahoma State made five NCAA Tournaments in that span. It might be more impressive than a one hit wonder South Carolina.

Without a doubt the Big East is the "5th conference" in college basketball now and the "Pathetic 12" is not. Even if you took Villanova out, the Big East isn't that far behind.

Expanding to 2000-2019, similar conference patterns emerge:

ACC: 249 wins, 67 Sweet 16's, 18 Final 4's, 9 Championships

Big Ten: 200 wins, 51 Sweet 16's, 18 Final 4's, 2 Championships

SEC: 160 wins, 41 Sweet 16's, 11 Final 4's, 3 Championships

Big 12: 160 wins, 45 Sweet 16's, 11 Final 4's, 1 Championship

Pac-12: 120 wins, 36 Sweet 16's, 5 Final 4's

Big East: 107 wins, 26 Sweet 16's, 7 Final 4's, 2 Championships

AAC: 88 wins, 19 Sweet 16's, 6 Final 4's, 3 Championships

As for the team of the century/millenium,

1st Round 2nd Round Sweet 16 Regional Final Final Four Runner Up Champion Trips Wins Sweet 16 Final 4 Champs
1 North Carolina ACC 0 6 2 3 2 1 3 17 50 11 6 3
2 Kansas Big 12 2 5 3 5 2 2 1 20 50 13 5 1
3 Duke ACC 3 2 8 3 1 0 3 20 49 15 4 3
4 Michigan State Big 10 5 3 3 2 5 1 1 20 46 12 7 1
5 Kentucky SEC 1 5 3 5 2 1 1 18 45 12 4 1
6 Florida SEC 3 5 0 4 1 1 2 16 38 8 4 2
7 Connecticut AAC 2 3 1 2 1 0 3 12 33 7 4 3
8 Wisconsin Big 10 4 5 6 1 2 1 0 19 33 10 3 0
9 Gonzaga WCC 3 8 6 2 0 1 0 20 31 9 1 0
10 Syracuse ACC 3 3 5 1 2 0 1 15 30 9 3 1
11 Arizona Pac 10 5 2 4 5 0 1 0 17 30 10 1 0
12 Villanova Big East 3 5 2 1 1 0 2 14 28 6 3 2
13 Louisville ACC 5 3 1 3 2 0 1 15 28 7 3 1
14 UCLA Pac 10 2 2 6 0 2 1 0 13 27 9 3 0
15 Ohio State Big 10 3 6 2 1 1 1 0 14 22 5 2 0
16 Butler Big East 2 6 3 0 0 2 0 13 22 5 2 0
17 Xavier Big East 3 5 4 3 0 0 0 15 22 7 0 0
18 Maryland Big 10 1 7 2 0 1 0 1 12 21 4 2 1
19 Oklahoma Big 12 5 4 1 2 2 0 0 14 20 5 2 0
20 Oregon Pac 10 2 3 2 3 1 0 0 11 20 6 1 0
21 Michigan Big 10 2 2 2 1 0 2 0 9 19 5 2 0
22 Texas Big 12 7 5 2 2 1 0 0 17 19 5 1 0
23 Purdue Big 10 2 5 4 2 0 0 0 13 19 6 0 0
24 West Virginia Big 12 3 1 5 1 1 0 0 11 18 7 1 0
25 Illinois Big 10 2 5 2 1 0 1 0 11 17 4 1 0
26 Memphis AAC 3 3 1 2 0 1 0 10 16 4 1 0
27 Pittsburgh ACC 3 5 4 1 0 0 0 13 16 5 0 0
28 Tennessee SEC 3 2 5 1 0 0 0 11 15 6 0 0
29 Virginia ACC 3 3 1 1 0 0 1 9 14 3 1 1
30 Indiana Big 10 4 3 3 0 0 1 0 11 14 4 1 0

North Carolina and Kansas are now tied with 50 wins apiece but North Carolina has three championships (2005, 2009, 2017) to Kansas's one (2008) so right now I would say North Carolina is the team of the 21st century. Duke has 49 wins and 3 championships, Michigan State has 46 wins and one championship, and Kentucky has 45 wins and a championship. Carolina, Duke (2001, 2010, and 2015), and UConn (2004, 2011, 2014) all have won three championships while Florida (2006 and 2007) and Villanova (2016 and 2018) each won two. Wisconsin (33) has the most number of wins without a national championship, while Virginia (14) has the fewest number of wins with one. Meanwhile, Xavier has the most number of wins (22) without one Final Four, with Purdue (19) not far behind. This list shows you how the once mighty have fallen. Texas (19 wins since 2000) and Illinois (17) each have just 2 wins since 2010 while Pittsburgh (16 wins since 2000) has just 3 since 2010. On the other hand, 13 of Virginia's 14 wins this century/millennium have come since 2010.

It's also worth noting only one time since 2000 has a team west of the Mississippi River won the national championship (Kansas in 2008).

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