North Carolina - Syracuse Final Four Tournament Tidbits

• North Carolina is in their 10^th National Championship game and their first since 2009 when they defeated Michigan State 89-72.
• North Carolina is now 10-9 in National Semifinal games.
• Since 2010, North Carolina is 15-0 vs. teams seeded #5 - #16, but they are 0-5 vs. teams seeded #1-#4.
• North Carolina is now 2-2 vs. Syracuse:
• Won 67-58 in 1957 Elite Eight
• Lost 78-76 in 1975 Sweet Sixteen
• Lost 79-75 in 1987 Elite Eight
• Won 83-66 in 2016 National Semifinals
• North Carolina is now a tournament best 3-0 vs. teams from the ACC.
• North Carolina’s win is a tournament best 55^th as a #1 seed.  They have four more than Duke who has 51 wins as a #1 seed.
• North Carolina is now tied with Indiana, Iowa and Syracuse for a tournament best 5-0 vs. #10 seeds.
• North Carolina’s win is their 7^th all-time in the month of April.  Only Duke has more wins in April with 9.
• The total margin of victory in the two National Semifinal games was 61.  That is the largest margin of victory for the two semifinal games in history.  It breaks the previous record was 54 in 1949 when Kentucky defeated Illinois 76-47 and Oklahoma State defeated Oregon State 55-30.
• The loss by Syracuse ends a 4-game winning streak vs. #1 seeds.  Only Arizona has had a longer winning streak vs. #1 seeds.  Here is the list of all teams that have had a 4-game winning streak vs. #1 seeds:
• Arizona – 5 straight (1997 – 3 games, 2001 – 2 games)
• Indiana – 4 straight (1981, 1984, 1987, 1992)
• Kansas – 4 straight (1988, 1991 – 2 games, 1993)
• Kansas – 4 straight (2003, 2008 – 2 games, 2012)
• North Carolina – 4 straight (1993, 1995, 2000, 2005)
• Syracuse – 4 straight (2003 – 2 games, 2013, 2016)
• Syracuse is now 5-7 vs. #1 seeds.
• Syracuse is now 3-3 in National Semifinal games.
• North Carolina and Villanova will play each other for the 7^th time in tournament history.  It will be the 5^th time that the winner will win the National Championship.  Every time they have met in the Sweet Sixteen or later, the winner has won the National Championship.
• North Carolina is 5-1 vs. Villanova in the tournament:
• North Carolina won 80-70 in 1982 Elite Eight
• Villanova won 56-44 in 1985 Elite Eight
• North Carolina won 84-69 in 1991 Second Round
• North Carolina won 67-66 in 2005 Sweet Sixteen
• North Carolina won 83-69 in 2009 National Semifinals
• North Carolina won 78-71 in 2013 First Round
• ACC is 40-33 all-time vs. the Big East, but 1-2 in National Championship games.  Here are the times when a Big East team and an ACC team have played each other in the National Championship game:
• North Carolina defeated Georgetown 63-62 in 1982
• Connecticut defeated Duke 77-74 in 1999
• Connecticut defeated Georgia Tech 82-73 in 2004

Villanova - Oklahoma Final Four Tournament Tidbits

• Villanova is in their 3^rd National Championship game and their first since 1985 when they defeated Georgetown 66-64.  They are 1-1 in the National Championship game.  They lost to UCLA 68-62 in 1971 in their first National Championship game appearance.
• Villanova is now 3-2 in National Semifinal games:
• Lost to Ohio State 53-36 in 1939
• Defeated Western Kentucky 92-89 in 1971
• Defeated Memphis 52-45 in 1985
• Lost to North Carolina 83-69 in 2009
• Defeated Oklahoma 95-51 in 2016
• Villanova’s 44-point win (95-51) is the largest ever in a National Semifinal game.  The previous high was 34 by Michigan State over Penn 101-67 in 1979 and Cincinnati over Oregon State 80-46 in 1963.
• It was Villanova’s largest margin of victory in the tournament.  Their previous high was 43 when they defeated Penn 90-47 in the 1971 Elite Eight.
• The win was the 4^th largest margin of victory for a Big East Team.  Connecticut defeated Chattanooga 103-47 (56 points) in the 2009 First Round,  Syracuse defeated Brown 101-52 (49 points) in the 1986 First Round and Syracuse defeated Montana 81-34 (47 points) in the 2013 First Round.
• It was the 3^rd largest margin of victory in the Sweet Sixteen or later.  UCLA defeated Wyoming 109-60 (49 points) in the 1967 Sweet Sixteen and Duke defeated Connecticut 101-54 (47 points) in the 1964 Elite Eight.  It was the 13^th largest margin of victory all-time.
• The loss was Oklahoma’s biggest defeat in the tournament.  Their previous worst was 30 points when the lost to Louisville 78-48 in the 2008 Second Round.
• Oklahoma’s worst Final Four loss was 18 points to Oregon 55-37 in 1939.
• The loss by Oklahoma was the biggest defeat ever for a Big Twelve team.  The previous high was 39 points when West Virginia lost to Kentucky 78-39 in the 2015 Sweet Sixteen.
• Villanova is now 1-1 in the tournament vs. Oklahoma.  They lost to Oklahoma 78-59 in the 1988 Elite Eight.
• After never defeating a Big Twelve team in tournament history before this year, Villanova has now defeated Big Twelve teams in back-to-back games.   They are the 6^th team to defeat 2 or more Big Twelve teams in a single tournament.  The others were Syracuse in 2003 (with 4 wins), Georgia Tech in 2004, Louisiana State in 2006, Connecticut in 2009 and Kentucky in 2012 (with 3 wins).
• Villanova’s win is their 6^th all-time vs. a #2 seed.  Only Kentucky has more wins over #2 seeds with 8.  They are 6-2 all-time vs. #2 seeds.
• Villanova is now 3-1 when playing in Texas (all games in Houston).  Their only loss was the 1971 National Championship game.
• Villanova is 12-0 when scoring 90 or more points in the tournament.  Only North Carolina (24-0), Duke (21-0) and Kansas (20-0) have better records.  Arkansas is also 12-0.
• Oklahoma is now 2-3 in National Semifinal games:
• Lost to Oregon 55-37 in 1939
• Defeated Texas 55-54 in 1947
• Defeated Arizona 86-78 in 1988
• Lost to Indiana 73-64 in 2002
• Lost to Villanova 95-51 in 2016
• Oklahoma is now tied with Penn, Louisiana-Monroe and Belmont for a tournament worst 0-4 vs. #2 seeds.