Selection Sunday Tidbits

New Teams

Kennesaw State is the only new team in this year's tournament.  Every NCAA Tournament has had at least one new NCAA Tournament team.  This is the first time since 2018 that there was only one new team. This is the 84th NCAA Tournament and the 11th time that there has only been one new team in the tournament.

• 1949 - Yale
• 1965 - Vanderbilt
• 1973 - Austin Peay
• 1978 - Cal State-Fullerton
• 2002 - Florida Atlantic
• 2004 - Eastern Washington
• 2007 - Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
• 2011 - Northern Colorado
• 2013 - Florida Gulf Coast
• 2018 - Lipscomb
• 2023 - Kennesaw State

New Coaches 

There are 10 coaches who are coaching in the tournament for the first time. 

• Amir Abdur-Rahim, Kennesaw State
• Tobin Anderson, Fairleigh Dickinson
• Kenneth Blakeney, Howard
• Brad Korn, Southeast Missouri State
• Dusty May, Florida Atlantic
• Mike Morrell, North Carolina-Asheville
• Bob Richey, Furman
• Jon Scheyer, Duke
• Micah Shrewsberry, Penn State
• Jerome Tang, Kansas State

Coach First Year with New Team 

There are 10 coaches who have coached in the tournament, but are making their first appearance with their current team.

• Steve Alford, Nevada (1999 - Missouri State; 2001, 2005-06 - Iowa; 2010, 2012-13 - New Mexico; 2014-15, 2017-18 - UCLA)
• Jeff Capel, Pittsburgh (1994 - North Carolina A&T; 1995, 1997 - Old Dominion; 2008-09 - Oklahoma)
• Dennis Gates, Missouri (2021 - Cleveland State)
• Darrin Horn, Northern Kentucky (2008 - Western Kentucky)
• Chris Jans, Mississippi State (2018-19, 2022 - New Mexico State)
• Pat Kelsey, Charleston (2017, 2021 - Winthrop)
• Ryan Odom, Utah State (2018 - UMBC)
• Rodney Terry, Texas (2016 - Fresno State)
• Kevin Willard, Maryland (2016-19, 2022 - Seton Hall)
• Buzz Williams, Texas A&M (2009-13 - Marquette; 2017-19 - Virginia Tech)

Nevada is the 5th school that Steve Alford has coached in the NCAA Touranment which ties Lon Kruger, Rick Pitino and Tubby Smith for the most all-time.

 

Consecutive Tournaments

• Kansas 33
• Michigan State 25
• Gonzaga 24
• Purdue 8
• Houston 5
• Tennessee 5
• Baylor 4
• Colgate 4
• Alabama 3
• Arkansas 3
• Connecticut 3
• Creighton 3
• Illinois 3
• San Diego State 3
• Southern California 3
• Texas 3
• Texas Southern 3
• UCLA 3

Consecutive Appearances Snapped

• North Carolina 11
• Villanova 9
• Virginia Tech 5
• Ohio State 4
• Texas Tech 4
• Louisiana State 3
• Wisconsin 3
• Loyola  Chicago 2
• Norfolk State 2
• Rutgers 2

Longest Droughts Broken

• Furman 1980
• Howard 1992
• Southeast Missouri State 2000
• Florida Atlantic 2002
• Penn State 2011
• Louisiana 2014
• North Carolina-Asheville 2016
• Pittsburgh 2016
• Kent State 2017
• Northwestern 2017
• Princeton 2017

Consecutive Top 4 Seeds

• Kansas 22
• Gonzaga 6
• Purdue 6
• Baylor 3
• Arizona 2
• Tennessee 2
• UCLA 2

Last Top 4 Seed (for those that weren't Top 4 last year)

• Alabama 2021
• Houston 2021
• Texas 2021
• Virginia 2021
• Kansas State 2019
• Xavier 2018
• Indiana 2013
• Marquette 2013
• Connecticut 2011

Consecutive Top 4 Seeds Snapped

• Arkansas 2
• Illinois 2

#1 Seed History

• Kansas - 16th #1 Seed (45-13, 5 Final Fours, 2008 and 2022 National Champions)
• Purdue - 4th #1 Seed (6-3, 1 Elite Eight - Lost in 1994)
• Houston - 2nd #1 Seed (4-1, 1 Final Four, Lost 1983 National Championship Game)
• Alabama - 1st #1 Seed

Other Seeds - Teams achieving best seeds in school history

• Marquette - #2 (First Time - Previous High was #3 in 1979, 2003, 2012 and 2013)
• Saint Mary's - #5 (2nd Time - Also in 2022)
• Northwestern - #7 (First Time - Previous High was #8 in 2017)
• Florida Atlantic - #9 (First Time - Previous High was #15 in 2002)
• Grand Canyon - #14 (First Time - Previous High was #15 in 2021)
• Kennesaw State - #14 (First Appearance)
• North Carolina-Asheville - #15 (2nd Time - Also in 2016)