Consecutive Tournament Bids

13 schools have been to the tournament each of the past 5 seasons.  Here is a list of those schools with the longest active tournament streaks along with their RPI as of 1/18/2013

• Kansas 23 (RPI - 2)
• Duke 17 (RPI - 1)
• Michigan State 15 (RPI - 17)
• Gonzaga 14 (RPI - 10)
• Texas 14 (RPI - 144)
• Wisconsin 14 (RPI - 46)
• Marquette 7 (RPI - 16)
• Xavier 7 (RPI - 83)
• Brigham Young 6 (RPI - 47)
• Louisville 6 (RPI - 7)
• Purdue 6 (RPI - 119)
• Temple 5 (RPI - 32)
• West Virginia 5 (RPI - 81)

Wisconsin and Brigham Young's RPI's put them on the bubble.  However, Wisconsin will most likely get in due to the fact that their strength of schedule will increase with playing in the Big Ten.

West Virginia, Xavier, Purdue and Texas will need to improve to be able to continue their string of tournament appearances.

If Texas misses the tournament, it would be the 9th time since 2000 that a double-digit streak has been snapped.

Longest Active Streaks Snapped Each Year
2012 - Pittsburgh 10
2011 - Cornell, Siena 3
2010 - Arizona 25
2009 - Kentucky 17
2008 - Florida 9
2007 - Alabama, Connecticut, NC State 5
2006 - Cincinnati 14
2005 - Maryland 11
2004 - Indiana 18
2003 - UCLA 14
2002 - North Carolina 27 (Longest streak in tournament history)
2001 - Purdue 8
2000 - New Mexico 4
1999 - Massachusetts 7
1998 - Wake Forest 7
1997 - Arkansas 9
1996 - Oklahoma State 5
1995 - Duke 11
1994 - Louisiana State 10
1993 - Georgetown 14
1992 - UNLV 9
1991 - Illinois, Oklahoma 8
1990 - DePaul 6
1989 - Kentucky 9
1988 - UAB 7
1987 - Villanova 7
1986 - Arkansas 9
1985 - Louisville 8
1984 - Iowa, Tennessee 5
1983 - DePaul 5
1982 - UCLA 15
1981 - Marquette 10
1980 - San Francisco, Utah 3
1979 - Kentucky, Providence 2
1978 - Michigan 4
1977 - Alabama, Georgetown, Indiana, Rutgers, San Diego State 2
1976 - Penn 6
1975 - South Carolina 4
1974 - Kentucky, Weber State 6
1973 - Villanova 4
1972 - New Mexico State 5
1971 - Davidson, Santa Clara 3
1970 - North Carolina, St. John's 3
1969 - Houston 4
1968 - Dayton, SMU 3
1967 - Oklahoma City 4
1966 - UCLA 4
1965 - Arizona State, Seattle 4
1964 - Cincinnati 6
1963 - Ohio State 3
1962 - Utah 3
1961 - Idaho State 8
1960 - Kentucky 5
1959 - San Francisco 4
1958 - Oklahoma City 6
1957 - Seattle 4
1956 - Bradley, Colorado, La Salle, Penn State 2
1955 - Santa Clara 3
1954 - Kansas, TCU, Wyoming 2
1953 - NC State 3
1952 - Brigham Young 2
1951 - Baylor, Bradley, CCNY, Holy Cross, Ohio State, UCLA 1
1950 - Wyoming 3
1949 - Holy Cross 2
1948 - CCNY, Navy, Oklahoma, Oregon State, Texas, Wisconsin 1
1947 - Ohio State 3
1946 - Utah 2
1945 - Dartmouth 4
1944 - DePaul, Georgetown, New York, Oklahoma, Texas, Washington, Wyoming 1
1943 - Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Penn State, Rice, Stanford 1
1942 - Arkansas, Creighton, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Washington St, Wisconsin, Wyoming 1

1942 was the first year that a team went to consecutive tournaments when Dartmouth did.

Defending Champs Loss

There have been 74 NCAA Tournaments, which means there have been 73 potential opportunities for the defending champion to lose in the following year's tournament.  However, the defending champion has only done so in 42 out of those 73. There are two reasons why the defending champ would not be defeated in the following tournament:

1. They defended their championship.
2. They missed the tournament.

No team has ever defeated the defending champion two years in a row, but there are four schools that have multiple victories over the defending champion.

• Indiana (1953, 1976, 2002)
• Arizona (1997, 2001, 2011)
• Michigan State (1999, 2003, 2009)
• North Carolina State (1974, 2005)  

14 times the team that defeated the defending champion ended up losing to that year's eventual champion with Arizona accomplishing that feat twice in 2001 and 2011.

• In 2001, Arizona defeated Michigan State, but lost to Duke.
• In 2011, Arizona defeated Duke, but lost to Connecticut.

 The last 4 times that a team has defeated the defending champion, they went on to lose to the eventual champion.

• 2006, George Mason defeated North Carolina, but lost to Florida
• 2007, Florida defended championship
• 2008, Florida missed tournament
• 2009, Michigan State defeated Kansas, but lost to North Carolina
• 2010, North Carolina missed tournament
• 2011, Arizona defeated Duke, but lost to Connecticut
• 2012, Iowa State defeated Connecticut, but lost to Kentucky

 George Mason is the only team to defeat the last two defending champions (different teams) in the same tournament when they defeated North Carolina and Connecticut in 2004.

Four teams have defeated two-time defending champions.

• Kansas defeated San Francisco in 1957
• Loyola, Ill. defeated Cincinnati in 1963
• North Carolina State defeated UCLA in 1974
• California defeated Duke in 1993

Best Overall 2012 Tournament Performances

Best Overall 2012 Tournament Performances
Points - Thomas Robinson, Kansas - 100
3-point FG Pct - Laurent Rivard, Harvard - 85.7% (6-7)*
3-point FG Made - Brady Heslip, Baylor - 16
FG Pct - Kendall Marshall, North Carolina (12-15); Gabe Knutson, Lehigh (8-10) - 80%^
FG Made - Deshaun Thomas, Ohio State - 39
FT Pct - Dion Waiters, Syracuse; Darius Miller, Kentucky - 94.4% (17-18)^
FT Made - Anthony Davis, Kentucky - 32
Rebounds - Thomas Robinson, Kansas - 75
Offensive Rebounds - Thomas Robinson, Kansas - 23
Defensive Rebounds - Anthony Davis, Kentucky - 57
Assists - Peyton Siva, Louisville - 31
Steals - Aaron Craft, Ohio State - 16
Blocks - Jeff Withey, Kansas - 31
*At least 5 shots
^At least 10 shots

Best Individual Game Performances in the 2012 Tournament

Best Individual Game Performances in the 2012 Tournament
Points - Deshaun Thomas, Ohio State - 31
3-point FG Pct (min 5 att) - Laurent Rivard, Harvard - 85.7% (6-7)
3-point FG Made - Brady Heslip, Baylor - 9
FG Pct - Miles Plumlee, Duke - 100% (9-9)*
FG Made - Deshaun Thomas, Ohio State - 13
FT Pct - Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Kentucky - 100% (10-10)*
FT Made - Brian Conklin, Saint Louis; Gary Browne, West Virgina; Michael Kidd-Gilchrist - 10
Rebounds - Tyler Zeller, North Carolina - 22
Offensive Rebounds - Jordan Henriguez-Roberts, Kansas State - 11
Defensive Rebounds - Draymond Green, Michigan State - 15
Assists - Kendall Marshall, North Carolina - 11
Steals - Brent Arrington, Mississippi Valley - 7
Blocks - Jeff Withey, Kansas - 10
*Most attempts for those that shot 100%