Tournament Appearances by State

Most appearances by State

• California 5 (California, Pacific, St. Mary's, San Diego State, UCLA)
• North Carolina 5 (Davidson, Duke, North Carolina, North Carolina A&T, North Carolina State)
• Pennsylvania 5 (Bucknell, La Salle, Pittsburgh, Temple, Villanova)
• Indiana 4 (Butler, Indiana, Notre Dame, Valparaiso)
• New York 4 (Albany, Iona, Long Island-Brooklyn, Syracuse)

Consecutive years with at least one school in the tournament
1. California 64
2. Kentucky 50
3. New York 41
4. North Carolina 40
5. Pennsylvania 37
6. Ohio 32
7. Kansas 30
8. Florida 16
    Michigan 16
    Washington 16

Texas has no teams in the tournament for the first time since 1977 ending a string of 35 consecutive appearances.  Utah has no teams for the first time since 1994 ending a string of 18 consecutive appearances.

Consecutive years with at least two schools in the tournament
1. North Carolina 37
2. California 27
3. Kentucky 22
4. Ohio 17
5. New York 16
6. Pennsylvania 15
7. Wisconsin 9
8. Tennessee 8
9. Indiana 7
10. Michigan 5
      Virginia 5

Texas had at least two teams for the last 11 tournaments before having no teams this year.

Consecutive years with at least three schools in the tournament
1. California 9
2. Tennessee 8
3. New York 5
    Ohio 5
5. Indiana 4
6. North Carolina 3
    Virginia 3

Texas had at least three teams for the last 6 tournaments before having no teams this year.  Kentucky also had at least three teams for the last 6 tournaments before having two teams this year.

California has at least 4 schools in the tournament for the 9th consecutive year.

North Carolina has 5 schools in the tournament for the 2nd consecutive year.

Tournament Streaks - Seeds

Here are the current streaks of appearances by seeds:

Consecutive Years Seeded #1
There are no repeat #1 seeds for the second straight year.  It is only the second time that has happened.  1987 and 1988 was the other time.

Duke holds the record with 5 straight #1 seeds from from 1998 to 2002.

Consecutive Years Seeded #1 or #2
1. Duke 6
2. Kansas 4
    Ohio State 4

Duke's current streak is tied for the all-time record.  They also had 6 straight from 1997-2002.

Consecutive Years with Top 3 Seed
1. Kansas 7
2. Duke 6
3. Ohio State 4
4. Georgetown 2
    Marquette 2
    Michigan State 2

North Carolina holds the record with 11 from 1979 to 1989.

Consecutive Years with Top 4 Seed
1. Kansas 13
2. Duke 6
3. Syracuse 5
4. Ohio State 4
5. Louisville 3

Kansas's current streak is the all-time record.

Consecutive Years with Top 5 Seed
1. Kansas 13
2. Duke 6
3. Syracuse 5
4. Ohio State 4
    Wisconsin 4

Kentucky holds the record with 14 from 1992 to 2005.

Consecutive Years with Top 6 Seed
1. Duke 17
2. Kansas 13
3. Syracuse 5
4. Georgetown 4
    Ohio State 4
    Wisconsin 4

Duke's current streak is the all-time record.

Consecutive years with Top 7 Seed

1. Duke 17
2. Kansas 13
3. Syracuse 5
4. Georgetown 4
    Notre Dame 4
    Ohio State 4
    Wisconsin 4

Duke's current streak is the all-time record.

Consecutive years with Top 8 Seed
1. Kansas 24
2. Duke 18
3. Ohio State 5
    Syracuse 5
5. Georgetown 4
    Kansas State 4
    UNLV 4
    Notre Dame 4
    Wisconsin 4

Kansas breaks North Carolina's record of 23 straight from 1979 to 2001

Schools that achieved their highest ever Seed

Teams that achieved their highest ever Seed in this tournament.  Those that achieved it for the first time are in bold.

#1 Seed

• Gonzaga (1st time) - Previous high #2 in 2004
• Indiana (3rd time) - Last time was 1993
• Kansas (11th time) - Last time was 2011
• Louisville (3rd time) - Last time was 2009

#2 Seed

• Miami, Florida (2nd time) - Last time was 1999

 #3 Seed

• New Mexico (3rd time) - Last time was 2010
• Marquette (4th time) - 2nd consecutive year

#4 Seed

• Saint Louis (1st time) - Previous high #7 in 1994

#8 Seed

• Colorado State (1st time) - Previous high #10 in 1989 and 1990

#11 Seed

• Belmont (1st time) - Previous high #13 in 2011
• Middle Tennessee State (2nd time) - Last time was 1982

#12 Seed

•  Akron (1st time) - Previous high #13 in 2009

#13 Seed

• Boise State (1st time) - Previous high #14 in 1988, 1993, 1994 and 2008
• South Dakota State (1st time) - Previous high #14 in 2012

#14 Seed

• Northwestern State (2nd time) - Last time was 2006

#15 Seed

• Florida Gulf Coast (1st time) - First tournament appearance

 #16 Seed

• Liberty (3rd time) - Last time was 2004

RPI Facts - NCAA Tournament

Southern Mississippi has the highest RPI of any team that missed this year's tournament at #30.

California has the lowest RPI of any at-large team that made this year's tournament at #53.  The record is #74 held by New Mexico in 1999.

Duke is the 6th team to finish #1 in the RPI (since it began in 1994) and not receive a #1 seed.  The other #1 RPI teams to not get a #1 seed and their results are:

• 1995 North Carolina - #2 Seed - Lost in National Semifinals to Arkansas 
• 2000 Cincinnati - #2 Seed - Lost in Round of 32 to Tulsa
• 2005 Kansas - #3 Seed - Lost in Round of 64 to Bucknell
• 2008 Tennessee - #2 Seed - Lost in Sweet Sixteen to Louisville
• 2009 Duke - #2 Seed - Lost in Sweet Sixteen to Villanova

The top 2 teams in the RPI (Duke and New Mexico) did not receive a #1 seed.  It is the first time that neither of the top 2 teams in the RPI were a #1 seed.

This is the 6th time that Duke has finished #1 in the RPI.  Kansas has finished #1 5 times.  The only other teams to finish #1 multiple times are Kentucky and North Carolina with 2.

Duke has finished in the Top 10 of the RPI 6 consecutive years and 15 of the last 17.  Miami and Indiana finish in the Top 10 of the RPI for the first time since it began in 1994.

The RPI's of the #1 Seeds are:

• #3 Louisville
• #5 Kansas
• #6 Gonzaga
• #7 Indiana

The sum of their RPI's is 21.  That is the second highest RPI sum of the #1 seeds since 1994.  The highest was 27 in 2000 when the #1 Seeds and their RPI's were:

• #2 Duke
• #3 Arizona
• #9 Stanford
• #13 Michigan State

Only 2 teams that finished #1 in the RPI have won the National Championship in the 19 years of the RPI.  They were Kentucky in 1996 and Duke in 2001.  Both of them were #1 seeds also.

The most common RPI to win the Championship is #3 which has 5 Championships.  No other RPI has more than 2.  Louisville is #3 in the RPI this year.  Those 5 are:

• Kentucky - 1998
• Connecticut - 1999
• Maryland - 2002
• North Carolina - 2009
• Duke - 2010

Out of those 5, only Kentucky was not a #1 seed.

Coaches in NCAA Tournament

This year there are 8 coaches that are in their first ever NCAA Tournament.  They are:

• Roman Banks, Southern
• Matt Brady, James Madison
• Bryce Drew, Valparaiso
• Andy Enfield, Florida Gulf Coast
• John Giannini, La Salle
• Andy Kennedy, Mississippi
• Jack Perri, Long Island-Brooklyn
• Leon Rice, Boise State

Last year's tournament had 14 new coaches.

In addition, there are 10 coaches that have been in the tournament that are coaching with a new team:

• Cy Alexander, North Carolina A&T (South Carolina State 1989, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2003)
• Dana Altman, Oregon (Kansas State 1993; Creighton 1999-2003, 2005, 2007)
• Jim Crews, Saint Louis (Evansville 1989, 1992, 1993, 1999)
• Kermit Davis, Jr., Middle Tennessee State (Idaho 1989, 1990)
• Larry Eustachy, Colorado State (Utah State 1998; Iowa State 2000, 2001; Southern Mississippi 2012)
• John Groce, Illinois (Ohio 2010, 2012)
• Lon Kruger, Oklahoma (Kansas State 1987-90; Florida 1994-95; Illinois 1997-98, 2000; UNLV 2007-08, 2010-11)
• Jim Larranaga, Miami, Fla. (George Mason 1999, 2001, 2006, 2008, 2011)
• Dale Layer, Liberty (Colorado State 2003)
• Bruce Weber, Kansas State (Southern Illinois 2002-03; Illinois 2004-07, 2009, 2011)

Lon Kruger becomes the first coach to take 5 schools to the NCAA Tournament.  Larry Eustachy becomes the 9th coach to take at least 4 schools to the NCAA Tournament.  Here is the list of coaches that have taken 4 or more schools to the tournament:

• Lon Kruger 5
• John Beilein 4
• Lefty Driesell 4
• Larry Eustachy 4
• Jim Harrick 4
• Tom Penders 4
• Rick Pitino 4
• Tubby Smith 4
• Eddie Sutton 4

Tournament Streaks

As Selection Sunday approaches, I thought I would take a look at some active streaks that are in jeopardy.

Consecutive Tournament Appearances:

1. Kansas 23
2. Duke 17
3. Michigan State 15
4. Gonzaga 14
    Texas 14
    Wisconsin 14

Texas' string of appearances will end at 14 while the others are definite locks.

Other streaks in jeopardy:
Xavier - 7
Brigham Young - 6
Purdue - 6
West Virginia - 5

Consecutive At-Large Appearances:
1. Texas 14
2. Marquette 7
3. Brigham Young 6
    Xavier 6
5. Syracuse 4
    Wisconsin 4

Texas, Brigham Young and Xavier will all miss the tournament this year, so Marquette will now have the most consecutive at-large apperances.  Syracuse and Wisconsin are in, but their streaks would be snapped if they win their conference tournaments.

The 14 consecutive at-large bids for Texas is an all-time tournament record.

Consecutive years with at least a Top 4 seed:

1. Kansas 12
2. Duke 5
3. Syracuse 4
4. Kentucky 3
    Ohio State 3
    Wisconsin 3

Kansas, Duke and Ohio State are safely Top 4 seeds. ESPN Bracketology had Syracuse at a 4 in yesterday's bracket, but with their run in the Big East tournament, they will most likely continue that streak.  Wisconsin was on the 5 line, so they are on the borderline of receiving a Top 4 seed.  Kentucky will definitely not be a Top 4 seed and may not even make the tournament.

Consecutive appearances in Round of 32:

1. Kansas 6
    Purdue 6
    Wisconsin 6
4. Gonzaga 4
    Syracuse 4
6. Kansas State 3
    Kentucky 3
    Ohio State 3

For the teams making the tournament, we will have to wait until Thursday or Friday to find out if they continue the streak, but Purdue's streak will come to an end and Kentucky's streak is in serious jeopardy.

Consecutive appearance in Sweet Sixteen:

Kentucky and Ohio State have both been to the last 3 Sweet Sixteens.  Kentucky's streak is most likely to end even if they make the tournament.  Ohio State has a great shot to return.  Five teams (Florida, Kansas, Marquette, North Carolina and Wisconsin) have all been to the Sweet Sixteen the last two years.  All have a legitimate shot of returning with North Carolina projected as the lowest seed (#7) on yesterday's bracketology.

The Big East is Dead, Long Live the Big East

The Big East is Dead:

Syracuse, Louisville put the Big East to bed

Long Live the Big East:

Sources: Big East at 10 for 2013-2014

The question that everyone is asking (ok, maybe only me) is will the new Big East keep the history of the old Big East or will it be considered a completely new conference?  (Will this be like the Baltimore Ravens-Cleveland Browns situation?)