In the Midwest, 1-seed Houston got a last-second layup to beat 4-seed Purdue, 62-60, in the Sweet 16, and then crushed 2-seed Tennessee 69-50 in the Elite 8. The Cougars will be playing in their seventh Final Four and first since 2021. They have never won a national title, losing in the championship game in 1983 and 1984.
Here is the schedule for this Saturday's semifinal games (times ET). Both games are on CBS:
(W1) Florida vs. (S1) Auburn - 6:09 p.m.
(MW1) Houston vs. (E1) Duke - 8:49 p.m.
As I do this time of year, I'm going to drop some Final Four statistical knowledge on you. Get ready for it. These are the kind of worthless facts that make me spend way too much time writing posts like these.
11. If Auburn and Houston win on Saturday, it will be only the third time since 1990 that two teams without a previous national championship will be playing for the title. Here are the years in which both teams meeting in the championship game had not previously won an NCAA title (excluding the first tournament in 1939), with an asterisk for years in which both teams played in the title game for the first time and a double asterisk for years in which both teams playing in the title game were playing in their first Final Four:
-2021: Baylor over Gonzaga
-2019*: Virginia over Texas Tech
-1990: UNLV over Duke
-1989: Michigan over Seton Hall
-1984: Georgetown over Houston
-1979*: Michigan State over Indiana State
-1974*: NC State over Marquette
-1964*: UCLA over Duke
-1959*: Cal over West Virginia
-1954: LaSalle over Bradley
-1952: Kansas over St. John's
-1950*: CCNY over Bradley
-1948*: Kentucky over Baylor
-1947*: Holy Cross over Oklahoma
-1945**: Oklahoma A&M over NYU
-1944: Utah over Dartmouth
-1943**: Wyoming over Georgetown
-1942**: Stanford over Dartmouth
-1941**: Wisconsin over Washington State
-1940**: Indiana over Kansas
10. Here's every conference's last Final Four team. Note that, with all of the conference realignments over the years, this is for the conference itself and teams playing in that conference when they made the Final Four, and not necessarily for teams currently in each conference. I'm going to do it by how many years it's been since the conference's last Final Four, listing the relevant teams, and even though there wasn't an NCAA Tournament in 2020, I'm just going with actual years, rather than not including 2020. For conferences with no Final Fours ever, I'll list the year they were founded (and I'm not including defunct conferences).
- Zero years (2025):
- ACC: Duke
- Big 12: Houston
- SEC: Auburn, Florida
- 1 year (2024)
- Big East: UConn
- Big Ten: Purdue
- 2 years (2023):
- Conference USA: FAU
- Mountain West: San Diego State
- 3 years (2022)
- 4 years (2021)
- AAC: Houston
- Pac-12: UCLA
- WCC: Gonzaga
- 6 years (2019)
- Big Ten: Michigan State
- SEC: Auburn
- 7 years (2018)
- Missouri Valley: Loyola (IL)
- 14 years (2011)
- Colonial: VCU
- Horizon: Butler
- 27 years (1998)
- 29 years (1996)
- 34 years (1991)
- 46 years (1979)
- 48 years (1977)
- 54 years (1971)
- Ohio Valley: Western Kentucky
- 75 years (1950)
- Never
- America East (founded 1979)
- Atlantic Sun (founded 1978)
- Big Sky (founded 1963)
- Big South (founded 1983)
- MAAC (founded 1980)
- MAC (founded 1946)
- MEAC (founded 1970)
- NEC (founded 1981)
- Patriot League (founded 1986)
- Southland (founded 1963)
- Summit League (founded 1982)
- SWAC (founded 1920)
9. With Auburn beating Michigan State in the Elite 8, it means the Big Ten's national title drought will reach at least 26 years, as the Spartans were the last Big Ten team to win it all in 2000. Here is every conference's last national title. For conferences with no national titles ever, I'll list the year they were founded (and I'm not including defunct conferences). I'll list the conferences that have won a national title first, followed by those conferences that have never won a title. I'm also including the Pac-10/Pac-12, since it's coming back in 2026.
- Conferences with national titles
- AAC: 11 years (UConn, 2014)
- ACC: 6 years (Virginia, 2019)
- Big 12: 3 years (Kansas, 2022)
- Big East: 1 year (UConn, 2024)
- Big Ten: 25 years (Michigan State, 2000)
- Big West: 35 years (UNLV, 1990)
- Missouri Valley: 63 years (Cincinnati, 1962)
- Pac-10/Pac-12: 28 years (Arizona, 1997)
- SEC: 13 years (Kentucky, 2012)
- WCC/West Coast Athletic Conference/California Basketball Association: 69 years (San Francisco, 1956)
- Conferences without national titles
- America East (founded 1979)
- Atlantic 10 (founded 1976)
- Atlantic Sun (founded 1978)
- Big Sky (founded 1963)
- Big South (founded 1983)
- Coastal/Colonial (founded 1979)
- Conference USA (founded 1995)
- Horizon (founded 1979)
- Ivy League (founded 1954)
- MAAC (founded 1980)
- MAC (founded 1946)
- MEAC (founded 1970)
- Mountain West (founded 1998)
- NEC (founded 1981)
- Ohio Valley (founded 1948)
- Patriot League (founded 1986)
- Southern Conference (founded 1921)
- Southland (founded 1963)
- Summit League (founded 1982)
- Sun Belt (founded 1976)
- SWAC (founded 1920)
- WAC (founded 1962)
8. Since 2000, the ACC has sent 8 different schools to the Final Four, for a total of 20 appearances. Both are the most of any conference this millennium. Here are the conferences ranked by number of teams that have made it to the Final Four since 2000:
1. ACC - 8 schools for 20 appearances: North Carolina (7), Duke (6), Maryland (2), Georgia Tech (1), Miami (1), NC State (1), Syracuse (1), Virginia (1)
2. Big Ten - 7 schools for 17 appearances: Michigan State (7), Wisconsin (3), Michigan (2), Ohio State (2), Illinois (1), Indiana (1), Purdue (1)
3. Big 12 - 7 schools for 13 appearances: Kansas (6), Oklahoma (2), Baylor (1), Oklahoma State (1), Texas (1), Texas Tech (1), Houston (1)
4 (tie). Big East - 6 schools for 15 appearances: UConn (5), Villanova (4), Louisville (2), Syracuse (2), Georgetown (1), West Virginia (1)
4 (tie). SEC - 6 schools for 14 appearances: Florida (5), Kentucky (4), Auburn (2), Alabama (1), LSU (1), South Carolina (1)
6. Conference USA - 4 schools for 4 appearances: FAU (1), Louisville (1), Marquette (1), Memphis (1)
7. Pac-10/Pac-12 - 3 schools for 6 appearances: UCLA (4), Arizona (1), Oregon (1)
8 (tie): Colonial - 2 schools for 2 appearances: George Mason (1), VCU (1)
8 (tie): Missouri Valley - 2 schools for 2 appearances: Loyola (IL) (1), Wichita State (1)
8 (tie). American Athletic Conference - 2 schools for 2 appearances: UConn (1), Houston (1)
11 (tie). West Coast - 1 school for 2 appearances: Gonzaga (2)
11 (tie): Horizon - 1 schools for 2 appearances: Butler (2)
11 (tie). Mountain West - 1 school for 1 appearance: San Diego State (1)
7. For the first time since 2019, all four Final Four teams are from major conferences, which I define as the ACC, SEC, Big Ten, Big 8/Big 12, Pac-10/Pac-12 (until 2024), and the Big East (until 2013). This is the 17th time since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985 that this has happened:
-2025: Auburn (SEC), Duke (ACC), Florida (SEC), Houston (Big 12)
-2019: Virginia* (ACC), Texas Tech** (Big 12), Auburn (SEC), Michigan State (Big Ten)
-2015: Duke* (ACC), Wisconsin** (Big Ten), Kentucky (SEC), Michigan State (Big Ten)
-2012: Kentucky* (SEC), Kansas** (Big 12), Louisville (Big East), Ohio State (Big Ten)
-2009: North Carolina* (ACC), Michigan State** (Big Ten), UConn (Big East), Villanova (Big East)
-2007: Florida* (SEC), Ohio State** (Big Ten), Georgetown (Big East), UCLA (Pac-10)
-2004: UConn* (Big East), Georgia Tech** (ACC), Duke (ACC), Oklahoma State (Big 12)
-2002: Maryland* (ACC), Indiana** (Big Ten), Kansas (Big 12), Oklahoma (Big 12)
-2001: Duke* (ACC), Arizona** (Pac-10), Maryland (ACC), Michigan State (Big Ten)
-2000: Michigan State* (Big Ten), Florida* (SEC), North Carolina (ACC), Wisconsin (Big Ten)
-1999: UConn* (Big East), Duke** (ACC), Michigan State (Big Ten), Ohio State (Big Ten)
-1997: Arizona* (Pac-10), Kentucky** (SEC), Minnesota (Big Ten), North Carolina (ACC)
-1995: UCLA* (Pac-10), Arkansas** (SEC), North Carolina (ACC), Oklahoma State (Big 8)
-1994: Arkansas* (SEC), Duke** (ACC), Arizona (Pac-10), Florida (SEC)
-1993: North Carolina* (ACC), Michigan** (Big Ten), Kansas (Big 8), Kentucky (SEC)
-1989: Michigan* (Big Ten), Seton Hall** (Big East), Duke (ACC), Illinois (Big Ten)
-1988: Kansas* (Big 8), Oklahoma** (Big 8), Arizona (Pac-10), Duke (ACC)
*Champions
**Advanced to championship game
6. Duke's John Scheyer and Florida's Todd Golden are both coaching in their first Final Fours. If either win the title, it will be the 29th time that a first-time Final Four coach will have won the championship. Of course, those numbers are heavily skewed towards the beginning decades of the NCAA Tournament. Since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, it has only happened 10 times, though in three of the last five tournaments. Here is everyone (including before 1985), in reverse chronological order:
-Dan Hurley (UConn, 2023)
-Scott Drew (Baylor, 2021)
-Tony Bennett (Virginia, 2019)
-Kevin Ollie (UConn, 2014)
-Bill Self (Kansas, 2008)
-Jim Calhoun (UConn, 1999)
-Tubby Smith (Kentucky, 1998)
-Jim Harrick (UCLA, 1995)
-Steve Fisher (Michigan, 1989)
-Rollie Massimino (Villanova, 1985)
-Jim Valvano (NC State, 1983)
-Jud Heathcote (Michigan State, 1979)
-Norm Sloan (NC State, 1974)
-Don Haskins (Texas Western, 1966)
-George Ireland (Loyola (IL), 1963)
-Ed Jucker (Cincinnati, 1961)
-Fred Taylor (Ohio State, 1960)
-Pete Newell (California, 1959)
-Phil Woolpert (San Francisco, 1955)
-Ken Loeffler (LaSalle, 1954)
-Doggie Julian (Holy Cross, 1947)
-Henry Iba (Oklahoma A&M, 1945)
-Vadal Peterson (Utah, 1944)
-Everett Shelton (Wyoming, 1943)
-Everett Dean (Stanford, 1942)
-Harold E. Foster (Wisconsin, 1941)
-Branch McCracken (Indiana, 1940)
-Howard Hobson (Oregon, 1939)
5. Last year, Auburn lost in the First Round as a 4-seed to 13-seed Yale, and Florida lost in the First Round as a 7-seed 10 10-seed Colorado. The Tigers and Gators join a list of now 56 teams who made the Final Four the year after losing their first game of the NCAA Tournament. 22 of those teams have gone onto the title game, with 7 winning it all. Here are the others who have done it (this does not include teams that made the Final Four a year after not participating in the NCAA Tournament):
2025: Auburn, Florida
2024: NC State, Purdue**
2023: UConn*, San Diego State**
2022: North Carolina**
2019: Virginia*
2015: Duke*
2014: Wisconsin
2013: Michigan**, Wichita State
2012: Louisville
2010: Butler**, West Virginia
2009: UConn
2006: UCLA**, LSU
2005: Louisville, Michigan State
2003: Marquette
2002: Indiana**, Oklahoma
2000: North Carolina, Wisconsin
1995: UCLA*
1994: Arizona
1990: Georgia Tech
1988: Arizona
1987: Indiana*
1986: LSU
1985: St. John's
1983: NC State*
1982: Georgetown**, Louisville, Houston
1981: North Carolina**
1980: Iowa
1978: Arkansas
1977: North Carolina**
1976: Michigan**, Rutgers
1975: Louisville, Syracuse
1974: Marquette**
1973: Providence
1971: Western Kentucky
1964: UCLA*
1961: St. Joseph's, Utah
1959: West Virginia**, Cincinnati
1956: SMU
1955: Colorado
1944: Dartmouth**
1942: Dartmouth**
*Champions
**Advanced to championship game
4. There are 10 schools with 8 or more Final Fours (including vacated appearances): North Carolina (21), UCLA (19), Duke (18), Kentucky (17), Kansas (16), Ohio State (11), Louisville (10), Michigan State (10), Indiana (8), and Michigan (8). With Duke in it this year, it ends a two-year drought where none of those ten teams made it to the Final Four. In fact, one of those teams has been in all but 10 of 86 Final Fours (1941, 1943, 1947, 1950, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1985, 2023, 2024).
3. As noted above, there are four 1-seeds in the Final Four, which is only the second time that has happened since seeding began in 1979. Here is a breakdown of how many #1 seeds have advanced to the Final Four each year since 1979.
2025: 4 (Auburn, Duke, Florida, Houston)
2024: 2 (UConn*, Purdue**)
2023: 0
2022: 1 (Kansas*)
2021: 2 (Baylor*, Gonzaga**)
2019: 1 (Virginia*)
2018: 2 (Villanova*, Kansas)
2017: 2 (North Carolina*, Gonzaga**)
2016: 1 (North Carolina**)
2015: 3 (Duke*, Wisconsin**, Kentucky)
2014: 1 (Florida)
2013: 1 (Louisville*)
2012: 1 (Kentucky*)
2011: 0
2010: 1 (Duke*)
2009: 2 (North Carolina*, Connecticut)
2008: 4 (Kansas*, Memphis**, North Carolina, UCLA)
2007: 2 (Florida*, Ohio State**)
2006: 0
2005: 2 (North Carolina*, Illinois**)
2004: 1 (Duke)
2003: 1 (Texas)
2002: 2 (Maryland*, Kansas)
2001: 2 (Duke*, Michigan State)
2000: 1 (Michigan State*)
1999: 3 (Connecticut*, Duke**, Michigan State)
1998: 1 (North Carolina)
1997: 3 (Kentucky**, North Carolina, Minnesota)
1996: 2 (Kentucky*, Massachusetts)
1995: 1 (UCLA*)
1994: 1 (Arkansas*)
1993: 3 (North Carolina*, Michigan**, Kentucky)
1992: 1 (Duke*)
1991: 2 (UNLV, North Carolina)
1990: 1 (UNLV*)
1989: 1 (Illinois)
1988: 2 (Oklahoma**, Arizona)
1987: 2 (Indiana*, UNLV)
1986: 2 (Duke**, Kansas)
1985: 2 (Georgetown**, St. John's)
1984: 2 (Georgetown*, Kentucky)
1983: 2 (Houston**, Louisville)
1982: 2 (North Carolina*, Georgetown**)
1981: 2 (LSU, Virginia)
1980: 0
1979: 1 (Indiana State**)
*Champions
**Advanced to championship game
2. The average seed for this year's Final Four is 1, which is only the fourth time this millennium and tenth time since seeding began in 1979 that the average has been below 2 (and first time since 2009). Here are the average seeds for the Final Four since 1979 (with the years it was lower than 2 bolded):
2025: 1
2024: 4.25
2023: 5.75
2022: 3.25
2021: 3.75
2019: 2.75
2018: 4
2017: 3
2016: 3.75
2015: 2.5
2014: 4.5
2013: 4.5
2012: 2.25
2011: 6.5
2010: 3.25
2009: 1.75
2008: 1
2007: 1.5
2006: 5
2005: 2.75
2004: 2
2003: 2.25
2002: 2.25
2001: 1.75
2000: 5.5
1999: 1.75
1998: 2.25
1997: 1.75
1996: 2.75
1995: 2.25
1994: 2
1993: 1.25
1992: 3.25
1991: 1.75
1990: 3
1989: 2.25
1988: 2.5
1987: 2.5
1986: 3.75
1985: 3
1984: 2.75
1983: 3
1982: 2.75
1981: 1.75
1980: 5.25
1979: 3.5
1. With Auburn and Florida both making the Final Four this year, it is the 26th time that one conference has had two or more teams in the same Final Four. Here is when it has happened (note: the NCAA Tournament began giving out at-large bids in 1975, so that was the first year there could have been more than one team from the same conference in an NCAA Tournament):
2025: SEC - Auburn, Florida
2022: ACC - Duke, North Carolina
2016: ACC – North Carolina, Syracuse
2015: Big Ten - Michigan State, Wisconsin
2014: SEC – Florida, Kentucky
2013: Big East – Louisville, Syracuse
2009: Big East – Connecticut, Villanova
2006: SEC – Florida, LSU
2005: Big Ten – Illinois, Michigan State
2003: Big 12 – Kansas, Texas
2002: Big 12 – Kansas, Oklahoma
2001: ACC – Duke, Maryland
2000: Big Ten – Michigan State, Wisconsin
1999: Big Ten – Michigan State, Ohio State
1996: SEC – Kentucky, Mississippi State
1994: SEC – Arkansas, Florida
1992: Big Ten – Indiana, Michigan
1991: ACC – Duke, North Carolina
1990: ACC – Duke, Georgia Tech
1989: Big Ten – Illinois, Michigan
1988: Big 8 – Kansas, Oklahoma
1987: Big East – Providence, Syracuse
1985: Big East – Georgetown, St. John's, Villanova
1981: ACC – North Carolina, Virginia
1980: Big Ten – Iowa, Purdue
1976: Big Ten – Indiana, Michigan
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