List of NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four participants

This is a list of the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four participants.

Final Four by year

From the first tournament in 1939 to 1951, the National Semifinals were also considered the Regional Championships, with the National Championship was held separately a week later. During this period, the tournament was divided into the East and West Regions. From 1952 to 1955, the Regional Championships were held at four sites, with two designated for the East and two for the West. In 1956, the four regions were given unique names for the first time.

From 1946 to 1981, a consolation game was conducted before the Championship for the losing teams of the National Semifinals; the winning team was awarded third place and the losing team was awarded fourth place. In 1982, the NCAA eliminated the game and the two losing teams of the semifinal games are considered tied for third place in the official record book.

At the conclusion of the championship game, one player is awarded the Most Outstanding Player award. Eleven times a player was awarded the MOP without being on the championship team. Five players have won the award twice, one player, Lew Alcindor, won the award three times.

Final Four appearances by school

Since 1939, 95 schools have appeared in the Final Four. Four additional schools, Minnesota, Saint Joseph's, UMass, and Western Kentucky, had their only appearance vacated. This table shows non-vacated Final Four appearances and victories by school; vacated records are shown in parentheses. The Third Place column is blank for schools whose Final Four appearances were before 1946 or after 1981.

Teams appearing in consecutive Final Fours

Eleven teams have appeared three or more times in the Final Four in consecutive tournaments. In the following table, National Champions are indicated by bold years, runners-up by underlined years, and third place by italics.

Final Four appearances by coach

Since 1939, 158 head coaches have appeared in the Final Four. Six additional coaches have had their only Final Four appearance vacated. This table shows non-vacated Final Four appearances and victories by coach; vacated records are shown in parentheses. The Third Place column is blank for coaches whose Final Four appearances were before 1946 or after 1981.

Coaches still active in Division I are highlighted in green.

Multiple Schools

Fifteen coaches have non-vacated Final Four appearances with multiple schools. Of these, 14 have coached two schools and only one, Rick Pitino, has coached three schools. Two additional coaches appeared with multiple schools but had all appearances with one of those schools vacated. Larry Brown appeared with UCLA and Kansas but his only appearance with UCLA school were vacated. John Calipari appeared with UMass, Memphis, and Kentucky, but his only appearances at UMass and Memphis were vacated. Five coaches are still active, with Calipari, Huggins, Larrañaga, and Sampson coaching at a school they have already taken to the Final Four. Pitino is the only coach on this list currently active at a school he has not taken to the Final Four.

Coaches who also played in the Final Four

Seven coaches have both played and coached in the Final Four. Hubert Davis at North Carolina and Dick Harp at Kansas did so at the same school. Bob Knight and Dean Smith are the only two coaches to win a championship as player and coach.

Final Four appearances by conference

The following table shows Final Four appearance statistics based on teams' conference affiliations contemporaneous to their appearance. Therefore some schools are included across multiple conferences. Conferences are listed by their current or final name as found in the official NCAA record book.

There have been 26 unique conferences appearing in the Final Four, of which 19 are still in existence.

Final Fours with multiple schools from the same conference

There have been 25 Final Fours with multiple teams from the same conference. In two of these Final Fours, one of the conference team's appearance was later vacated later by the NCAA. The Big Ten has achieved this nine times, with one appearance later vacated, tying them with the Atlantic Coast Conference for non-vacated multi-team Final Four appearances. The Big East is the only conference to have three teams in the Final Four, which was in 1985.

Teams from the same conference have played against each other in nine National Semifinal games. Only three times have teams from the same conference played each other in the National Championship.

†National Champion; ‡Runner Up; §Teams played in National Semifinals

†‡Teams played in National Championship game

Final Four appearances by state

Schools from 38 states, including the District of Columbia, have appeared in the Final Four. An additional state, Minnesota, had its only appearance vacated. This table shows non-vacated Final Four appearances and victories by state; vacated records are shown in parentheses. The Third Place column is blank for states whose Final Four appearances were before 1946 or after 1981. Schools noted as vacated had all their Final Four appearances vacated.

Final Fours with multiple schools from the same state

Eleven Final Fours have had two teams from the same state. North Carolina and Ohio both have three Final Fours with two teams, the most, and Kentucky is the only other state to do it more than once. Teams from the same state have played each other four times in a National Semifinal and teams from the same state have played each other twice in the National Championship, both times Cincinnati and Ohio State in 1960 and 1961.

† National Champion; ‡ Runner-Up; § Third Place

Vacated appearances

Thirteen Final Four appearances have been vacated by ten schools. Two of these schools won the Third Place Game and five schools were the National Runners Up. Only one school, the University of Louisville, has had its National Championship vacated.

• Saint Joseph's vacated its 1961 semifinal loss and third-place game victory because three players were involved in a point-shaving scandal.
• Villanova vacated its 1971 championship game loss because Howard Porter had signed a professional contract with the Pittsburgh Condors of the American Basketball Association (ABA) during the regular season. The Most Outstanding Player award was also vacated, as it had been awarded to Porter despite his team losing the championship game.
• Western Kentucky vacated its 1971 semifinal loss and third-place game victory because Jim McDaniels had signed a professional contract with the Carolina Cougars of the American Basketball Association and accepted money during the regular season.
• UCLA vacated its 1980 championship game loss because Kiki Vandeweghe and Rod Foster were declared ineligible for their connection with recruiting violations involving booster Sam Gilbert.
• Memphis State (now Memphis) vacated its 1985 semifinal loss because Keith Lee had received $40,000 in illegal payoffs from head coach Dana Kirk.
• Michigan vacated its 1992 and 1993 championship game losses because Chris Webber, Maurice Taylor, Robert Traylor, and Louis Bullock were found ineligible.
• UMass vacated its 1996 semifinal loss because Marcus Camby had accepted money and gifts from a pair of sports agents.
• Minnesota vacated its 1997 semifinal loss because involving head coach Clem Haskins, five other university employees, and at least eighteen players had committed academic fraud.
• Ohio State vacated its 1999 semifinal loss because Boban Savović was declared ineligible.
• Memphis vacated its 2008 championship game loss because Derrick Rose's SAT score was invalidated after the season.
• Louisville vacated its 2012 semifinal loss and their 2013 national championship because several unnamed players were declared ineligible as a result of a sex scandal. The Most Outstanding Player award, awarded to Luke Hancock, was vacated as part of the disciplinary action. Hancock and four other players sued the NCAA and alleged they had been cast in a "false light" in relation to the scandal. The NCAA agreed to restore their awards and statistics as part of a settlement, including Hancock's MOP award.

Notes

References

General

Men's Final Four 2023 Records Book(PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. 2009. Retrieved March 31, 2023.

Specific