The program started on a 1-2 season with the only win over the Lexington YMCA. Seven NCAA Championships and 25 SEC Championships later, the CATS will go for win number 2,000 against the Drexel Dragons.
The winningest team in college basketball (the CATs, not Drexel) has lost their edge over the last few years, and many fans wondered if North Carolina would cross the finish line first. How close is North Carolina, Duke and Kansas? They’re very close! Too close for any Wildcat fan to feel comfortable. Your annoying neighborhood Duke or Kansas fan will point out that 2,000 wins is great, but it’s the tournament that counts. Here’s a rundown of ranking for tournament play.
MOST CONSECUTIVE TOURNAMENT APPEARANCES:
- Kentucky – 43
- UCLA – 37
- North Carolina – 35
- Kansas – 30
- Indiana – 30
- Louisville – 29
It’s great that we have the most consecutive appearances, but we’re still four championships behind UCLA. I have a feeling that we may have the lead before the Calipari writes it’s final chapter.
MOST NCAA TOURNAMENT APPEARENCS
- North Carolina – 102
- Kentucky – 100
- UCLA – 99
- Duke – 118
- Kansas – 121
- Louisville – 97
This is obviously a category where we lost the top spot over the last few years. We’re only two games behind UNC and we even missed the Big Dance last year.
MOST TOURNAMENT TITLES:
- UCLA – 11
- Kentucky – 7
- Indiana – 5
- North Carolina – 3
- Duke – 3
- Cincinnati – 2
- Louisville – 2
- NC State – 2
- Kansas – 2
- San Francisco – 2
- Oklahoma State – 2
I’ll say it again…Over the next 10-12 years, I think we have a legitimate shot to make a run at #1.
Look at these next three together and see if you can draw any conclusions…
MOST TIMES REACHING TITLE GAME:
- UCLA (11-1) – 12
- Kentucky (7-3) – 10
- Duke (3-6) – 9
- North Carolina (3-4) – 7
- Kansas (2-4) – 6
- Indiana (5-0) – 5
- Michigan (1-4) – 5
- Ohio State(1-3) – 4
- Georgetown (1-3) – 4
MOST FINAL FOUR APPEARANCES:
- UCLA – 15
- North Carolina – 15
- Kentucky – 13
- Duke – 13
- Kansas – 10
- Ohio State – 9
- Louisville – 7
- Indiana – 7
MOST FINAL FOUR WINS
- UCLA – 25
- Kentucky – 17
- Duke – 14
- North Carolina – 11
- Indiana – 11
- Kansas – 8
- Ohio State – 7
- Cincinnati – 7
- Michigan – 7
Here’s one of my conclusions and one of my favorite reasons I consider the University of Louisville the “choke” team of the century. You’ll see that Louisville ranks 7th in the number of Final Four appearances, but they don’t even make the list for “Most Final Four Wins”, which leads to missing the list for “Most Championship Games Reached”. So they make it to the Final Four….then they choke. That explains why the University of Louisville displays Final Four Banners on their scorers table and UK displays National Championships.
This list is just a reminder that we should all be thankful for being a Wildcat. When we’re criticized for our high/unrealistic expectations, remind everyone that’s why were not on this list. All of these teams are very good programs. The only difference is their fans accept not winning it all. Can you imagine how frustrating it would be to know that every time the Big Dance started, the odds were clearly stacked against you?
MOST TOURNAMENTS WITHOUT A TITLE:
- Syracuse – 27
- St. John’s – 26
- Notre Dame – 25
- Temple – 25
- Kansas State – 22
- Princeton – 22
- DePaul – 21
- Illinois – 21
- Oklahoma2 – 0
- Purdue – 19
