NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament (also known as March Madness) is a single-elimination (if you lose a game, you stop playing) college basketball tournament. It has 68 college teams in it. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) created it in 1939. When it was started in 1939, only eight teams played in the tournament. The tournament is played from mid-March to early April.

NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
Sport	Basketball
Founded	1939 (1939)
Inaugural season	[[1939 in sports|1939]]
No. of teams	64 (Tournament) 8 (First Four)
Country(ies)	United States
Most championships	UCLA (11)
Official website	ncaa.com/basketball

32 of the teams in the tournament are the best teams in each Division I conference. 36 of the teams join the tournament by winning other basketball games. These teams are chosen by the NCAA to be in the tournament. For the tournament, there are four regions. Each team is put into a region. Each region has 16 teams. The tournament has seven rounds. It is three weeks long. The first round is called the First Four. It has eight teams in it. The four winning teams join the tournament.

Each team is given a number. It is from 1 to 16. In the tournament, the semifinals are known as the Sweet Sixteen. The finals are known as the Elite Eight. They are named for how many teams are in these rounds.

Thirty seven college basketball teams have won the tournament. As of 2023, UCLA has won it eleven times. The Kentucky Wildcats have won it eight times. The coach with the most wins is John Wooden. He coached UCLA. He has won it ten times.

Titles by school

The following is a list of all schools that have won at least one NCAA men's basketball tournament, along with the year(s) in which they won their championship(s).

*Vacated title not included

Team # Years UCLA 11 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1995 Kentucky 8 1948, 1949, 1951, 1958, 1978, 1996, 1998, 2012 North Carolina 6 1957, 1982, 1993, 2005, 2009, 2017 Duke 5 1991, 1992, 2001, 2010, 2015 Indiana 1940, 1953, 1976, 1981, 1987 UConn 1999, 2004, 2011, 2014, 2023, 2024 Kansas 4 1952, 1988, 2008, 2022 Villanova 3 1985, 2016, 2018 Cincinnati 2 1961, 1962 Florida 2006, 2007 Louisville 1980, 1986, 2013* Michigan State 1979, 2000 NC State 1974, 1983 Oklahoma State 1945, 1946 San Francisco 1955, 1956

Team # Year Arizona 1 1997 Arkansas 1994 Baylor 2021 California 1959 CCNY 1950 Georgetown 1984 Holy Cross 1947 La Salle 1954 Loyola Chicago 1963 Marquette 1977 Maryland 2002 Michigan 1989 Ohio State 1960 Oregon 1939 UNLV 1990 Stanford 1942 Syracuse 2003 UTEP 1966 Utah 1944 Virginia 2019 Wisconsin 1941 Wyoming 1943

Schools that have won the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament 11, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament Media The official logo of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), used since 2000 A ticket from the 1988 tournament held in Kansas City, Missouri The University of Dayton Arena, which has hosted all First Four games since the round's inception in 2011 (except 2021), as well as its precursor, the single "play-in" game held from 2001 to 2010. As of 2025, the arena has hosted 139 tournament games, the most of any venue. Rank#1 vs. other ranks (prior to 2018)