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Facts About the History of the NCAA Tournament

May 26, 2011 | By Kwabena Stefan

Each year, the National Collegiate Athletic Association crowns its Division I men's basketball champion through a 68-team competition commonly referred to as the NCAA tournament. Teams are separated into four regions and are seeded based on their regular-season record and other data. Teams who win their conference championship are given automatic entry into the field.

History of the Tournament

The first NCAA men's basketball tournament was played in 1939, on the campus of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. It was the idea of Harry Olsen, a past president of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, the organization reports on its website. Olsen believed a basketball championship event could become a premier sporting event, and despite losing money on its first edition, in which the University of Oregon defeated Ohio State University for the title, it began to make money in 1940, when the NCAA took over tournament operations.

Winningest Programs

Through 2010, the University of Kentucky has the most NCAA tournament appearances, with 51, followed by UCLA, the University of North Carolina and Kansas University, with 43, 41 and 39, respectively. UCLA won a record 38 consecutive NCAA tournament games between 1964 and 1974. Duke University has the highest winning percentage in the tournament, having won 75.8 percent of its games. The programs with the most titles overall are UCLA (11), Kentucky (7), Indiana University (5), North Carolina (5) and Duke (4).

Records

The most points ever scored in a game by one player is 61, by Austin Carr of the University of Notre Dame against Ohio University in 1970. Fred Cohen of Temple University holds the record for most rebounds in a game, with 34 in 1956 against the University of Connecticut. Mark Wade of UNLV dished a record 18 assists in 1987 against Indiana. Shaquille O'Neal of Louisiana State University blocked a record 11 shots in 1992 against Brigham Young University. The most steals in a single game is 8 by Darrell Hawkins of the University of Arkansas in 1993 against Holy Cross University, the NCAA reports on its website.

Other Tournaments

Because of the success of the NCAA tournament for basketball, other college sports also began using similar tournaments to determine their champions. In 1948, the NCAA Division I men's hockey tournament began with Michigan defeating Dartmouth; it has, as of 2010, grown to 16 teams and, referencing basketball's Final Four, features a Frozen Four. NCAA champions are now determined through single-elimination tournaments for basketball, hockey, lacrosse, soccer, tennis, volleyball and football, except for the Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly known as I-A. The NCAA baseball tournament is double elimination.

References

Article reviewed by Will McCahill Last updated on: May 26, 2011

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