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Don’t know anything about college basketball, but are still trying to pick a bracket? Perhaps there are some facts you want to share at the office water cooler on your group text?
We got you. Here’s one fact about every one of the 64 teams in 2023 March Madness.
1. Alabama (29-5): Despite all the off-court issues, the Crimson Tide are one of the fastest-paced teams in the country: Their average possession is just 15.3 seconds, the fifth rate in the country.
2. Houston (31-3): Houston has never won a national championship, but has been to the Final Four six times (1967, 1968, 1982, 1983, 1984, 2021). If they make it to the Final Four this year, they’ll be the first team to play in their hometown since the Butler Bulldogs in 2010.
3. Kansas (27-7): The Jayhawks are looking to become the third team to repeat as national champions since UCLA won nine out of 10 from 1964-73: Duke (1991-92) and Florida (2006-07) are the others.
4. Purdue (29-5): Zach Edey is the likely Naismith Player of the Year, and he looks to be the first to also win the national championship in the same season since Jason Williams for Duke in 2002.
5. UCLA (29-5): The Bruins are the top-rated defense in the country according to KenPom, and had won 12 in a row before blowing a lead late against Arizona in the Pac-12 championship game.
6. Texas (26-8): Texas was 7-1 this season before firing coach Chris Beard. His replacement Rodney Terry is 19-7, and guided the Longhorns to a No. 2 seed in both the Big 12 and NCAA Tournament.
7. Arizona (28-6): Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd is 8-1 in win-or-go-home situations in Tucson. He’s won two-straight Pac-12 Tournaments, and went to the Sweet 16 last season.
8. Marquette (28-6): Shaka Smart has now won a conference championship in three different leagues; the Colonial, the Big 12, and the Big East.
9. Baylor (22-10): Scott Drew has been at Baylor since 2004 with a record of 421-232. Since 2008, his Bears have finished outside the Top 25 in KenPom adjusted offense exactly twice (2011, 2018).
10. Gonzaga (28-5): Mark Few has 686 career wins. This season he passed John Wooden, Gary Williams, Lon Kruger, and Denny Crum on the all-time list.
11. Kansas St. (23-9): The last time the Wildcats were in the Final Four, former Chicago Bulls assistant and father of the triangle offense Tex Winter got them there in 1964. Their No. 3 seed this year is their highest since 2010, when Frank Martin led them to the Elite Eight as a No. 2.
12. Xavier (25-9): Sean Miller has guided Xavier to the NCAA Tournament his last five seasons in charge: From 2006-09, and in 2023. In the interim he was the head coach at Arizona for 12 seasons.
13. UConn (25-8): The computers love the Huskies much more than the standings. UConn was No. 1 in KenPom on December 20. They then beat Georgetown, and followed that up by losing five of their next six games. They fell all the way to ... No. 6. They enter the tournament as No. 4 via the computer ranking, and as a No. 4 seed.
14. Tennessee (23-10): Rick Barnes is 25–26 career in the NCAA Tournament. He’s lost in the first round 11 times.
15. Indiana (22-11): Mike Woodson played four seasons at Indiana from 1976-1980. The Hoosiers won the national championship the year before arrived, and the year after he left. In 11 seasons as an NBA player and 25 as an assistant coach, he also was never part of a title team.
16. Virginia (25-7): As long as March Madness stays at 68 teams, No. 1 Virginia’s loss to No. 16 UMBC in 2018 will be the worst upset by seed in the history of the sport. The Hoos won the national championship the following year.
17. San Diego St. (27-6): The Show has been in the NCAA Tournament 10 of the last 14 years, but has yet to reach an Elite Eight.
18. Duke (26-8): If Jon Scheyer wins his first NCAA Tournament game over Oral Roberts, he’ll have as many NCAA Tournament wins as former Duke assistant coach Chris Collins has had in 10 years at Northwestern. Or as many as Northwestern has had since beginning to play intercollegiate basketball in 1904.
19. Saint Mary’s (26-7): There are 363 Division I teams this season. Since 2016 under Randy Bennett, the Gaels have never finished higher than 339th in pace.
20. Miami (25-7): Jim Larranaga took George Mason to four NCAA Tournaments and one Final Four. He’s won two ACC regular season championships at Miami, and they were some freak injuries away from the Final Four last season. He needs to be in the Hall of Fame.
21. lowa St. (19-13): The Cyclones force their opponent to turn the ball over on a ridiculous 25.1% of possessions, the second-best number in the country. Only Merrimack, ineligible for the NCAA Tournament as part of their transition to Division I, was better.
22. Creighton (21-12): There are only two major conference teams worse at forcing turnovers than the Bluejays, who do so at a 14.3% clip: Notre Dame and Penn State.
23. Kentucky (21-11): Kentucky has not won an NCAA Tournament game in four years. Read that again.
24. TCU (21-12): The Horned Frogs were 21-12 this season. Mike Miles missed eight games due to various injuries. In games he didn’t play, TCU was just 3-5. He’s healthy for the NCAA Tournament.
25. Texas A&M (25-9): A&M lost to Murray State on a neutral floor, and Wofford at home this season. Since that Wofford loss they are 19-4, and for the season they are third in the country in free throw rate.
26. Michigan St. (19-12): January, February, Izzo, April, May... Tom Izzo has been at MSU since 1995. He missed the NCAA Tournament his first two seasons, and never since. He is a ridiculous 53–23 in March Madness.
27. Missouri (24-9): This is how Mizzou head coach Dennis Gates proposed to his wife Jocelyn. He’s simply a better boyfriend, fiancee, or husband than you can ever claim to be.
28. Northwestern (21-11): The following schools have appeared in more NCAA Tournament games than the Wildcats: City College of New York, Hardin-Simmons, Loyola New-Orleans, NYU
29. Memphis (26-8): Penny Hardaway in two years as a player at Memphis won three NCAA Tournament games. As a coach he’s looking for his first in his fifth season this year.
30. Arkansas (20-13): The Hogs have been to the Elite Eight the last two seasons, but haven’t been to a Final Four since coming one game from repeating as national champions in 1995.
31. Maryland (21-12): The Terps have won only one game in March, a 70-54 victory over Minnesota in the Big Ten Tournament. Head coach Kevin Willard is 1-5 lifetime in the NCAA Tournament.
32. lowa (1913): Iowa ranks No. 3 in adjusted offense nationally, but just 166th in defense. Fran McCaffery has won four NCAA Tournament games in 13 seasons at the school.
33. Fla. Atlantic (31-3): There are three teams tied for the best record in college basketball this season: FAU, Charleston, and Houston all finished the year 31-3.
34. West Virginia (19-14): The Mountaineers started Big 12 play at 0-5. They were 4-10 less than a month ago. But they finished 7-11 in the nation’s toughest league, and beat Texas Tech in the Big 12 Tournament to earn a berth here.
35. Auburn (20-12): Bruce Pearl might be the most hated coach by other coaches in all of college basketball.
36. Illinois (20-12): Illinois from three-point range in 2022: 35.9% (56th in the nation). Illinois from three-point range in 2023: 30.9% (330th). But they fell only from 30th to 57th in adjusted efficiency.
37. Boise St. (24-9): The Broncos lost to South Dakota State and Charlotte in the first week of the season. If you take away Utah State, they’re 22-5 since.
38. Penn St. (22-13): Drop coverage much? Penn State is seventh in turnovers allowed per possession, and 362nd in turnovers forced per possession.
39. Southern California (22-10): For the last three seasons in a row, USC has been one of the best three teams in the country in defensive two-point shot percentage allowed.
40. Utah St. (26-8): Since 1971, the Aggies are 1-17 in the NCAA Tournament. Their lone win during that stretch came over No. 5 seed Ohio State in 2001.
41. NC State (23-10): The Wolfpack haven’t won an NCAA Tournament game since 2016, and head coach Kevin Keatts is 0-3 career in March Madness: He was 0-2 at UNC-Wilmington, then lost in Round 1 in 2018, his first season in Raleigh.
42. Providence (21-11): Ed Cooley is 3-6 in the NCAA Tournament for the Friars, including a Sweet 16 last year. But before his 2011 arrival, the Friars had won three NCAA Tournament games combined since the Final Four run of Rick Pitino and point guard Billy Donovan in 1987. All three of those wins came the 1997 NCAA’s.
43. Pittsburgh (22-11): Before his First Four win, Jeff Capel’s last NCAA Tournament win as a coach was in the 2009 Sweet 16 for Oklahoma.
44. Arizona St. (22-12): There are four former Duke players coaching in this NCAA Tournament: ASU’s Bobby Hurley, Pitt’s Jeff Capel, Northwestern’s Chris Collins, and Duke’s Jon Scheyer.
45. Charleston (31-3): The Cougars overall record: 31-3, tied for best in the nation. Their Quad 1 record? 0-1, a 102-86 loss at North Carolina.
46. Oral Roberts (30-4): Senior Max Abmas has averaged at least 22 points per game for the Golden Eagles the last three seasons. He already has 2549 career points, and he can return in 2024 if he chooses. If he does, he still likely can’t get close to the 3,667 of Pete Maravich, the NCAA all-time Division I record.
47. Drake (27-7): Drake has not won an NCAA Tournament game since falling in the Elite Eight in 1971.
48. VCU (27-7): The Rams closed the season winning nine A-10 games in a row, seven of them by double digits. They bring the nation’s No. 16 adjusted defense via KenPom
49. Kent St. (28-6): The Golden Flashes won 10 of their last 11, and lost 49-44 at No. 1 seed Houston earlier this season.
50. lona (27-7): The Gaels have the nation’s third-longest active winning streak at 14, and in what might be Rick Pitino’s final season in charge, they hold opponents to just 29.2% from three-point range (8th nationally).
51. Furman (27-7): The Paladins are No. 1 in the nation from two-point range, shooting 59.1% from inside the arc.
52. Louisiana (26-7): Since restarting basketball in 1975, the Ragin’ Cajuns have just one NCAA Tournament win: An 87-83 win over Oklahoma in 1992.
53. Kennesaw St. (26-8): This is the Owls first-ever NCAA Tournament game. They finished their transition to Division I in 2010.
54. UC Santa Barbara (27-7): The Gauchos seek their first NCAA win since 1990, a 70-66 win over the Houston Cougars. It remains the only one in school history.
55. Grand Canyon (24-11): GCU is the only for-profit university in Division I.
56. Montana St. (25-9): The Bobcats have lost one games since January 16. They are 0-4 lifetime in the NCAA Tournament.
57. Vermont (23-10): This is the Catamounts fourth NCAA bid in the last six years, but their last win came in 2005, where they beat Syracuse 60-57 in overtime. This might be their best chance since, as they come in ranked No. 43 via KenPom.
58. Colgate (26-8): The Raiders are the nation’s No. 1 team from three-point range at 40.9%. They return four seniors from last season’s NCAA team that was leading Wisconsin late in the second half.
59. Princeton (21-8): Since Princeton offense inventor Pete Carill’s famous win over UCLA in the 1996 NCAA Tournament in his last season as head coach, the Tigers have won just one NCAA Tournament game; a 1998 win over UNLV.
60. UNC Asheville (27-7): The Bulldogs seek their first win in five tries in March Madness. They did get a Quad 1 win this season at Central Florida in a 98-95 double overtime victory.
61. Northern Ky. (22-12): The Norse are the No. 1 team in the nation at extending a possession, forcing their opponents to shoot after an average of 19.1 seconds of shot clock are burned.
62. Howard (22-12): The Bison are back in the Tournament for the first time since 1992. Their MEAC Tournament title was the fourth conference championship in school history.
63. A&M-Corpus Christi (23-10): The Islanders are No. 2 in the nation in free throw shooting at 79.9%
64. FDU (19-15): Seth Greenberg’s alma mater is 0-6 in the NCAA Tournament. That’s one less NCAA win than their ESPN broadcaster alum, who was 1-3 career in March Madness.