Ranking the Top Programs of the 21st Century: #250-#201

The NCAA tournament started in 1939. The first year,  eight teams were invited to take part, with the Oregon Ducks becoming the first NCAA champions. The field steadily expanded over the years and was increased to sixteen teams in 1951; 22 in 1953; and 32 in 1975. In the 1980s the tournament really started to grow. The selection process brought in 40 teams for the 1979 tournament and then increased to 48 for the 1980 Championship. By 1982 the Selection Show started airing and in 1983 the tournament was up to 53 teams competing to become National Champions. In 1985 the now familiar 64-team format took shape with four regions seeded one through 16. In 2001 a play in game was added as well as a 65th team. This remained until 2011 when the First Four started and the tournament was increased to the current 68 team field. In the 21st century a total of 257 teams have competed in the NCAA Championship. 143 teams have won at least one game and advanced to the round of 32. 86 teams have played in the Sweet Sixteen, 56 in the Elite Eight, and 35 in the Final Four. 22 different schools have competed in a National Title game with 11 schools winning a title (10 teams if you take into account Louisville’s 2013 vacated title). The expansion of the NCAA tournament has allowed for many more schools to play  in the Big Dance, but also show the world that they can compete in the tournament as well.

Ranking the Top Programs of the 21st Century: #351-#301

Ranking the Top Programs of the 21st Century: #300-#251

# 250 Southern Utah Thunderbirds

# 249 Southern Miss Golden Eagles

# 248 Marist Red Foxes

# 247 Southeast Missouri State Redhawks

# 246 DePaul Blue Demons

# 245 Bethune-Cookman Wildcats

# 244 Charleston Southern Buccaneers

# 243 Air Force Falcons

# 242 Western Carolina Catamounts

# 241 Houston Cougars

# 240 Elon Phoenix

# 239 Eastern Michigan Eagles

# 238 Illinois-Chicago Flames

# 237 Drake Bulldogs

# 236 Florida Atlantic Owls

# 235 Delaware  Fightin’ Blue Hens

# 234 New Orleans Privateers

# 233 Jacksonville   Dolphins

# 232 Miami (OH) RedHawks

# 231 Denver Pioneers

# 230 IUPUI Jaguars

# 229 Northern Kentucky Norse

# 228 Arkansas State Red Wolves

# 227 Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners

# 226 Cleveland State Vikings

# 225 Arizona State Sun Devils

# 224 Norfolk State Spartans

# 223 Colorado State Rams

# 222 Alcorn State Braves

# 221 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders

# 220 San Diego  Toreros

# 219 Green Bay Phoenix

# 218 Fairleigh Dickinson Knights

# 217 St. John’s Red Storm

# 216 Minnesota Golden Gophers

# 215 James Madison Dukes

# 214 Pepperdine Waves

# 213 South Dakota Coyotes

# 212 Lafayette Leopards

# 211 UC Davis Aggies

# 210 St. Francis (NY) Terriers

# 209 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks

# 208 Liberty Flames

# 207 Cal State Fullerton Titans

# 206 St. Bonaventure Bonnies

# 205 Texas San Antonio Roadrunners

# 204 Clemson Tigers

# 203 Rhode Island Rams

# 202 North Texas Mean Green

# 201 North Florida Ospreys