When the March Madness bracket was revealed on Sunday, everyone started to look at potential upsets and storylines that would keep basketball fans talking all tournament long.
Will a mid-major make another run like San Diego State last year? Will Kansas be one-and-done due to injury concerns? Why was one team in over another?
In trying to create unique content this time of year, CBB Review wanted to take a different approach with this article. We will look at each team, region by region, and give you one graduate from each university represented.
When compiling this list, we tried to find the graduates that people may not have known were alumni of the school. Also, while some of these graduates may not be the most famous alumni, they did go on to make an impact in whatever field they entered after graduation.
Each region will be listed in order, starting with the number one seed.
East Region
- UConn: Kirk Ferentz (current head coach of Iowa football)
- Iowa State: John Cooper (192-84-6 record in 24 seasons coaching college football, including Ohio State)
- Illinois: Nick Offerman (played Ron Swanson on Parks and Recreation)
- Auburn: Kevin Greene (69 career tackles, drafted by LA Rams in 1985)
- San Diego State: Joe Gibbs (Super Bowl-winning coach of Washington Redskins)
- BYU: Jon Heder (famous for starring in Napoleon Dynamite)
- Washington State: Keith Jackson (the voice of college football on ABC from 1966-2006)
- Florida Atlantic: Tecia Torres (13-6 record in MMA)
- Northwestern: Mike Adamle (still holds single-game rushing record with 316 yards)
- Drake: Dave Doeren (current coach of NC State football)
- Duquesne: John Clayton (one of the top NFL writers in ESPN history)
- UAB: Sam Hunt (country music singer and former Blazers quarterback)
- Yale: Amos Alonzo Stagg (named to the first All-America Team in 1889)
- Morehead State: Phil Simms (Super Bowl-winning quarterback with NY Giants)
- South Dakota State: Adam Vinatieri (four-time Super Bowl champion)
- Stetson: Tom Riginos (current coach of Winthrop baseball)
South Region
- Houston: Jim Parsons (portrayed Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory)
- Marquette: Chris Farley (popular cast member of Saturday Night Live in the early 90s)
- Kentucky: Elizabeth Hulette (known as wrestling manager Miss Elizabeth)
- Duke: Rene Echevarria (screenwriter on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
- Wisconsin: Andy Katz (one of the top reporters in college basketball)
- Texas Tech: John Denver (best-selling artist in the 1970s with over 300 songs recorded)
- Florida: Darrell Hammon (Saturday Night Live cast member from 1995-2009)
- Nebraska: Johnny Carson (legendary host of The Tonight Show)
- Texas A&M: Gene Stallings (coached Alabama to 1993 national title in football)
- Boise State: Scott Jorgensen (Retired MMA fighter with 15-12 record)
- Colorado: Chris Fowler (host of College GameDay from 1990 until 2015)
- NC State: Josh Tesh (writer of famous NBA on NBC theme “Roundball Rock”)
- James Madison: Tony Schiavone (long-time wrestling announcer for WCW and AEW)
- Vermont: Rollie Massimino (coached Villanova to the 1982 National Championship)
- Oakland: Curtis Armstrong (stared in Revenge of the Nerds series)
- Western Kentucky: Michael Rosenbaum (portrayed Lex Luthor in Smallville)
- Longwood: Megan Baltzell (career .400 hitter in softball)
Midwest Region
- Purdue: Ryan Newman (2008 Dayton 500 winner)
- Tennessee: Bianca Belair (one of two women to win a main event match at WWE WrestleMania)
- Creighton: William Dozier (executive producer of Batman and The Green Hornet in the 1960s)
- Kansas: Nikki Glaser (stand-up comedian)
- Gonzaga: Mark Britton (founder of Avvo.com)
- South Carolina: Lillian Garcia (former WWE ring announcer for 15 years)
- Texas: Robert Rodriguez (director of From Dusk till Dawn)
- Utah State: Dick Motta (coached Washington Bullets to the NBA Championship)
- TCU: Larry Foyt (former NASCAR driver)
- Virginia: Ralph Wilson (founder of Buffalo Bills)
- Colorado State: John Amos (known for roles on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Good Times)
- Oregon: Christopher Judge (former defensive player known for playing Teal’c on Stargate SG-1)
- McNeese: Bobby Kimball (frontman of the band Toto)
- Samford: Tony Hale (played on Arrested Development and Veep)
- Akron: China Krys Darrington (first sponsored female freestyle BMX rider)
- St. Peter’s: Murphy Wiredu (led soccer team to the 2008 tournament as an at-large team)
- Montana State: Craig Kilborn (original host of The Daily Show)
- Grambling State: Ernie Ladd (Professional wrestling star after winning 1963 AFL Title)
West Region
- North Carolina: Lewis Black (fixture of The Daily Show)
- Arizona: Ron Shelton (Bull Durham director)
- Baylor: Jeff Dunham (Ventriloquist)
- Alabama: Jim Nabors (portrayed Gomer Pyle on The Andy Griffith Show)
- St. Mary’s: Ken Hofmann (former owner of Seattle Seahawks and Oakland A’s)
- Clemson: Jamey Rootes (former president of Houston Texans)
- Dayton: Chuck Noll (four-time Super Bowl-winning coach of Pittsburgh Steelers)
- Mississippi State: John Grisham (written 37 consecutive number-one bestsellers)
- Michigan State: William Myers (known as professional wrestler George “The Animal” Steele)
- Nevada: Charley Douglass (inventor of the laugh track)
- New Mexico: Katie Hnida (first woman to score in a D1 college football game)
- Grand Canyon: Josh McDermitt (portrayed Eugene Porter on The Walking Dead)
- Charleston: Anthony Johnson (first basketball player from the school drafted in NBA)
- Colgate: The Broken Lizard comedy troupe (the team behind Super Troopers)
- Long Beach State: Chris Carter (creator of 1990s sci-fi show The X-Files)
- Howard: Chadwick Boseman (first feature film credit was portraying Floyd Little in The Express: The Ernie Davis Story)
- Wagner: Phillip Theis (Professional wrestler Damien Demento, was in main event of first Monday Night Raw)
Which graduate surprised you the most? Did we miss any graduates that were necessarily well-known? Let us know and enjoy every moment of this year’s March Madness!