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Ladies and gentlemen, here are your contenders for the 2022 NCAA Tournament National Championship

EvilMonkeyInTheCloset

EvilMonkeyInTheCloset

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Feb 25, 2008
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your closet, most likely......
A lot of people have asked over the years just what is the importance of these conference basketball tournaments.

Well, I heard an interesting fact on Around the Horn yesterday, that no team in the last 35 years has gone on to win the national championship without at least reaching the semifinal round of their respective conference's tournament. So with that said, I give you the "semifinalists" for this year's NCAA Tournament Championship:

Vermont
Houston
Memphis
Davidson
Richmond
Duke
Virginia Tech
UNC
Miami
Jacksonville State
Kansas
Texas Tech
TCU
Villanova
Providence
UConn
Creighton
Montana State
Longwood
Iowa
Indiana
Purdue
Michigan State
Cal State Fullerton
Delaware
UAB
Wright State
Yale
Saint Peter's
Akron
Norfolk State
Loyola, Chicago
Boise State
San Diego State
Colorado State
Wyoming
Bryant
Murray State
Arizona
UCLA
USC
Colgate
Kentucky
Tennessee
Arkansas
Chattanooga
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Texas Southern
South Dakota State
Georgia State
Gonzaga
St. Mary's
San Francisco
New Mexico State


Edit- Here's the starting point for determining your national champion ;)


I will be adding other facts to eliminate teams and "shrink this list" as Bert asked.....
 
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Also, here's a few other fun facts:

- Not every conference has always had an end of season tournament. Here are the teams that won the national championship in that 35-year window, in years prior to their conference establishing a tournament:

1987 Indiana- regular season B10 champs

1989 Michigan- finished 3rd in B10

1995 UCLA- regular season Pac 10 champs

1997 Arizona- an underrated Cinderella run, the Wildcats finished 5th in the Pac 10 and won the NCAA Tournament as a 4 seed


- 2014 UConn went on an unprecedented run to a national title despite having not won either their regular season OR conference tournament championship. However, they were at least able to reach the Finals of the AAC Tournament.

The 2015 Duke Blue Devils are the only team to not win a regular season or conference tournament title AND fail to reach their conference tournament finals, and still go on to win the National Championship in the modern "conference tournament" era.

(Teams like 1997 Arizona and 1989 Michigan could technically be included, but again they did not play in a conference tourney)

- And while we're on the main topic, I did a little more research and while I didn't go back all the way to the beginning of the NCAA Tournament, I think it is safe to say that NO team in a conference that hosts a conf. tourney has failed to reach the semifinal round and then gone on to win a national championship.

(Again, this obviously excludes all the teams who won in years before their conference had a tournament.........or were Independent like Marquette in 1977)
 
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National champions since 2010:

2010 Duke (1 seed)- ACC Reg. and CT champions

2011 UConn (3 seed)- 9th in Big East, CT champions

2012 Kentucky (1 seed)- SEC Regular season champions, lost in CT Finals to Vanderbilt

2013 Louisville (1 seed)- Big East Reg. and CT champions

2014 UConn (7 seed)- 2nd in AAC, lost in CT Finals to Louisville

2015 Duke (1 seed)- 2nd in ACC, lost in CT Semies to Notre Dame

2016 Villanova (1 seed)- Big East Regular season champions, lost to Seton Hall in CT Finals

2017 North Carolina (1 seed)- ACC Regular Season champions, lost in CT Semies to Duke

2018 Villanova (1 seed)- 2nd in Big East, CT Champions

2019 Virginia (1 seed)- ACC Regular season champions, lost in CT Semies to Florida State

2021 Baylor (1 seed)- Big 12 Regular season champions, lost in CT Semies to Oklahoma State

2022 Kansas (1 seed)- Big 12 Reg. and CT champions
 
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How every upper tier conference champion fared entering the NCAA Tournament:

Houston- AAC Reg. and CT Champions

Duke- ACC Reg. Season Champs, lost in CT Finals

Kansas- Big 12 Reg. and CT Champions

**Baylor- Big 12 Reg. Season Champs, lost in CT Qtrs

Providence- Big East Reg. Season Champs, lost in CT Semies

**Wisconsin- Big Ten Reg. Season Champs, lost in CT Qtrs

**Illinois- Big Ten Reg. Season Champs, lost in CT Qtrs

Arizona- Pac 12 Reg. and CT Champions

**Auburn- SEC Reg. Season Champs, lost in CT Qtrs

Gonzaga- WCC Reg. and CT Champions


**- Failed to reach CT Semies
 
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EvilMonkeyInTheCloset said:
How every upper tier conference champion fared entering the NCAA Tournament:

Houston- AAC Reg. and CT Champions

Duke- ACC Reg. Season Champs, lost in CT Finals

Kansas- Big 12 Reg. and CT Champions

**Baylor- Big 12 Reg. Season Champs, lost in CT Qtrs

Providence- Big East Reg. Season Champs, lost in CT Semies

**Wisconsin- Big Ten Reg. Season Champs, lost in CT Qtrs

**Illinois- Big Ten Reg. Season Champs, lost in CT Qtrs

Arizona- Pac 12 Reg. and CT Champions

**Auburn- SEC Reg. Season Champs, lost in CT Qtrs

Gonzaga- WCC Reg. and CT Champions


**- Failed to reach CT Semies
Click to expand...
4 of the last 5 Champions (the other being Duke......) at least won their regular season title, so assuming that holds true, this would be your list to choose from....
 
EvilMonkeyInTheCloset said:
A lot of people have asked over the years just what is the importance of these conference basketball tournaments.

Well, I heard an interesting fact on Around the Horn yesterday, that no team in the last 35 years has gone on to win the national championship without at least reaching the semifinal round of their respective conference's tournament. So with that said, I give you the "semifinalists" for this year's NCAA Tournament Championship:

Vermont
Houston
Memphis
Davidson
Richmond
Duke
Virginia Tech
UNC
Miami
Jacksonville State
Kansas
Texas Tech
TCU
Villanova
Providence
UConn
Creighton
Montana State
Longwood
Iowa
Indiana
Purdue
Michigan State
Cal State Fullerton
Delaware
UAB
Wright State
Yale
Saint Peter's
Akron
Norfolk State
Loyola, Chicago
Boise State
San Diego State
Wyoming
Bryant
Murray State
Arizona
UCLA
USC
Colgate
Kentucky
Tennessee
Arkansas
Chattanooga
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Texas Southern
South Dakota State
Georgia State
Gonzaga
St. Mary's
San Francisco
New Mexico State


Edit- Here's the starting point for determining your national champion ;)


I will be adding other facts to eliminate teams and "shrink this list" as Bert asked.....
Click to expand...
So, you are just sharing fun facts and this isn't some sort of contest. I was all ready to join a pick em or something.
 
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ExitFlagger said:
I’ll simplify this for you guys…


View embedded media


View embedded media


You’re welcome.
Click to expand...
The injury to Arizona's PG will be the difference for them. If he can get healthy, Arizona would be the one to buck that parlay, because they fit most of the other criteria.

It's also funny because these Kentucky and Villanova teams are absolutely nowhere near the other teams that have won titles for their schools, but the stats suggest they have a chance.

That leaves Gonzaga needing to just beat Duke or Texas Tech in the Elite 8 to make the Final Four, and *gag* Kansas assuming they don't do Kansas things along the way to the Final Four.

And without looking, I assume the only reason Arizona isn't on that list is because of their coach.
 
EvilMonkeyInTheCloset said:
The injury to Arizona's PG will be the difference for them. If he can get healthy, Arizona would be the one to buck that parlay, because they fit most of the other criteria.

It's also funny because these Kentucky and Villanova teams are absolutely nowhere near the other teams that have won titles for their schools, but the stats suggest they have a chance.

That leaves Gonzaga needing to just beat Duke or Texas Tech in the Elite 8 to make the Final Four, and *gag* Kansas assuming they don't do Kansas things along the way to the Final Four.

And without looking, I assume the only reason Arizona isn't on that list is because of their coach.
Click to expand...
I was mostly kidding of course, but it’s interesting. It does make me wonder if a first year coach with a young roster can get it done, especially with the injury. But they look the part.
 
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Every national champ has been an 8 seed or higher. That would probably cut out more than half of the teams.

Also, Colorado State lost in the semis to SDSU, if I'm not mistaken.
 
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I am pretty sure Jacksonville State lost in the tournament semifinals, since Bellermine won the tourney and was not eligible the committee picked regular season champs Jax St.
 
Speaking of Wisconsin, what’s Davis’s status? I struggled to determine how far they’ll go, being a young team with potential health issues.
 
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