NCAA Tournament Appearances by State

When Vermont beat Syracuse in the first round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament, it was a great moment, not only because it was a huge upset, but because the state of Vermont doesn’t get a lot of sports notoriety nationally.  The upset was a moment of pride for the entire state.

When the tournament field is announced I always look to see if any teams from states we never hear from get into the tournament.   I also always look to see what states have the most teams in the tournament.  This interest in individual states participation in the tournament has inspired me to do more research on the topic.

Teams in the states of California (188), Pennsylvania (176), and North Carolina (165) have had the most appearances in the tournament since it began in 1939.  Teams from the states of Alaska, Maine, and South Dakota have never made appearances in the tournament.  Keep in mind though that the state of Alaska has never had a team participate in Division I college basketball, and Maine and South Dakota have only had one and two teams respectively compete in Division I college basketball.  Check the table/chart below for a breakdown of all-time tournament appearances by state.

Legend: App (Appearances)

State	App		State	App
California	188		Iowa	45
Pennsylvania	176		Arizona	44
North Carolina	165		District of Columbia	42
Texas	147		Connecticut	39
Kentucky	138		Missouri	37
Ohio	137		Arkansas	35
New York	130		Georgia	34
Indiana	126		Mississippi	31
Tennessee	93		New Mexico	30
Illinois	88		Oregon	30
Utah	88		West Virginia	29
Oklahoma	80		Rhode Island	25
Virginia	75		Nevada	24
Kansas	73		Colorado	23
Michigan	67		Nebraska	22
Louisiana	65		Idaho	20
Alabama	57		Wyoming	14
Massachusetts	56		Minnesota	11
New Jersey	53		Montana	11
Wisconsin	53		New Hampshire	7
Florida	51		Delaware	5
Maryland	48		Hawaii	4
South Carolina	48		Vermont	4
Washington	48		North Dakota	1

It’s no surprise that California leads all states in tournament appearances.  The state of California does host the most Division I teams (24).  When you divide all-time tournament appearances, by the number of Division I teams each state hosted during the 2010-11 college basketball season, and it turns out that the state of Kansas has theoretically done the most with the least, in regards to tournament appearances.

Teams in the state of Kansas have made 24.3 tournament appearances per team.  Below is the complete list of tournament appearances each state has had, per active Division 1 teams within the state.

Legend: App/Tm (Appearances per Team)

State	App/Tm		State	App/Tm
Kansas	24.3		Missouri	7.4
Kentucky	23.0		Texas	7.0
Oklahoma	20.0		Arkansas	7.0
New Mexico	15.0		Illinois	6.8
Arizona	14.7		Idaho	6.7
Utah	14.7		New Jersey	6.6
West Virginia	14.5		Alabama	6.3
Wyoming	14.0		Rhode Island	6.3
Wisconsin	13.3		New York	5.9
Indiana	12.6		Connecticut	5.6
Pennsylvania	12.6		Montana	5.5
Nevada	12.0		Louisiana	5.4
Iowa	11.3		Virginia	5.4
Minnesota	11.0		Maryland	5.3
Nebraska	11.0		Mississippi	5.2
Ohio	10.5		Georgia	4.9
District of Columbia	10.5		Colorado	4.6
Washington	9.6		South Carolina	4.0
Michigan	9.6		Hawaii	4.0
Massachusetts	9.3		Vermont	4.0
North Carolina	9.2		Florida	3.9
California	7.8		New Hampshire	3.5
Tennessee	7.8		Delaware	2.5
Oregon	7.5		North Dakota	0.5

 

The state of Kansas has also averaged the highest seed rankings (4.76).  Check out the table below for more.  It’s important to note that the NCAA started giving teams seed rankings in 1979.

State	Avg Seed		State	Avg Seed
Kansas	4.76		New York	8.68
Arizona	5.50		New Mexico	8.89
North Carolina	6.09		Utah	8.98
Connecticut	6.21		Alabama	9.00
Oklahoma	6.36		Pennsylvania	9.08
Nevada	6.48		Tennessee	9.12
Michigan	6.92		Nebraska	9.25
District of Columbia	6.94		Texas	9.30
Minnesota	7.00		Maryland	9.45
Kentucky	7.07		Rhode Island	9.46
Oregon	7.18		Massachusetts	9.58
Indiana	7.22		Virginia	9.93
Iowa	7.37		Mississippi	10.23
Washington	7.39		Louisiana	10.64
Illinois	7.43		South Carolina	11.23
Wisconsin	7.47		New Jersey	11.43
Arkansas	7.79		Colorado	11.50
Georgia	7.94		Hawaii	11.67
Missouri	8.06		Idaho	12.00
Ohio	8.15		Delaware	14.00
West Virginia	8.18		North Dakota	14.00
Florida	8.30		Montana	14.67
California	8.35		Vermont	15.00
Wyoming	8.60

 

The state of California has had at least one team make the tournament every year since 1950.  It’s the longest streak of its kind in the nation.  On the other end the spectrum, the state of New Hampshire hasn’t had a tournament team since 1959.  In regards to this year’s tournament, for the first time since 1982, the state of Oklahoma won’t be sending a team to the dance.  Check out the table below.

Tourny Streak	Years	Since		Tourny Drought	Years	Since
California	62 years	1950		New Hampshire	52 years	1959
Kentucky	48 years	1964		Hawaii	9 years	2002
New York	39 years	1973		Wyoming	9 years	2002
North Carolina	38 years	1974		Rhode Island	7 years	2004
Pennsylvania	35 years	1977		Delaware	6 years	2005

 

The state of Texas sent seven teams to the tournament in 2010, and the state of California sent seven teams to the tournament in 2002. Both were the most by any state in one single tournament.  The table below displays all instances in which states have sent five or more teams to a single tournament.

Year	State	Teams		Year	State	Teams
2002	California	7		1993	Louisiana	5
2010	Texas	7		1996	California	5
1997	California	6		1996	North Carolina	5
2000	Indiana	6		1998	Michigan	5
2001	California	6		2000	New York	5
2002	North Carolina	6		2001	North Carolina	5
2008	California	6		2003	Indiana	5
1979	California	5		2003	North Carolina	5
1982	Pennsylvania	5		2004	North Carolina	5
1985	Pennsylvania	5		2005	North Carolina	5
1986	North Carolina	5		2006	North Carolina	5
1988	North Carolina	5		2007	Texas	5
1988	Pennsylvania	5		2008	Tennessee	5
1988	Texas	5		2009	Ohio	5
1989	Tennessee	5		2010	Pennsylvania	5
1991	Pennsylvania	5		2011	Pennsylvania	5
1992	North Carolina	5		2011	Virginia	5

 

The first tournament consisted of eight teams, and eight different states were represented.  Listed below is a table showing when each state first sent a team(s) to the tournament.

State	Year		State	Year
North Carolina	1939		Missouri	1944
Ohio	1939		Maryland	1947
Oklahoma	1939		Michigan	1948
Oregon	1939		Connecticut	1949
Pennsylvania	1939		Arizona	1951
Rhode Island	1939		Montana	1951
Texas	1939		New Jersey	1952
Utah	1939		New Mexico	1952
California	1940		Idaho	1953
Colorado	1940		Louisiana	1953
Indiana	1940		Tennessee	1955
Kansas	1940		West Virginia	1955
Kentucky	1940		Florida	1960
Massachusetts	1940		Georgia	1960
Arkansas	1941		Mississippi	1963
Nebraska	1941		Virginia	1964
New Hampshire	1941		South Carolina	1971
Washington	1941		Hawaii	1972
Wisconsin	1941		Minnesota	1972
Wyoming	1941		Alabama	1975
Illinois	1942		Nevada	1975
District of Columbia	1943		Delaware	1992
New York	1943		Vermont	2003
Iowa	1944		North Dakota	2009

 

Bonus: Listed below are the cities which have had the most tournament appearances.

Legend: App (Appearances)

Team City	Team State	App
Philadelphia	Pennsylvania	118
Los Angeles	California	66
Lexington	Kentucky	52
Cincinnati	Ohio	47
Chapel Hill	North Carolina	42
Washington	District of Columbia	42
Lawrence	Kansas	40
New York	New York	40
Louisville	Kentucky	37
Bloomington	Indiana	35
Durham	North Carolina	35
Pittsburgh	Pennsylvania	35
Syracuse	New York	34
Milwaukee	Wisconsin	32
South Bend	Indiana	31
Chicago	Illinois	30
Storrs	Connecticut	30
Austin	Texas	29
Champaign	Illinois	29
Fayetteville	Arkansas	29
Tucson	Arizona	29

 

References: HoopsTournament.net NCAA Tournament Database, College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com, Wikipedia: Flags of the U.S. States, D.C. Flag