5 schools with most NCAA basketball championships
UConn defeated San Diego State 76-59 on Monday to capture its fifth NCAA championship. It was the Huskies' first national title since 2014 and fifth since 1999, which is also the program's first Final Four appearance. They may have cemented themselves as the most successful program of the last 25 years.
The Huskies' first four national championships all involved future NBA players. Richard Hamilton was their star in 1999, while Emeka Okafor and Ben Gordon led the 2004 team. Kemba Walker delivered a title in 2011 before Shabazz Napier helped UConn win three years later.
While the Huskies have the most NCAA titles in the last 25 years, they are not the school with the most national championships.
Here are the five schools with the highest number of national titles.
#1, UCLA (11)
UCLA comes in at No. 1 with 11 national championships to their name. Ten of those titles came under legendary coach John Wooden, who is considered the greatest coach in college basketball history.
Wooden led UCLA to the championship in 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973 and 1795. The Bruins won their 11th national title in 1995 under Jim Harrick.
Wooden's UCLA teams had future Hall of Famers such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton and Gail Goodrich. The 1995 UCLA team, on the other hand, had Ed O'Bannon as its best player.
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#2, Kentucky (8)
Kentucky has the second-most national championships with eight. Unlike UCLA, the Wildcats did not have a long run at the top. They won their first three titles from 1948 to 1951 before adding a fourth in 1958.
The Wildcats won their fifth national title 20 years later. They added two more in the mid-1990s before winning their eighth in 2012. While Kentucky doesn't have the highest number of NCAA titles, they have produced the most NBA players.
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#3, North Carolina (6)
North Carolina will always be known as Michael Jordan's alma mater. Jordan helped UNC win its second national championship in 1982. Since MJ left the school in 1984, the Tar Heels have added four more titles to bring their total to six.
UNC can also be considered among the most successful programs of the past 20 years. The Tar Heels have three championships in that span: in 2005, 2009 and 2017. They failed to make it to the tournament this season (after a surprise run to the championship game last season), but are expected to bounce back next year.
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#4, UConn, Indiana and Duke (5)
UConn jumped to fourth on the list after winning its fifth national championship on Monday. The Huskies are tied with Indiana and Duke.
Indiana has not won a title since 1987, but the Blue Devils have won three national titles since 2001. Mike Kryzewski turned Duke into a powerhouse, winning the school's first national title in 1991. Meanwhile, the Hoosiers, who had a celebrated perfect 29-0 season in 1974-75, have not had sustained success since the days of Isiah Thomas.
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#5, Kansas (4)
Kansas jumped to the fifth spot after winning its fourth national championship last year. The Jayhawks were previously tied with the Villanova Wildcats for three titles. Kansas won its first NCAA tournament in 1952 and its second in 1988.
The Jayhawks have had success in the past 15 years with two national championships since 2008. Christian Braun and Ochai Agbaji helped them win last year, while the 2008 team had future NBA players Mario Chalmers, Cole Aldrich, Brandon Rush and Darrell Arthur.
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