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Christopher Boan is a lead writer at BetKansas.com specializing in covering state issues. He covered sports and sports betting in Arizona for more than seven years.
Where Kansas Ranks Among Most Consistent NCAA Tournament Teams
An annual springtime rite of passage is about to pick up once again in Lawrence. The Kansas Jayhawks are a virtual lock to make the 2025 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, which is what they’ve done in March in each tournament held since 1990.
We at BetKansas.com, as part of our Kansas sports betting coverage, wondered if the Jayhawks are the most consistent NCAA Tournament men’s basketball team since 2000. We created a points system to measure this: 10 points for a national title, 8 for a title game loss, 7 for Final Four, 5 for Elite Eight, 3 for Sweet 16, 2 for a second-round loss and 1 for a first-round or First Four loss. Here are the steadiest tournament teams in this millennium.
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Most Consistent NCAA Tournament Teams Since 2000
School | Final Fours | Championships | Points |
Kansas | 6 | 2 | 102 |
North Carolina | 7 | 3 | 97 |
Duke | 5 | 3 | 97 |
Michigan State | 7 | 1 | 91 |
Kentucky | 4 | 1 | 81 |
Connecticut | 6 | 5 | 80 |
Gonzaga | 2 | 0 | 74 |
Florida | 4 | 2 | 71 |
Wisconsin | 3 | 0 | 64 |
Arizona | 1 | 0 | 61 |
Note: There was no NCAA Tournament in 2020. Kansas vacated its participation in the 2018 tournament, but it’s included here.
This list was compiled exclusively for BetKansas.com, where you’ll find the best Kansas sportsbook promo codes in plenty of time for March Madness.
This year’s KU squad sits 17-7 overall and 8-5 in Big 12 play with seven games left, four games behind conference leader Houston. The Jayhawks hit the road to play unranked Utah (on Saturday) and BYU (on Tuesday night) before returning to Phog Allen Fieldhouse to host Oklahoma State on Feb. 22.
For now, oddsmakers from DraftKings Kansas Sportsbook have KU as a +13000 longshot to win the Big 12 in 2025, ranking fourth overall alongside Iowa State and behind Houston (-280), Arizona (+425) and Texas Tech (+750). ESPN bracket expert Joe Lunardi has the Jayhawks in the Midwest Region as a No. 4 seed, playing 13th seeded Arkansas State in the first round in Providence.
Where KU Ranks Among Consistent NCAAB Teams
Of the 300-plus teams that suit up NCAA men’s basketball teams each season at the Division I level, none have had the type of overall success in March Madness as coach Bill Self’s bunch has in the 21st century. According to our scoring system to measure NCAA Tournament success since 2000, KU scored 102 points overall. That was five points ahead of Duke and North Carolina, then Michigan State was fourth at 91 points.
KU has been a top-four seed for every 68-team NCAA field since 2001; will that streak continue? Check out what seed is Kansas for March Madness for our latest speculation.
As for the past 20-plus years, Kansas is No. 1 not only because they’re in the field every year, but because of two championships in that span (2008 and 2022), two defeats in the title game (2003 and 2012) plus two other trips to the Final Four (2002 and 2018). The Jayhawks eked out Tobacco Road rivals UNC and Duke for the top spot, though KU has one fewer championship since 2000 than the Blue Devils or Tar Heels.
Of the teams in the top 10 nationally, scoring wise, Michigan State and UNC have the most Final Four berths (seven each), while KU is tied with UConn for second overall at six. UConn has five national titles since 2000 including the past two, topping the list in that category. But the Huskies have also missed the field eight times in that span, which helps explain why the program is sixth on our list with 80 points, just behind fifth-place Kentucky (81).
Gonzaga (74 points), Florida (71), Wisconsin (64) and Arizona (61) round out the top 10, illustrating how special KU’s current hardwood run is in the grand scheme of Division I men’s hoops.
For now, Self’s bunch will look to claw back a bit closer to the top of the Big 12 as the regular-season conference championship race draws toward a close. At FanDuel Kansas Sportsbook, the Jayhawks have +4000 odds to win the 2025 national title, as of Feb. 14.
USA Today photo by Bob Donnan
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