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