March Madness

Which school has the most NCAA Tournament men's basketball championships?

Florida moved up the list of the winningest schools in NCAA history by claiming the 2025 national title.

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The 2025 men's NCAA Tournament ended with movement in the all-time championship ladder.

In a Final Four that featured all four No. 1 seeds, it was Florida that came out on top in San Antonio to win the 2025 national title.

The Gators reached the mountaintop by eliminating No. 16 Norfolk State, No. 8 UConn (which entered as the two-time defending national champion), No. 4 Maryland, No. 3 Texas Tech and No. 1 Auburn before clawing back to defeat No. 1 Houston in the national championship game.

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How does Florida stack up against the most storied programs in NCAA history? Here’s a glance at the Gators and other prominent programs with the most titles:

1. UCLA – 11

1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1995

The most decorated team in men’s college basketball history resides in the City of Angels. 

John Wooden’s team ran college basketball in the 1960s and 1970s. The team won 10 titles in a 12-season stretch, including four undefeated seasons and a championship sendoff for Wooden in his final season.

Twenty years after Wooden’s departure, UCLA earned its 11th national title by winning the 1995 NCAA Tournament.

2. Kentucky – 8

1948, 1949, 1951, 1958, 1978, 1996, 1998, 2012

Next up is another blue blood program.

Adolph Rupp led Kentucky to four national championships during his 41-year tenure as head coach. Since Rupp left the school in 1972, four different coaches have led the Wildcats to their four most recent titles.

T-3. North Carolina – 6

1957, 1982, 1993, 2005, 2009, 2017

Even with a heartbreaking defeat against Kansas in 2022, North Carolina has the third-most national championships in history.

The Tar Heels won their first title in 1957 and didn’t win another until Michael Jordan and James Worthy came along. UNC claimed its third championship in 1993 and won three more in the Roy Williams era, which began with the 2004-05 season.

One thing that worked in the Tar Heels’ favor was its ability to put a championship defeat in the rearview. The team bounced back from Kris Jenkins’ iconic buzzer-beater in 2016 to win the 2017 championship over Gonzaga. UNC did not have the same kind of turnaround in 2022-23, though, missing out on the 2023 tournament entirely.

T-3. UConn – 6

1999, 2004, 2011, 2014, 2023, 2024

The UConn Huskies won their first four titles over a 16-season stretch. Jim Calhoun was in charge for the first three championships, while Kevin Ollie was the head coach in 2014. The team then went back-to-back in 2023 and 2024 with Dan Hurley at the helm.

UConn has one thing the three teams higher or tied on this list do not: an undefeated championship game record. The Huskies are the only team to play in four or more national title games and win each one, and that streak extended when they beat Purdue 75-60 to make it six titles last April.

The UConn men’s basketball team is seeking its third straight national championship, while the South Carolina Lady Gamecocks try to claim their fourth title in program history after an undefeated 2024 season. Here are key dates and locations for the 2025 men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournament, set to kick off on Selection Sunday, March 16.

T-5. Duke – 5

1991, 1992, 2001, 2010, 2015

Duke had just two title game appearances before 1980. Then, Coach K arrived.

After a decade at the school, Mike Krzyzewski and Co. won their first title in 1991 and won it again the next season. The Blue Devils collected three more trophies in the 21st century, with the most recent coming in 2015.

Here are five things to know about Cooper Flagg.

T-5. Indiana – 5

1940, 1953, 1976, 1981, 1987

Indiana won the second ever national championship game in 1940. It took 13 years before it won a second title and had an even longer stretch before getting a third. Bob Knight then led the Hoosiers to three championships from 1976 to 1987.

Of the nine schools that have won three or more titles, Indiana has the longest active title drought.

7. Kansas – 4

1952, 1988, 2008, 2022

Kansas moved up the list and into a tie for sixth place in all-time national championships.

While Kansas is one of the most storied programs in NCAA history, its four titles are spread out. Its second title came 36 years after its first, and its third came 20 years after its second. With a historic win in 2022, the Jayhawks raised the national championship trophy for the first time in 14 years.

T-8. Villanova – 3

1985, 2016, 2018

Villanova’s first championship was one of the most improbable in NCAA Tournament history. The 1984-85 Wildcats remain the lowest seed to ever win the national title, accomplishing the feat as a No. 8 seed.

Twenty-one years later, the school won its second championship thanks to an unforgettable buzzer-beater from Jenkins. It didn’t take long for Villanova to get a third one, as it rolled to a national title game win over Michigan in 2018.

T-8. Florida – 3

2006, 2007, 2025

Florida lifted the championship trophy for the first time in 2006, and Billy Donovan's team ran it back to successfully defend its title in 2007.

In 2025, Todd Golden became the youngest head coach since the legendary Jimmy Valvano to lead his team to a national championship.

T-10. Cincinnati, Louisville, Michigan State, NC State, Oklahoma State, San Francisco – 2

Six schools have won two national titles.

Of those six programs, three defended their first title. Oklahoma State (1945 and 1946), San Francisco (1955 and 1956) and Cincinnati (1961 and 1962) earned their two championships in back-to-back years.  

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