March Madness: Here is the complete list of NCAA winners by year

With Selection Sunday finally out of the way, we’ve grown closer to the final list of teams who are potential candidates to conquer the NCAA title this 2023. Have you ever wondered which college squads have won the March Madness tournaments the most in its entire history? 

Before we show you the complete list of NCAA champions by year, let’s recap on some interesting historic facts just to spice up your knowledge on the greatest college basketball competition in the whole world.

For example, the first Division I men’s basketball tournament was held in 1939 and only had eight teams participating. As Oregon became the first U.S. champion ever, the term ‘March Madness’ was first introduced in reference to basketball by an Illinois high school official called Henry V. Porter.

Nevertheless, the term wouldn’t be officially associated with the NCAA competition until broadcaster Brent Musberger used it during coverage in 1982. 5 years later, the beautiful “One Shining Moment” song was aired on TV, formally becoming the event’s anthem.

The contest grew bigger and bigger as the seasons passed. In 1951, it doubled its size with 16 competing teams, and then to 32 in 1975. Ten years later, the tournament finally reached its current 64 squad limit.

Now that we’ve learned a bit more about the context around this prestigious sport event, let’s finding who are it’s biggest champions. After 82 competitions from 1939 to 2022, Kentucky is not only the university with most appearances with 58, it is also it’s greatest winners, having triumphed in 129 matches during March Madness’ history.

Who’s won March Madness by year?

The college with most NCAA trophies is UCLA with 11 to its name, including a long stretch of seven consecutive titles from 1967 to 1973.

Let’s check out the complete list of NCAA winners and their championship record:

1939: Oregon (29-5)
1940: Indiana (20-3)
1941: Wisconsin (20-3)
1942: Stanford (28-4)
1943: Wyoming (31-2)
1944: Utah (21-4)
1945: Oklahoma State (27-4)
1946: Oklahoma State (31-2)
1947: Holy Cross (27-3)
1948: Kentucky (36-33)
1949: Kentucky (32-2)
1950: CCNY (24-5)
1951: Kentucky (32-2)
1952: Kansas (28-3)
1953: Indiana (23-30)
1954: La Salle (26-4)
1955: San Francisco (28-1)
1956: San Francisco (29-0)
1957: North Carolina (32-0)
1958: Kentucky (23-6)
1959: California (25-4)
1960: Ohio State (25-3)
1961: Cincinnati (27-3)
1962: Cincinnati (29-2)
1963: Loyola III (29-2)
1964: UCLA (30-0)
1965: UCLA (28-2)
1966: UTEP (28-1)
1967: UCLA (30-0)
1968: UCLA (29-1)
1969: UCLA (29-1)
1970: UCLA (28-2)
1971: UCLA (29-1)
1972: UCLA (30-0)
1973: UCLA (30-0)
1974: North Carolina State (30-1)
1975: UCLA (28-3)
1976: Indiana (32-0)
1977: Marquette (25-7)
1978: Kentucky (30-2)
1979: Michigan State (26-6)
1980: Louisville (33-3)
1981: Indiana (26-9)
1982: North Carolina (32-2)
1983: North Carolina State (26-10)
1984: Georgetown (34-3)
1985: Villanova (25-10)
1986: Louisville (32-7)
1987: Indiana (30-4)
1988: Kansas (27-11)
1989: Michigan (30-7)
1990: UNLV (35-5)
1991: Duke (32-7)
1992: Duke (34-2)
1993: North Carolina (34-4)
1994: Arkansas (31-3)
1995: UCLA (31-2)
1996: Kentucky (34-2)
1997: Arizona (25-9)
1998: Kentucky (35-4)
1999: Connecticut (34-2)
2000: Michigan State (32-7)
2001: Duke (35-4)
2002: Maryland (32-4)
2003: Syracuse (30-5)
2004: Connecticut (33-6)
2005: North Carolina (33-4)
2006: Florida (33-6)
2007: Florida (35-5)
2008: Kansas (37-3)
2009: North Carolina (34-4)
2010: Duke (35-5)
2011: Connecticut (32-9)
2012: Kentucky (38-2)
2013: Louisville (35-5)*
2014: Connecticut (32-8)
2015: Duke (35-4)
2016: Villanova (35-5)
2017: North Carolina (33-7)
2018: Villanova (36-4)
2019: Virginia (35-3)
2020: Canceled due to Covid-19
2021: Baylor (28-2)
2022: Kansas (34-6)