NCAA Tournament by the numbers: Facts and tidbits about the men’s and women’s brackets to help you prepare for the madness

The holidays for hoops junkies are here.

Upsets, buzzer-beaters, Cinderella runs, wild finishes, players you’ve never heard of before becoming household names overnight — we knew Steph Curry from little Davidson College before he was THE Steph Curry — these are the themes for the next several glorious weeks.

Plus lots and lots of timeouts and commercial jingles you’ll have stuck in your head for the entire summer.

March Madness is here. UConn, Purdue, Houston and North Carolina get top seeding in NCAA Tournament

At any rate, whether you’re a college basketball expert or a total novice — or maybe you just can’t get enough of the sensational, one-of-a-kind Caitlin Clark — anyone can enjoy the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.

And maybe even win a little money along the way.

The tournaments begin this week, with the First Four of the men’s field on Tuesday (March 19) and Wednesday (March 20), then the first and second rounds running Thursday through Sunday (March 21-24). The women’s tournament, meanwhile, starts with the First Four on Wednesday (March 20) and Thursday (March 21) and the first and second rounds from Friday through Monday (March 22-25).

Enter WGN-TV Pat’s Picks!

So here are some numbers about this year’s tournaments that might just give you an edge in your work pools, or just fill your head with some random, ultimately useless, basketball knowledge:

Men’s tournament

0: NCAA Tournament wins all-time for Nebraska. Head coach Fred Hoiberg’s Huskers, a No. 8 seed in this year’s field, will try for the first tourney win in program history when they face No. 9 seed Texas A&M in a South Region first-round game on Friday.

1: Team in this year’s field from the state of Indiana, famous for basketball. But Purdue is the lone school from the “Hoosier State” in this year’s field. By comparison, that’s as many teams as South Dakota, Montana, Idaho and Vermont each have in this year’s field. At least Indiana’s lone team is a No. 1 seed and a favorite to win it all.

1: Those four No. 1 seeds are defending champion UConn (East Region), North Carolina (West Region), Houston (South Region) and Purdue (Midwest Region). UConn is the No. 1 overall seed in the 68-team field. According to ESPN Bet as of Monday morning, UConn has the best odds to win the title at +375, followed by Houston (6-1), Purdue (7-1), No. 2 seed Arizona (11-1), North Carolina (15-1), No. 4 seed Auburn (16-1), No. 2 seed Iowa State (16-1) and No. 2 seed Tennessee (16-1).

2: Speaking of the No. 2 seeds, those are Arizona (West Region), Iowa State (East Region), Marquette (South Region) and Tennessee (Midwest Region).

2: Teams from the state of Illinois in this year’s field, Illinois and Northwestern. The Fighting Illini, fresh off their Big Ten Tournament championship, are a No. 3 seed and play No. 14 seed Morehead State in an East Region first-round game at approximately 2:10 p.m. Thursday in Omaha, Neb. Northwestern, meanwhile, is a No. 9 seed and plays No. 8 seed Florida Atlantic — which made a Cinderella run to last year’s Final Four — in another East Region first-round game at 11:15 a.m. Friday in Brooklyn. That’s the first game of Friday’s schedule, by the way. Also, under head coach Chris Collins, the Wildcats are making their second straight NCAA Tournament appearance and just the third overall in program history. They reached the second round in each of their first two appearances.

4: Games you can watch between Tuesday and Wednesday. The First Four, as it’s called, pits No. 10 seeds Virginia and Colorado State and No. 16 seeds Howard and Wagner against each other on Tuesday in Dayton, Ohio. On Wednesday, No. 10 seeds Boise State and Colorado State and No. 16 seeds Montana State and Grambling will square off in Dayton. The winners of those four games move on to the “official” first round. The tournament expanded to 68 teams in 2011, necessitating the First Four games. Don’t stress, however: In most tournament pools, you won’t be asked to pick the winners of those games. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t pick them to advance through the brackets if they do move out of the First Four. Two teams, VCU in 2011 and UCLA in 2021, came out of the First Four and advanced all the way to the Final Four.

4: Teams that will end the season in this year’s Final Four at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. The national semifinals are Saturday, April 6, followed by the national championship game on Monday night, April 8. That’s why college basketball coaches always say their goal is “to be playin’ on Monday night.”

6: Big Ten teams in this year’s field. They are Purdue (No. 1 seed, Midwest Region); Illinois (No. 3 seed, East Region); Wisconsin (No. 5 seed, South Region); Nebraska (No. 8 seed, South Region); Northwestern (No. 9 seed, East Region); and Michigan State (No. 9 seed, West Region). If you’re thinking of picking a Big Ten team to win the title, well, recent history is not on your side. The last Big Ten team to win it all was Michigan State way back in 2000. Maryland won the title in 2002, but the Terrapins were in the ACC then. Since the Spartans claimed their championship to ring in the new millennium, Indiana (2002), Illinois (2005), Ohio State (2007), Michigan State (2009), Michigan (2013 and 2018) and Wisconsin (2015) have all had national runner-up finishes. Will this be the year the Big Ten finally claims a national title again?

6: The number of teams from the state of Texas in this year’s field, the most of any state. And probably no surprise given its size. Those are Baylor, Houston, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, TCU and Texas. Another state has four, and that one may be a surprise, as the state of Alabama — historically more well-known for its success in football — will be represented by Alabama-Birmingham, Auburn, Alabama and Samford.

8: Teams in the field from the Big 12 and the SEC, tied for the most of any conference. The Big 12 will be represented by Houston, BYU, Texas Tech, TCU, Baylor, Kansas, Texas and Iowa State. Historically, Kansas has the best tournament pedigree of those teams. The Jayhawks have won four national championships, including one just two years ago. This season, however, Kansas is just a No. 4 seed, in the Midwest Region. Houston, a No. 1 seed in the South Region, is enjoying the greatest era in program history since the “Phi Slama Jama” days of Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler in the early 1980s. Representing the SEC, meanwhile, are Tennessee, Auburn, Kentucky, Texas A&M, Florida, South Carolina, Mississippi State and Alabama. Kentucky, a No. 3 seed in the South Region, has won eight national championships all-time, the last in 2012. Florida, a No. 7 seed in the South Region, won the title in 2006 and 2007, the last program to go back-to-back — under current Bulls head coach Billy Donovan, by the way.

12: The seed that’s historically known as the best choice to pull off a first-round upset. Actually, it seems that sometimes analysts love the No. 12 seed in the 12-versus-5 matchups so much that the No. 5 seeds have actually become underdogs. At any rate, this year’s No. 12 seeds are Alabama-Birmingham (East Region), Grand Canyon (West Region), James Madison (South Region) and McNeese (Midwest Region).

16: States that don’t have a single team in this year’s field. They are Maine, Alaska, Hawaii, West Virginia, Wyoming, North Dakota, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, Georgia, Maryland, Delaware, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Every other state — as well as Washington, D.C., with No. 16 seed Howard —is represented by at least one team.

16: The lowest seed any team can have. If you’re new to the brackets, don’t pick any to win a first-round game, because No. 1 seeds are 150-2 all-time vs. No. 16 seeds. The only exceptions are UMBC defeating Virginia in 2018 and Farleigh Dickinson defeating Purdue last year. Actually, maybe that’s a good omen for Purdue. After becoming the first No. 1 seed ever to lose to a No. 16 seed, Virginia recovered to win the national championship the very next year, in 2019.

31: The number of wins for both UConn and James Madison, tied for the most of any team in this year’s field. While we know about UConn, James Madison is located in Harrisonburg, Va., and reached the tournament via automatic bid after winning the Sun Belt Conference title. The Dukes are a No. 12 seed and look to upset No. 5 seed Wisconsin in South Region first-round action Friday. Two other teams in the field, Houston and No. 12 seed McNeese, have each won 30 games.

Women’s tournament

0: Teams from the state of Illinois in this year’s field.

1: The four No. 1 seeds in this year’s field are South Carolina (Regional 1 in Albany), Iowa (Regional 2 in Albany), USC (Regional 3 in Portland) and Texas (Regional 4 in Portland). Per Draft Kings as of Monday morning, the championship favorite is South Carolina (-120), followed by Iowa (+550), defending champion and No. 3 seed LSU (+900), Texas (+1500) and No. 2 seed Stanford (+1500). South Carolina is seeking its second title in three years after winning it all in 2022.

2: The four No. 2 seeds are Notre Dame (Regional 1), UCLA (Regional 2), Ohio State (Regional 3) and Stanford (Regional 4).

4: This year’s Final Four is at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland. The national semifinals are on Friday, April 5, with the national title game scheduled for Sunday, April 7.

7: Teams from the Big Ten in this year’s field, behind only the ACC and Big 12, which have eight apiece. Representing the Big Ten are Iowa (No. 1 seed, Regional 2); Ohio State (No. 2 seed, Regional 3); Indiana (No. 4 seed, Regional 1); Nebraska (No. 6 seed, Regional 1); Michigan (No. 9 seed, Regional 3); Michigan State (No. 9 seed, Regional 1) and Maryland (No. 10 seed, Regional 4). The last Big Ten team to win the women’s national title was Purdue, way back in 1999. When Maryland won it in 2006, the Terrapins were in the ACC. Iowa lost to LSU in the championship game last year.

3,771: Career points scored by Iowa’s Caitlin Clark entering the tournament, which ranks as the most of any player in NCAA Division I college basketball history, men’s or women’s. Clark broke the record set by men’s legend Pete Maravich on March 3. We can’t factually prove this, but it’s probably safe to say Clark is the most recognizable player in all of college basketball as both tournaments begin.

Enjoy the tournaments, everyone! And if you don’t win your office pool, don’t blame us.

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