Busting Brackets
Fansided

NCAA Basketball: Longest active NCAA Tournament streaks in 2023

By Cooper Watson

LAWRENCE, KANSAS - FEBRUARY 28: Head coach Bill Self of the Kansas Jayhawks applauds his team prior to a game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at Allen Fieldhouse on February 28, 2023 in Lawrence, Kansas. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images)
LAWRENCE, KANSAS - FEBRUARY 28: Head coach Bill Self of the Kansas Jayhawks applauds his team prior to a game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at Allen Fieldhouse on February 28, 2023 in Lawrence, Kansas. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 3
Next
NCAA Basketball Scott Drew of the Baylor Bears (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
NCAA Basketball Scott Drew of the Baylor Bears (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

Longest active NCAA Tournament streaks

T7. Colgate – 4 years

Matt Langel is well overdue for a high-major post considering the job he’s done at Colgate. The Raiders have gone 53-4 in Patriot League play over the last three seasons, including a 20-1 record this season.

In 2020, Colgate ranked No. 3 in the country in 3P%. They topped that in 2021, ranking No. 2 in 3P%. They topped that again this season, ranking No. 1 in the country in 3P%.

While Colgate is the only mid-major team on this list, Texas Southern also deserves a shoutout as the only other mid-major team with an NCAA Tournament streak of at least three years.

T7. Iowa – 4 years

Does Iowa have an endless supply of breakout stars stashed away somewhere? Having Luka Garza and Keegan Murray in back-to-back seasons was impressive, but keeping Iowa in the NCAA Tournament after losing Garza and Murry in back-to-back seasons is just as noteworthy. This year, it’s been Keegan’s twin brother Kris who has stepped up, averaging 20.4 points and 7.9 rebounds a game.

T7. Baylor – 4 years

What Scott Drew has done at Baylor deserves its own section in college basketball’s history books: Inheriting a program plagued by one of the darkest scandals in the sport’s history and turning it into a Big 12 and national champion.

In the 53 years prior to Scott Drew, Baylor made a grand total of one NCAA Tournament. While a four-year streak might not seem incredible compared to the top-end streaks on this list, it’s especially improbable in the larger context of how far the program has come in just 20 years.

T5. Tennessee – 5 years

Rick Barnes made the NCAA Tournament 16 times in his 17 seasons at Texas and has now taken Tennessee to the Big Dance for the fifth year in a row.

The Vols’ 2023 national championship hopes likely ended with Zakai Zeigler’s season-ending injury, but they’ve still earned a top-four seed for the fourth time in the last five NCAA Tournaments. That’s nothing to scoff at.

T5. Houston – 5 years

In the 29 years between the end of Phi Slama Jama and Kelvin Sampson’s arrival, Houston made a total of four NCAA Tournaments. Sampson has passed up that total in short order, with Houston currently on a five-year streak that featured a Final Four in 2021 and an Elite Eight in 2022. The Cougars are a No. 1 seed again this season and have a legitimate chance at cutting down the nets in April.

The location of this year’s Final Four? Houston.

Home/March Madness