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In 1985 the NCAA went to the 64 team playoff model. For the sake of this argument, I'll stipulate that the teams that have done the best in that tournament are the best programs. I offer a very simple, yet powerful, measurement of how well a team has done: Games Played.
Games played offers a statistic that is easy to calculate, easy to accumulate over time, and, yet, is a powerful discriminator. Simply put, the best teams play the most games. Each year, a team is credited with a number from 0 through 7. Teams that don't make the field of 64 get 0. The teams that participate are credited with the number of the round in which they were eliminated, i.e., the number of games they played. The champion is the lone exception. Although the champ plays only 6 games, just like the runner up, that team was never eliminated and would have continued play had there been any. Therefore, the champion is awarded a 7th point.
Note: I included years from 1984 through 2013 to have a nice number of 30 years. In 1984, teams that didn't start play until the second round were credited with playing a first round game even though, in actuality they didn't.
Here are five Top Twenty lists covering those 30 years. Each list contains the rank, number of games played, and team.
Last Thirty Years (1984-2013)
1) 112 Duke
2) 103 North Carolina
3) 102 Kansas
4) 94 Kentucky
5) 74 Syracuse
6) 73 Arizona
7) 69 Michigan State
8) 68 Louisville
9) 66 Connecticut
10) 62 UCLA
11) 60 Indiana
12) 59 Georgetown
13) 56 Florida
14) 54 Illinois
15) 52 Oklahoma
16) 50 Texas
17) 49 Maryland
17) 49 Michigan
17) 49 Purdue
20) 48 Temple
Last Twenty Years (1994-2013)
1) 69 Kentucky
2) 68 Kansas
3) 67 Duke
4) 64 North Carolina
5) 58 Michigan State
6) 57 Connecticut
7) 55 Arizona
8) 50 Florida
9) 49 Syracuse
10) 48 UCLA
11) 45 Louisville
12) 41 Texas
13) 39 Maryland
14) 38 Wisconsin
15) 36 Purdue
16) 34 Illinois
16) 34 Ohio State
16) 34 Gonzaga
19) 31 Indiana
19) 31 Cincinnati
19) 31 Oklahoma State
19) 31 Stanford
By Decade
2004-2013
1) 37 North Carolina
2) 35 Kansas
3) 32 Duke
4) 30 Michigan State
4) 30 Louisville
4) 30 Florida
7) 27 Kentucky
7) 27 Connecticut
9) 24 Ohio State
10) 23 Memphis State
10) 23 Wisconsin
12) 22 Syracuse
12) 22 UCLA
14) 21 Xavier
15) 20 Texas
15) 20 Villanova
15) 20 Pittsburgh
15) 20 Gonzaga
15) 20 Butler
20) 19 Arizona
20) 19 West Virginia
1994-2003
1) 42 Kentucky
2) 36 Arizona
3) 35 Duke
4) 33 Kansas
5) 31 Maryland
6) 30 Connecticut
7) 28 Michigan State
8) 27 North Carolina
8) 27 Syracuse
10) 26 UCLA
11) 24 Stanford
12) 22 Purdue
12) 22 Utah
12) 22 Arkansas
15) 21 Texas
15) 21 Cincinnati
17) 20 Florida
17) 20 Indiana
19) 19 Oklahoma
19) 19 Oklahoma State
19) 19 Tulsa
1984-1993
1) 45 Duke
2) 39 North Carolina
3) 34 Kansas
4) 31 Georgetown
4) 31 UNLV
6) 30 Michigan
7) 29 Indiana
8) 25 Syracuse
8) 25 Kentucky
10) 23 Louisville
10) 23 Oklahoma
12) 22 Temple
12) 22 Georgia Tech
14) 21 Arkansas
15) 20 Illinois
15) 20 St. John's
17) 19 LSU
17) 19 Alabama
19) 18 Arizona
19) 18 Villanova
19) 18 Memphis State
Games played offers a statistic that is easy to calculate, easy to accumulate over time, and, yet, is a powerful discriminator. Simply put, the best teams play the most games. Each year, a team is credited with a number from 0 through 7. Teams that don't make the field of 64 get 0. The teams that participate are credited with the number of the round in which they were eliminated, i.e., the number of games they played. The champion is the lone exception. Although the champ plays only 6 games, just like the runner up, that team was never eliminated and would have continued play had there been any. Therefore, the champion is awarded a 7th point.
Note: I included years from 1984 through 2013 to have a nice number of 30 years. In 1984, teams that didn't start play until the second round were credited with playing a first round game even though, in actuality they didn't.
Here are five Top Twenty lists covering those 30 years. Each list contains the rank, number of games played, and team.
Last Thirty Years (1984-2013)
1) 112 Duke
2) 103 North Carolina
3) 102 Kansas
4) 94 Kentucky
5) 74 Syracuse
6) 73 Arizona
7) 69 Michigan State
8) 68 Louisville
9) 66 Connecticut
10) 62 UCLA
11) 60 Indiana
12) 59 Georgetown
13) 56 Florida
14) 54 Illinois
15) 52 Oklahoma
16) 50 Texas
17) 49 Maryland
17) 49 Michigan
17) 49 Purdue
20) 48 Temple
Last Twenty Years (1994-2013)
1) 69 Kentucky
2) 68 Kansas
3) 67 Duke
4) 64 North Carolina
5) 58 Michigan State
6) 57 Connecticut
7) 55 Arizona
8) 50 Florida
9) 49 Syracuse
10) 48 UCLA
11) 45 Louisville
12) 41 Texas
13) 39 Maryland
14) 38 Wisconsin
15) 36 Purdue
16) 34 Illinois
16) 34 Ohio State
16) 34 Gonzaga
19) 31 Indiana
19) 31 Cincinnati
19) 31 Oklahoma State
19) 31 Stanford
By Decade
2004-2013
1) 37 North Carolina
2) 35 Kansas
3) 32 Duke
4) 30 Michigan State
4) 30 Louisville
4) 30 Florida
7) 27 Kentucky
7) 27 Connecticut
9) 24 Ohio State
10) 23 Memphis State
10) 23 Wisconsin
12) 22 Syracuse
12) 22 UCLA
14) 21 Xavier
15) 20 Texas
15) 20 Villanova
15) 20 Pittsburgh
15) 20 Gonzaga
15) 20 Butler
20) 19 Arizona
20) 19 West Virginia
1994-2003
1) 42 Kentucky
2) 36 Arizona
3) 35 Duke
4) 33 Kansas
5) 31 Maryland
6) 30 Connecticut
7) 28 Michigan State
8) 27 North Carolina
8) 27 Syracuse
10) 26 UCLA
11) 24 Stanford
12) 22 Purdue
12) 22 Utah
12) 22 Arkansas
15) 21 Texas
15) 21 Cincinnati
17) 20 Florida
17) 20 Indiana
19) 19 Oklahoma
19) 19 Oklahoma State
19) 19 Tulsa
1984-1993
1) 45 Duke
2) 39 North Carolina
3) 34 Kansas
4) 31 Georgetown
4) 31 UNLV
6) 30 Michigan
7) 29 Indiana
8) 25 Syracuse
8) 25 Kentucky
10) 23 Louisville
10) 23 Oklahoma
12) 22 Temple
12) 22 Georgia Tech
14) 21 Arkansas
15) 20 Illinois
15) 20 St. John's
17) 19 LSU
17) 19 Alabama
19) 18 Arizona
19) 18 Villanova
19) 18 Memphis State
