Go West, young man – to the Final Four

In 1865, American author and newspaper editor Horace Greeley  said “Go West, young man, go West” inspiring America’s Westward expansion. Who knew he was talking about the Final Four.

• For the first time since the NCAA basketball tournament began in 1939, all four finalists represent schools based West of the Mississippi. Oftentimes the Final Four has consisted of teams East of the Mississippi – as recently as 2014 and 2015 — but this is a first for the West.
• For the first time, two schools from Texas – Baylor and Houston – have cracked the Final Four.
• UCLA has won the most championships (11) and has appeared in more Final Fours (19) than any school except North Carolina, which has made it 20 times. Duke is third with 16 appearances.
• Neither top-seeded Gonzaga, Baylor or Houston has ever won a national championship.
• This is Gonzaga’s second Final Four. The Zags lost to North Carolina 71-65 in the championship game in 2017.
• Gonzaga is seeking to become the first team to finish a season undefeated since Indiana finished 32-0 in 1976 under coach Bobby Knight.
• There have been seven unbeaten NCAA champions overall. UCLA and coach John Wooden did it four times, finishing 30-0 in 1964, 1967, 1972 and 1973 with stars like Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton. North Carolina was 32-0 in 1957, and San Francisco and Bill Russell 29-0 in 1956.
• Baylor hasn’t been to the big stage since 1950, when the Bears finished fourth behind Bradley, NC State and champion CCNY. In 1948 Baylor lost to Kentucky in the championship game after defeating Kansas State in the semifinals. Holy Cross finished third, a year after the Crusader won the title in 1947.
• Houston has been to five Final Fours, but has yet to win a national championship. The Cougars, led by Elvin “The Big E” Hayes, finished third in 1967 and fourth in 1968, with UCLA winning both times. Houston had a three-year run from 1982-82 with Hakeem Olajuwon, losing to NC State in the 1983 title game and to Georgetown in 1984.
• The last team out of a non-power conference to win the title was UNLV in 1990. Gonzaga has a chance to end that streak this year.
• UCLA joins VCU as the only team to go from the First Four to the Final Four.
• This marks the 11th  year in a row a seed fifth or higher has made the Final Four.