Final 4 Fun Facts & Stats

The NCAA Final Four will consist of Florida Atlantic, San Diego State, Connecticut, and Miami.

Article photo of UConn's Adama Sanogo; photo credit to Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

Time for some Final Four fun facts and stats. Considering this is the most gumbled list of teams in NCAA Tournament history, why not?

From Connecticut, Miami, San Diego State and Florida Atlantic, there are definitely some interesting statistics. Here are some of the better ones to note.

• Since 1979 when the NCAA Tournament was first seeded, there’s never been a Final Four without a #1, #2, or #3 seed. #4 UConn will be the highest seed, while Miami and San Diego State were both awarded #5 seeds, and FAU received a #9 seed.
• The 2023 Final Four will only be the fourth without a No. 1 seed. The prior three, with the winning teams, were in 1980 when No. 2 seed Louisville won, in 2006 with the Florida Gators cutting down the nets as a No. 3 seed, as well as UConn’s 2011 team being a No. 3 seed.
• The state of Florida has two teams in the same Final Four for the first time, UM and FAU.
• With the Owls playing the Aztecs and the Canes playing the Huskies, if the two programs win their semi-final games, they could meet in the championship game. The two schools have played each other 24 times in the regular season to date, with Miami winning 23 of those matchups, and the last 10.
• Speaking of in-state battles in the final game, it’s happened before. Cincinnati beat Ohio State in 1961 and 1962.
• FAU comes into the Final Four with the best record of the group, going 35-3 to this point.
• The Owls also have the longest winning streak of the teams entering the Final Four with 11 straight victories.
• From this year’s four teams, only UConn has been to the Final Four prior to this season. The Huskies have made it to six Final Fours, and won the title in 1999, 2004, 2011, and 2014.
• Miami’s Jim Larrañaga will be the only head coach that’s been to a Final Four as the leader of his basketball team. He led George Mason to the 2006 Final Four where his team lost to Florida, the eventual champion, 73-58.
• There have been several hot players heading into the Final Four, but perhaps the most well balanced, or at least in the conversation, would be Adama Sanogo from Connecticut. He's been scoring and rebounding well, having averaged 20 points and 9.8 rebounds during the NCAA Tournament.
• When Villanova shocked the basketball world by defeating mighty Georgetown 66-64, the prohibitive favorite to win it all in 1985, the No. 8 seeded Wildcats were the highest seed to win the tournament. That record still stands today.
• Despite Florida being a top talent-producing state, the only two players on the UM roster to have graduated from a prep institution inside the Sunshine State would be Harold Beverly and Norchad Omier. Beverly came from Detroit and transferred down to national prep power Clermont (Fla.) Monteverde Academy, while Omier came to the USA from Bluefields, Nicaragua. Omier went to Hialeah (Fla.) Miami Prep before signing and playing with Arkansas State, then transferred back down to South Florida and played with the Hurricanes this season.
• The closest to Villanova’s #8 seed to win it all would be UConn, with that 2014 team having be awarded a #7 seed before being crowned champions.
• The city of Houston has hosted the Final Four three times prior. In 1971, UCLA defeated Villanova, in 2011 it was UConn over Butler, and finally in 2016 when Villanova came back to Houston and this time knocked off North Carolina with the famed last-second 3-point shot to win it all.

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