UNC Basketball: Eight Decades

North Carolina is the only men's Division I basketball program to make at least one Final Four appearance in each of the past eight completed decades.

Here’s something you probably know: The North Carolina men’s basketball team has more Final Four appearances (20) than any other program in history.

Here’s something you probably don’t know: The North Carolina men’s basketball team is the only program in the country to make at least one Final Four in each of the past eight completed decades.

Here’s the list of every season Carolina has arrived at the college basketball version of the Promised Land, broken down by decade:

1940s

• 1946

1950s

• 1957

1960s

• 1967
• 1968
• 1969

1970s

• 1972
• 1977

1980s

• 1981
• 1982

1990s

• 1991
• 1993
• 1995
• 1997
• 1998

2000s

• 2000
• 2005
• 2008
• 2009

2010s

• 2016
• 2017

The Tar Heels’ closest competitor in total number of Final Four appearances just made an unexpected trip in the 2021 NCAA Tournament: The UCLA Bruins are second on the list with 18. However, UCLA (as you’ll see below) has never made the Final Four in more than two straight decades.

The Final Four began in 1939 when the NCAA held their first Division I men’s basketball tournament. That field was comprised of just eight teams. From that first tournament through the present, there are only nine schools that have made at least eight Final Fours period, much less done so in eight separate decades as the Tar Heels have.

In addition to North Carolina, the other eight schools with at least eight total Final Four appearances are:

• UCLA – 18 (has made 19, but 1980 appearance was vacated)
• Kentucky – 17
• Duke – 16
• Kansas – 14
• Ohio State – 10 (has made 11, but 1999 appearance was vacated)
• Michigan State – 10
• Indiana – 8
• Louisville – 8 (has made 10, but 2012 and 2013 appearances were vacated)

For the record, Michigan would be the 10th addition to this list, with eight appearances, but two of their Final Fours (1992 and 1993) have since been vacated by the NCAA.

Of those other eight schools (excluding Michigan) that have gone to at least eight Final Fours, who has come the closest to matching Carolina’s streak of eight straight decades with a Final Four?

Let’s examine:

UCLA

1940s

• NONE

1950s

• NONE

1960s

• 1962
• 1964
• 1965
• 1967
• 1968
• 1969

1970s

• 1970
• 1971
• 1972
• 1973
• 1974
• 1975
• 1976

1980s

• 1980 (vacated, so technically NONE)

1990s

• 1995

2000s

• 2006
• 2007
• 2008

2010s

• NONE

2020s

• 2021

Kentucky

1940s

• 1942
• 1948
• 1949

1950s

• 1951
• 1958

1960s

• 1966

1970s

• 1975
• 1978

1980s

• 1984

1990s

• 1993
• 1996
• 1997
• 1998

2000s

• NONE

2010s

• 2011
• 2012
• 2014
• 2015

Duke

1940s

• NONE

1950s

• NONE

1960s

• 1963
• 1964
• 1966

1970s

• 1978

1980s

• 1986
• 1988
• 1989

1990s

• 1990
• 1991
• 1992
• 1994
• 1999

2000s

• 2001
• 2004

2010s

• 2010
• 2015

Kansas

1940s

• 1940

1950s

• 1952
• 1953
• 1957

1960s

• NONE

1970s

• 1971
• 1974

1980s

• 1986
• 1988

1990s

• 1991
• 1993

2000s

• 2002
• 2003
• 2008

2010s

• 2012
• 2018

Ohio State

1930s

• 1939

1940s

• 1944
• 1945
• 1946

1950s

• NONE

1960s

• 1960
• 1961
• 1962
• 1968

1970s

• NONE

1980s

• NONE

1990s

• 1999 (vacated, so technically NONE)

2000s

• 2007

2010s

• 2012

Michigan State

1940s

• NONE

1950s

• 1957

1960s

• NONE

1970s

• 1979

1980s

• NONE

1990s

• 1999

2000s

• 2000
• 2001
• 2005
• 2009

2010s

• 2010
• 2015
• 2019

Indiana

1940s

• 1940

1950s

• 1953

1960s

• NONE

1970s

• 1973
• 1976

1980s

• 1981
• 1987

1990s

• 1992

2000s

• 2002

2010s

• NONE

Louisville

1940s

• NONE

1950s

• 1959

1960s

• NONE

1970s

• 1972
• 1975

1980s

• 1980
• 1982
• 1983
• 1986

1990s

• NONE

2000s

• 2005

2010s

• 2012
• 2013
• Both vacated, so technically NONE

All told, here’s how the top nine schools in Final Four appearances stack up in terms of longest streak of decades with at least one Final Four

1. North Carolina – 8 straight decades | 8 total decades | 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, 10s
2. Kentucky | 6 straight decades | 7 total decades | 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 10s
3. Duke | 6 straight decades | 6 total decades | 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, 10s
4. Kansas | 5 straight decades | 7 total decades | 40s, 50s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, 10s
5. Indiana | 4 straight decades | 6 total decades | 40s, 50s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s
6. Michigan State | 3 straight decades | 5 total decades | 50s, 70s, 90s, 00s, 10s
7. Ohio State – 2 straight decades | 5 total decades | 30s, 40s, 60s, 00s, 10s
8. UCLA – 2 straight decades | 5 total decades | 60s, 70s, 90s, 00s, 20s
9. Louisville – 2 straight decades | 4 total decades | 50s, 70s, 80s, 00s

So as you see (and as previously mentioned) UCLA, despite accruing the second-most Final Four appearances all-time, stacked up the majority of those entries in the 1960s and 1970s. Their longest streak of decades with at least one Final Four appearance is actually only two.

In actuality, the teams closest to UNC are Kentucky and Duke who each have streaks of six straight decades making a Final Four. Duke’s streak is active, having made a Final Four in every decade since the 1960s. Kentucky’s streak, on the other hand, ended when they missed on a Final Four berth throughout the 2000s.

Kansas is also close on Carolina’s heels, having made a Final Four appearance in each of the past five decades and in seven total decades.

Other than North Carolina (eight), Duke (six), and Kansas (five), no other program on this list of the nine schools with at least eight Final Four appearances has an active streak of more than three straight decades with a Final Four.

However, this is the moment where one other prestigious college basketball program joins the conversation. Behind the nine schools discussed above, 12 other schools have made at least five Final Fours. Of those 12, one joins North Carolina, Duke, and Kansas with an active streak of making a Final Four in five straight decades.

That school is Syracuse. 

Syracuse has made 6 Final Four appearances: 1975, 1987, 1996, 2003, 2013, 2016. The Orange have spaced out their deep NCAA Tournament runs perfectly to join ranks with UNC, Duke, and Kansas. What you notice from that list is that Syracuse made a Final Four in the 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, and twice in the 10s, meaning they too have been one of the last four teams standing at least once in each of the last five decades. 

Can the Tar Heels, under the direction of new head coach Hubert Davis, extend their streak to nine straight decades? They’ve got eight more shots at it.

NOTE: I owe a big debt of gratitude to Dan Hayes for his help in researching this article. Thanks Dan!

Send Isaac Schade an email to talk more about this article.

Follow us on Twitter: @SI_Heels | @isaacschade