Who Has Won the Most NCAA Basketball Championships?

Long before anyone imagined such things as three-point shots, one-and-done, transfer portals, readily available NCAA basketball lines, and players (legally) getting paid to play, there were dynasties that ruled the roost in the sport of college basketball. 

That deceased era found the blue-blood programs recruiting and stockpiling premier players all across the country, season after season of, if not titles, then contenders. When it comes to the category of most NCAA men’s basketball championships, which was first handed out in 1939, we need to start out west.

Who Won the Most NCAA Basketball Championships?

The most championships in NCAA basketball belong to the University of California at Los Angeles or UCLA. It’s the Bruins with 11 titles entering the 2024-25 season, the only men’s program in double figures in this category.

Starting with consecutive titles in 1964 and 1965, it was a string of nine Bruin championships in 10 seasons, 10 in a dozen seasons. Only the Texas Western Miners in 1965 and the North Carolina St. Wolfpack of 1974 interrupted that run. 

It wasn’t coincidental that Lew Alcindor, perhaps the best college/pro player ever, was plucked out of New York City to lead the Bruins of the late 1960’s. The school rolled seven consecutive titles (1967-73), Alcindor the dominant force in three of them.

Immediately after UCLA are the Kentucky Wildcats with eight titles (first in 1948, latest in 2012). 

Next, tied in third place with six titles each are the Connecticut Huskies (first in 1999, latest in 2024) and North Carolina Tar Heels (first in 1957, latest in 2017). UConn did begin the 2024-25 season as the two-time defending champs.

A fifth-place tie (five each) is next between the Duke Blue Devils (first in 1991, latest in 2015) and Indiana Hoosiers (first in 1940, latest in 1987).  

When Does March Madness Start?

As the name suggests, March. Whether you consider the actual start of March Madness to be the individual postseason conference tournaments of the larger NCAA tournament itself, you can’t go wrong answering “March” to the question of “When Does March Madness Start?”

Which Does the NCAA Tournament Start?

After concluding the postseason conference tournaments, the field of 68 teams (comprised of at-large selections and automatic bids) is chosen to begin four-region play in mid-March.

Winners of each region then advance to the Final Four, with the national semifinals and final game usually contested (predetermined rotating sites) at the end of March or early April.

What Coach Has the Most NCAA Basketball Championships?

Returning to the category of schools with the most titles, it’s the Wizard of Westwood with that distinction, John Wooden of UCLA as the coach with the most NCAA basketball championships (astonishing 10 titles on the men’s side). 

Next (five) is Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, with the Baron, Kentucky’s Adolph Rupp, at four. Connecticut’s Jim Calhoun, Bobby Knight of Indiana, and North Carolina’s Roy Williams each have three titles to their name. 

As an aside to the list of most NCAA bball championships, Larry Brown (Kansas in 1988, Detroit Pistons in 2004) is the only coach to win titles in both the NCAA and NBA.

Any Final Thoughts?

Through completion of the 2023-24 season, there were five schools atop the list of winningest college basketball programs. Kentucky, Kansas, North Carolina, Duke, and UCLA each had in excess of 2,000 victories among the men.

Nine other programs compiled 1,900-plus wins.  

There’s never going to be another program as dominant as UCLA with the most NCAA basketball championships, nor a coach as iconic as John Wooden. It’s a different landscape in the big-money world of collegiate athletics.