Most NC Teams In Single NCAA Tournament? Six!
What Will The (Lower) Magic Number Be This Year?

By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network
(Updated March 16, 2025)

Starting in the 1980s, the state of North Carolina gradually has become, in various ways, the Center of the College Basketball Universe.

For example, only the Old North State can claim multiple NCAA championships in men’s basketball in each of the past four decades.

1980-89: 2 (UNC in 1982, NC State in 1983)
1990-99: 3 (Duke in 1991 and 1992, UNC in 1993)
2000-09: 3 (Duke in 2001, UNC in 2005 and 2009)
2010-19: 3 (Duke in 2010 and 2015, UNC in 2017)

The diversity and depth factors favor North Carolina, too.

Only 15 men’s basketball programs can claim multiple NCAA titles, and three of them are located just in the Triangle area of North Carolina: UNC (six), Duke (five) and NC State (two). No other state has more than two such programs.

Meanwhile, among the 19 Division One men’s basketball programs that call North Carolina home, 17 — including High Point for the first time this year — have earned a trip in the Big Dance at least once. The only exceptions are Elon and Queens; the Royals only recently jumped from the Division Two ranks and (under the NCAA’s reclassification rules) won’t be eligible for the NCAA Tournament until 2027.


In its best years, North Carolina has produced a whopping six teams for the NCAA Tournament.

In 2002, for example, Charlotte (under head coach Bobby Lutz), Davidson (Bob McKillop), Duke (Mike Krzyzewski), NC State (Herb Sendek), UNC Wilmington (Jerry Wainwright) and Wake Forest (Skip Prosser) all made the field.

Most recently, in 2018, the NCAA Tournament bracket included Davidson (McKillop), Duke (Krzyzewski), NC Central (LeVelle Moton), NC State (Kevin Keatts), UNC (Roy Williams) and UNC Greensboro (Wes Miller).

Even in its worst years, the Old North State has produced at least two NCAA Tournament participants for the 64/68-team field. That has happened only twice in the modern era (1985-present), in 1990 and 2010. Even in those “bad” years, Duke carried the state flag with distinction — advancing all the way to the NCAA title game both times, and claiming the national crown in 2010.

Over these past 40 years, North Carolina has averaged almost exactly four NCAA Tournament participants per year. Again, that ranks among the best nationally.

In the end, thanks in part to a surprising twist on Selection Sunday, the state was able to match its modern average this year.

Three in-state programs guaranteed themselves spots in the Big Dance by winning their respective conference tournaments: 31-3 Duke (Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament champion), 29-5 High Point (as the Big South Tournament champion) and 27-7 UNC Wilmington (Coastal Athletic Association Tournament champion).

On Selection Sunday, UNC (22-13) received the final at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, to the surprise of most bracketologists.

Among the eight teams closest to the bubble — meaning the “Last Four In” and “First Four Out” — Carolina had the worst Quad One record (1-12) but ranked first in NET ranking, Wins Above Bubble, KenPom efficiency ranking and non-conference strength of schedule.

NCAA Tournament Participants By Year
(64/68-Team Era; 1985-Present; NC Schools Only)