If you want an edge when you fill out your NCAA tournament bracket (and who doesn't?) here is a quick tip — pick a national champion that has at least three players who average one or more made 3-pointers a game.
Nineteen of the last 21 national champions had at least three of those guys. That's one of the things I learned from looking at every national champion's roster this century. Here's what I found:
- A national title contender probably needs at least three players who average at least one made three per game.
- It wouldn't hurt to have a high-volume 3-point shooter, or two, too. Eighteen of the last 21 national champions had at least one player who averaged at least two made 3-pointers per game. Ten of the last 21 had multiple such players, including 2021 national champion Baylor, which had three players who averaged at least two 3-pointers per game.
- National championship hopefuls should probably have at least three players who make at least 35 percent of their 3-point attempts. Eighteen of the last 21 national champions had at least three 35-percent 3-point shooters. The average number among those teams, however, was closer to four — 3.76 35-percent 3-point shooters per team, to be exact.
- You better have at least one 3-point marksman and ideally multiple. We're talking about players who make at least 40 percent of their threes. Eighteen of the last 21 champions have had at least one 40-percent 3-point shooter and the average during that stretch was roughly two such players per team.
Here's the complete breakdown, based on the number of rotation players each team had who averaged at least one 3-pointer per game, who averaged at least two 3-pointers per game, and who shot at least 33, 35, 37 or 40 percent.
| Year | Champion | Avg. 1+ 3PM | AVG. 2+ 3PM | 33+% | 35+% | 37+% | 40+% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Baylor | 5 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 |
| 2019 | Virginia | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| 2018 | Villanova | 5 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 4 |
| 2017 | North Carolina | 3 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| 2016 | Villanova | 5 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| 2015 | Duke | 4 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 2 |
| 2014 | UConn | 4 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| 2013 | Louisville* | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 2012 | Kentucky | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 2011 | UConn | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 2010 | Duke | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| 2009 | North Carolina | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 2008 | Kansas | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| 2007 | Florida | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 2006 | Florida | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| 2005 | North Carolina | 4 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
| 2004 | UConn | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| 2003 | Syracuse | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2002 | Maryland | 3 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| 2001 | Duke | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| 2000 | Michigan State | 4 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
*Louisville's participation in the 2013 NCAA Tournament was later vacated.
On average, the last 21 national champions have had more than 3.5 players who have averaged at least one made 3-pointer per game and almost 1.5 players who have averaged at least two 3-pointers per game.
Villanova's 2018 national championship team was one of the most prolific 3-point shooting teams to win a national title, with a group that shot 40.1 percent from distance during the season and 41.5 percent during its six NCAA tournament games.
The Wildcats had five players who averaged at least one made 3-pointer per game and seven rotation players who made at least 35 percent of their attempts, which was the national average for 3-point percentage that season.
Only 2004 UConn, which shot 40.2 percent from three for the season, and 2012 Kentucky (37.8%) had just two players who made at least one 3-pointer per game, on average.
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Eighteen of the 21 teams had at least one player who averaged multiple made threes per game and coincidentally, the teams that didn't won the tournament in consecutive seasons.
Now, what about the number of good 3-point shooters you need based on percentage?
On average, national champions this century have had more than four players who have made at least 33 percent of their threes, more than three who have shot at least 37 percent and roughly two 40-percent 3-point shooters.
Twenty of the 21 teams examined had at least three players who shot at least 33 percent from three (17 of 21 had at least four), 18 of the 21 had at least three who shot at least 35 percent behind the arc (12 of 21 had four), 16 of 21 had at least three players who shot at least 37 percent and 13 of 21 had at least two 40-percent 3-point shooters.
Syracuse's championship team in 2003 stands out as the most extreme example of a team with a limited number of good 3-point shooters with just three players who made at least 33 percent of their threes, two who were at least 35-percent 3-point shooters and none who made at least 37 percent of their attempts on the season.
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