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Daniel Wilco and Wayne Staats | krikya18.com | March 16, 2025

The teams with the most men's NCAA tournament No. 1 seeds

The longest perfect March Madness bracket ever (we think)

Itโ€™s the most coveted spot on Selection Sunday: The 1 seed. 

In 1979, the NCAA tournament bracket was expanded to 40 teams, and for the first time in tournament history, every single team in the bracket was seeded.

But no program has started the tournament on the top line more than North Carolina.

The Tar Heels have been a No. 1 seed 18 times in March, with the first coming in 1979 and the most recent coming in 2024. Of their six NCAA tournament championships, five came when UNC was a No. 1 seed. The sixth came in 1957, before seeds were established. 

NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY: All-time No. 1 seeds and year-by-year results

Only four programs have earned a top seed double-digit times. After North Carolina (18 times), the order goes Duke (15), Kansas (15) and Kentucky (12).

Here is the full list of all the teams that have earned a 1 seed since 1979:

Number Team Year(s)
18 North Carolina 1979-2024
15 Duke 1986-2025
15 Kansas* 1986-2023
12 Kentucky 1980-2015
7 Arizona 1988-2022
7 Virginia 1981-2019
6 UConn 1990-2024
5 Georgetown 1982-1989
5 Gonzaga 2013-2022
5 Michigan State 1990-2012
5 Oklahoma 1985-2003
5 Purdue 1988-2024
4 DePaul 1980-1984
4 Houston 1983-2025
4 Illinois 1989-2021
4 Ohio State 1991-2011
4 UCLA 1979-2008
4 Villanova 2006-2018
3 Florida 2007-2025
3 Indiana 1987-2013
3 Michigan 1985-2021
3 St. Johnโ€™s (NY) 1983-86
3 Stanford 2000-04
3 Syracuse 1980-2012
3 UNLV 1987-91
2 Arkansas 1991-94
2 Auburn 1999-2025
2 Baylor 2021-22
2 *Louisville 1983-2009
2 LSU 1980-81
2 *Memphis 2006-08
2 Pittsburgh 2009-11
1 Alabama 2023
1 Cincinnati 2002
1 Indiana State 1979
1 Maryland 2002
1 Massachusetts 1996
1 Minnesota 1997
1 Missouri 1994
1 Notre Dame 1979
1 Oregon 2016
1 Oregon State 1981
1 Saint Josephโ€™s 2004
1 Temple 1988
1 Texas 2003
1 Wake Forest 1995
1 Washington 2005
1 Wichita State 2014
1 Wisconsin 2015
1 Xavier 2018

*Appearance later vacated by Committee on Infractions.

๐Ÿ€ 2025 MARCH MADNESS ๐Ÿ€
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