Is the 2022 NCAA Tournament the most blue blood Final Four ever?
Is this the blue bloodiest NCAA Final Four ever?
That might be up for debate, but there’s no question the Final Four teams left standing all have some of the most storied NCAA basketball success in the tournament’s history.
Kansas meets Villanova at 5:09 p.m. Saturday in the first national semifinal, followed by Duke playing archrival North Carolina in the other semifinal. The winners play in the NCAA championship game Monday night, April 4. All three games are on CBS (KTVT/Ch. 11).
So how frequent are these four teams in the Final Four? All-time leader North Carolina (28-9) advanced to its 21st with a dominating win Sunday over massive underdog No. 15 Saint Peter’s. No. 2 Duke reached its 17th Final Four with Saturday’s win over Arkansas. That’s tied for third-most with Kentucky. The Blue Devils (32-6) are trying to give head coach Mike Krzyzewski his sixth national title in his final season before retiring.
No. 1 Kansas (32-6) beat No. 10 Miami on Sunday to advance to its 16th Final Four. The Jayhawks have the fifth-most Final Four berths.
No. 2 Villanova (30-7) is no slouch either. The Wildcats are tied for 10th-most Final Four appearances with six.
How good have these programs been over the years? Kansas just passed Kentucky for the most NCAA wins with 2,328. The Tar Heels and Blue Devils are Nos. 3 and 4 in all-time wins. And Villanova ranks 19th all-time.
The Final Four teams have combined for 8,653 all-time wins.
Other recent blue blood-heavy Final Fours include 2012 with Kansas, Kentucky, Ohio State and Louisville; 2008 with Kansas, UCLA, North Carolina and Memphis.
Saturday’s NCAA Final Four schedule
(at Superdome, New Orleans)
No. 1 Kansas vs. No. 2 Villanova, 5:09 p.m.
No. 2 Duke vs. No. 8 North Carolina (after first game)
This story was originally published March 27, 2022 at 6:10 PM.
