North Carolina's basketball dominates Final Four appearances
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North Carolina schools have historically dominated in the men's NCAA basketball tournament, reaching the Final Four a combined 44 times.
Why it matters: A review of bracket history shows the longtime dominance of college basketball's "blue blood" programs — always useful knowledge when filling out your bracket — but there's always the potential for lesser-known schools to make a deep run.
Between the lines: North Carolina's tourney success is driven largely by Duke (17 Final Fours) and UNC (21), with some help from N.C. State (4), Wake Forest (1) and UNC-Charlotte (1).
On the women's side, North Carolina teams have appeared in the Final Four nine times, and Duke leads the way with four appearances.
Between the lines: A larger number of states — 23 in all — have been shut out of the women's Final Four.
- That's mainly because the women's tournament began 43 years after the first men's event.
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