03/31/2007
Florida is making its second consecutive championship appearance. They are
the first team to go to back to back championship games since Kentucky in 1998.
They are also the first defending champion to advance to the championship game since
Kentucky in 1997. They are 1-1 in championship games.
Florida is in its 3rd championship game since 2000. No other school has been
to more than one championship game this decade.
The AP #1 team has faced the AP #3 team 6 previous times in the championship game.
#3 has won 4 of 6 including the last 3.
|
Year |
#1 |
Score |
#3 |
Score2 |
|
1955 |
San Francisco |
77 |
La Salle |
63 |
|
1963 |
Cincinnati |
58 |
Loyola, Illinois |
60 |
|
1964 |
UCLA |
98 |
Duke |
83 |
|
1966 |
Kentucky |
65 |
Texas-El Paso |
72 |
|
1979 |
Indiana State |
64 |
Michigan State |
75 |
|
1999 |
Duke |
74 |
Connecticut |
77 |
This is the 5th time that two #1 seeds are facing each other in the national championship.
|
Year |
Team |
Score |
Team |
Score |
|
1982 |
North Carolina |
63 |
Georgetown |
62 |
|
1993 |
North Carolina |
77 |
Michigan |
71 |
|
1999 |
Connecticut |
77 |
Duke |
74 |
|
2005 |
North Carolina |
75 |
Illinois |
70 |
Ohio State is making its first championship game appearance since 1962. They
are 1-3 in championship games.
Since 1985, Ohio State is the 8th team ranked #1 in the AP poll to advance to the championship game.
Ohio State is 0-2 in championship games when ranked #1.
Ohio State's victory over Georgetown is their first in 3 tournament games.
Teams ranked #1 are 19-12 in the championship game.
Georgetown loses for the first time ever in a national semifinal game. They
are now 4-1.
Since 2000, Florida is tied for second in number of tournament wins with 18.
Only Duke has more with 20. Georgetown has the best winning percentage at
8-2 (.800). Here is where each school in this year's final four rank in wins
and win percentage coming into today's games:
|
Team |
Record |
Win Rank |
Win Pct Rank |
|
Florida |
18-6 |
2nd |
4th |
|
UCLA |
15-5 |
7th |
4th |
|
Georgetown |
8-2 |
19th |
1st |
|
Ohio State |
7-4 |
21st |
20th |
With their 15 wins, UCLA is the only school to win at least 15 games in 4 different
decades.
Tournament Records of Final Four coaches entering today's games:
|
Coach |
Record |
|
Billy Donovan |
20-7 |
|
Ben Howland |
13-5 |
|
Thad Matta |
11-5 |
|
John Thompson III |
6-3 |
Since 2000, only the following schools have made multiple final four appearances:
- Florida and
Michigan State with 3
- Duke, Kansas, Maryland, North Carolina and UCLA with 2
UCLA has allowed an average
of 50.25 points in their first four tournament games. In the shot clock era
(since 1986), that is the fewest points allowed by a final four team in its first
four games. The previous low was 52.5 allowed by Mississippi State in 1996.
Last year's UCLA team has the third lowest at 54.75.
UCLA has scored an average of 64 points in their first four tournament games.
In the shot clock era, that is the second fewest points scored by a final four team
in its first four games. The fewest points scores was also by Mississippi
State in 1996 with 63.5.