Who wins the Championships

As we continue to roll right into the heart of March Madness, I started thinking about who usually wins. I was really thinking about the various women's and men's champions over the years that have won multiple championships. From the men's side I think Duke, UNC, Kentucky and from the women's I think UConn, Tennessee and La Tech. 

Why do those schools come to mind when it comes to the championships, well part is TV coverage and the other is perception of the actual events. So I started looking back at some of the past winners (I started in 1982 so that the Men's and Women's numbers matched, by doing so, I eliminated the UCLA runs under Wooden). Well I was a bit surprised by what I found. From the men's side I thought the teams what had done well really didn't have as many titles as I had thought and women's contained much fewer teams than I had expected. 

So take a look for yourself, was this the list you expected to see. The one thing that I see is, in the women's game, it appears that a single player can make a mark. See Cheryl Miller from the USC wins in the early 80's or the run of players through Tennessee like Chamique Holdsclaw. And overall, I see the same teams, year in and year out for the women. You don't have the little guy making a run. Where's the Butler or St. Mary's or for that matter, a second SEC school. I remember when I was in school and the Lady Dawgs were in the Tourney, guess who they played, Stanford. So was I surprised we play them this year, no. Yes the Lady Dawgs go into the bracket and usually win a few games, but over the years, a few teams just seem to capture the spotlight. 

Is this good for the game, where you can pretty much lay money on Tennessee or UConn winning it all for the women. Somehow they need to figure out how to bring up the level of the other teams. I know there are girls that can hoop it up, but I guess they just don't do it in college or it doesn't appear that way. 

Women's Champions Since 1982   School Wins Championships Tennessee 8 1987, 1989, 1991, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2007, 2008 Connecticut 6 1995, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009 Louisiana Tech 2 1982, 1988 Southern California 2 1983, 1984 Stanford 2 1990, 1992 Old Dominion 1 1985 Texas 1 1986 Texas Tech 1 1993 North Carolina 1 1994 Purdue 1 1999 Notre Dame 1 2001 Baylor 1 2005 Maryland 1 2006 13

Men's Champions Since 1982   School Titles Years North Carolina 4 1982, 1993, 2005, 2009 Duke 3 1991, 1992, 2001 Kentucky 2 1996, 1998 Kansas 2 1988, 2008 Connecticut 2 1999, 2004 Florida 2 2006, 2007 Indiana 1 1987 UCLA 1 1995 Michigan State 1 2000 Louisville 1 1986 Georgetown 1 1984 Villanova 1 1985 Michigan 1 1989 UNLV 1 1990 Arkansas 1 1994 Arizona 1 1997 Maryland 1 2002 Syracuse 1 2003 North Carolina State 1 1983 19