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This weekend marks the biggest weekend in college sports, the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) “Final Four.” Much of this information may be generally found by Google searching NCAA Final Four and was borrowed from a wonderful article written for Athlon Sports online by sportswriter, Aaron Tallent, and entitled "10 Fun Facts About the NCAA Tournament’s Final Four."

 

Some of this information was generally known to us. We went a little over our customary 10 or so facts, as we are big fans of this particular event.

Buckle up! Here we go!

 

 

Some believe the term “Final Four” came from author Ed Chay, a sportswriter for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Chay stated that the Marquette basketball team “was one of the final four” during the previous season’s tournament in an article that was published in 1975.

 

 

Others believe it was actually first dubbed by Bill Mayer with the Lawrence Daily Journal (Kansas) when he wrote in 1966, “What a great year it could be if KU could advance to the NCAA Final Four by winning the regional here.”

 

 

Since sometime in 1978, the term has been trademarked by the NCAA and has been regularly used by that association.

 

 

No other organization in this country may use the phrase “Final Four” to refer to its tournament, although foreign organizations regularly do, and not just in reference to basketball.

 

 

The term, “Final Four,” is used by the FIBA Americas League, the EuroLeague, the Champions League, the Israeli Premier League, and the University Athletic Association of the Philippines.

 

 

The CEV Champions League (volleyball) also uses “Final Four” for its semi-final round.

 

 

NBC first began broadcasting the NCAA Tournament and Final Four in 1969, and then CBS bought the rights in ’82.

 

 

Under CBS, March Madness has evolved into a “must-see TV” event.

 

 

The 1979 championship game between Larry Bird’s Indiana State Sycamores and Magic Johnson’s Michigan State Spartans still holds the record for television viewership for any college basketball game.

 

 

Five schools have made it to more than 10 Final Fours — Kansas, Duke, Kentucky, UCLA, and North Carolina.

 

 

In 2017, UNC became the first program to reach 20 Final Fours. The Tar Heels made their first semifinal in 1946 and they're second in ’57. Since then, they have not gone more than 10 years without reaching a Final Four and have won six national titles along the way. The Tar Heels, with its making this year’s Final Four, have now made this prestigious event 21 times. Perhaps they will win the team’s 7th-national title this weekend.

 

 

In 1981, BYU guard Danny Ainge drove the length of the court to hit a buzzer-beating shot against Notre Dame to put his team in the Elite Eight. That is the closest the Cougars have come to making the Final Four in 30 tries, the most appearances by any program without making the semifinal.

 

 

John Wooden and Mike Krzyzewski once together held the record for 12 Final Four appearances.

 

 

Wooden’s success came over a 14-year period where UCLA went to nine consecutive Final Fours and won 12 national championships.

 

 

Coach K’s run has lasted more than 30 years, with Duke making it's first Final Four in 1986 and it is most recent coming over the coming weekend.

 

 

With this year’s appearance, in Krzyzewski’s final year before retiring; Coach K, as he is called, now holds the record for most Final Four appearances with 13.

 

 

Two coaches have taken three different teams to the Final Four. Rick Pitino took Providence, Kentucky, and Louisville to seven semifinals during his career. Meanwhile, John Calipari has taken UMass, Memphis, and Kentucky to six Final Fours.

 

 

Both Pitino and Calipari have had two Final Fours vacated because of NCAA rules violations.

 

 

The NCAA did not allow freshmen to play varsity basketball until the 1972-73 season so Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton, and a cadre of other Bruin players missed the opportunity to play in four consecutive Final Fours during UCLA’s epic run.

 

 

The player who made the most of the NCAA allowing freshmen to play was Duke center, Christian Laettner, who started for the Blue Devils in four straight Final Fours and won two national championships.

 

 

Laettner played in 23 out of 24 possible NCAA Tournament games during his career and won 21 of them.

 

 

The lowest seed to make a Final Four is a No. 11.

 

 

Five No. 11 seeds have made the Final Four and they are LSU in 1986, George Mason in 2006, VCU in 2011, Loyola Chicago in 2018, and UCLA in 2021.

 

 

A No. 11 has never advanced to the championship game.

 

 

Had St. Peters won its semifinal game with No. 8 North Carolina last weekend, the Peacocks would have set the new standard for the highest-seeded team to ever advance to a Final Four.

 

 

The Peacocks were the only 15-seed in NCAA history to crack the Elite 8.

 

Now be honest; how many of you knew even half of those riveting facts about the NCAA’s Final Four?