March Madness, as usual, has had some pretty exciting games. There’s always a “Cinderella” team — This year it was St. Peter’s, being the first 15th seeded team to make it to the Elite Eight. But after all the smoke has cleared, the Final Four is here — the Final Four is the two games that determine which teams play for the national title.
Until 1978, the “Final Four” was just referred to as the tournament’s semifinal. But after 1978 “Final Four” was used almost exclusively and the NCAA eventually trademarked the term.
The lowest seed to make a Final Four is Number 11 — and five teams have done it. LSU in 1986, George Mason in 2006, VCU in 2011, Loyola Chicago in 2018, and UCLA in 2021. Unfortunately, no Number 11 seed has ever advanced to the championship game.
No matter where the Final Four is played, the hardwood court always comes from the same place. The “Final Floors” are produced by Connor Sports using hardwood sugar maple from northern Michigan. The wood goes to Amasa, Michigan, for the assembly of the floor panels and then to Idaho Falls, Idaho, to be finished. From there, there floors go to the stadium where it takes about five hours to install.
The most appearances by a team without making the Final Four is BYU they’ve only been able to make it as far as the Elite Eight.
Five schools have made it to more than 10 Final Fours — Kansas, Duke, Kentucky, UCLA and North Carolina. This year’s Final Four will features appearances by Kansas, Duke, and North Carolina.
The NCAA Tournament was first broadcasted by NBC in 1969 — CBS brought the rights in 1982 and since then March Madness has evolved into the major TV event it is today.
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.
The Final Four was originally hosted in arenas in various cities across the country. The arena that hosted it the most times was Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium — the Final Four was played there nine times (between 1940 and 1964.) In the mid 90s, the Final Four moved to domed stadiums. The stadium hosting the games the most times is the New Orleans’ Superdome, where this year’s games will be played — the sixth time the Final Four has been played in the Superdome. One of four teams will be really happy come Monday night.
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