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In the early days of college basketball, dynasties ruled the sport, and becoming a back-to-back champion was not all that uncommon. Now, winning March Madness in consecutive years is an extreme rarity and a nearly impossible feat to accomplish. UConn was able to do that in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, though, and now they are dancing in March again, meaning they have a chance to three-peat.
UConn isn't projected to win the title again, as they are just an eight-seed and have clearly regressed from last season. Even so, their back-to-back titles were very impressive, and the team always turns things up in March, so they aren't out of the running just yet. With that said, we decided to look at every men's college basketball team that has won the Big Dance in consecutive seasons to see how the Huskies stack up in their journey to making history.
Back-to-back champions in March Madness history
- Oklahoma A&M – 1945-46
- Kentucky – 1948-49
- San Francisco – 1955-56
- Cincinnati – 1961-62
- UCLA – 1964-65, 1967-68, 1968-1969, 1969-70, 1970-71, 1971-72, 1972-73
- Duke – 1991-92
- Florida – 2006-07
- UConn – 2023-24
Overall, eight different teams programs have repeated as champions in the NCAA Basketball Tournament. Of course, John Wooden's UCLA Bruins of the '60s and early '70s were arguably the greatest dynasty in sports history and repeated as champions on seven different occasions. That team won 10 total championships, including seven straight wins with Lew Alcindor and then Bill Walton – two of the best March Madness players ever – leading the way.
UCLA was far from the first team to repeat as champions, though. The first March Madness was played in 1939, and a smaller format made it somewhat common to go back-to-back in the early days. Oklahoma A&M (now known as Oklahoma State) was the first team to repeat as champions. They won it all in both 1945 and 1946.
Just two years after Oklahoma A&M accomplished something that had never been done, Kentucky won their first championship of what would eventually become back-to-back championship wins. Now, Kentucky is known as one of the biggest powerhouses in the sport, and their always great recruiting classes started way back with their first championship team. Alex Groza was the leader on this team, and on a program that has had so many stars over the years, he stands out as the Wildcats' first true star.
Speaking of powerhouses, these days, San Francisco is known as anything but that. The team has only made the March Madness tournament once this century, but they were a force to be reckoned with back when Bill Russell was the team's star. All Russell knew how to do was win, and that was the case long before he became the best winner in the history of the NBA. The Dons didn't have tons of talent around Russell, but the eventual Hall of Famer was able to single-handedly lead his team to glory with averages of over 20 points and 20 rebounds per game in the two seasons that San Francisco won it all.
When people think about Cincinnati basketball, they often think of Oscar Robertson. Robertson was one of the best college basketball players ever, but his Bearcats lost in the Final Four in two of his three collegiate seasons, and the guard wasn't ever able to win the national championship. Following his departure to the professional levels, Cincinnati immediately won back-to-back championships, and they even nearly three-peated, as they lost the 1963 tournament by two points in overtime.
After Cincinnati's wins came the UCLA dynasty. UCLA went back-to-back for the first time in 1964-65. The team missed the postseason tournament in 1966, but then they won seven championships in a row until 1974.
March Madness expanded to a 64-team format starting in 1985. Duke became the first team to repeat as champions with the extended format. Those Blue Devils were led by stars including Christian Laettner, Grant Hill, and Bobby Hurley. Their run to the championship was iconic in both seasons and was the result of memorable game winners. The Florida Gators have gone back-to-back since then. Florida's teams had Joakim Noah, Corey Brewer, and Al Horford.
March Madness has used a 68-team format since 2011, and prior to UConn's championship last season, North Carolina was the only team that has even appeared in the National Championship Game in back-to-back seasons since the tournament expanded to 68 teams.
The Huskies won it all in a Final Four that concluded with a battle of the bigs. Donovan Clingan's squad was able to best Zach Edey's Purdue team, though. Now, UConn is looking to become only the third team to ever win three straight championships. The frequency in which elite college players go one-and-done had made repeating a rarity in the 21st century, but the entire college basketball landscape has changed in the era of NIL and the transfer portal.
