Some schools are just known for their basketball. UConn and NC State are doing all the right things to be seen as a legacy basketball colleges, as both the UConn and NC State men and women are advancing to the NCAA Final Four.
Other Legacy Schools for the NCAA Final Four
One that comes to mind is Michigan State University. I’m a Michigan State graduate, so I know pretty much everything there is to know about the great Tom Izzo. But, anyone who’s a college basketball fan knows of Izzo, because of his incredible record in March Madness. He has a record of 54–23 in the NCAA Tournament. He’s also appeared in the most consecutive NCAA Tournaments of any Division I coach at 26 appearances, recently surpassing Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. Izzo also has the fifth-most Final Four appearances among coaches in NCAA Tournament history, with the only ones ahead of him being Krzyzewski, John Wooden, Dean Smith and Roy Williams.
The 2024 Men’s and Women’s Final Four
UConn and NC State are creeping up on Izzo. Both teams have both their men and women’s players advancing to the Final Four.
Some cool facts are that the N.C. State men’s basketball team is going back to the Final Four for the first time since 1983. Meanwhile, the N.C. State women’s team is heading to the Final Four for the first time since 1998.
Looking at some other teams, Purdue has been strong for several years now. But, they aren’t a legacy school like Michigan State, UConn and N.C. State. In fact, their trip to the Final Four marks their first time in 44 years at that matchup and only the third time in school history. Of course, a lot of Purdue’s success on the court is thanks to Zach Edey, their star player. Clocking in at 7 feet 4 inches tall, he’s actually the tallest player in Big Ten history. If Purdue wants longevity with their basketball program, they’re going to have to figure out what to do moving forward after Edey graduates.
There’s lots of awesome March Madness action this weekend, both for the men’s and women’s teams. On Saturday (April 6), N.C. State will take on Purdue at 6:09 p.m. EST. That same day, Alabama will go up against UConn at 8:49 p.m. EST. For the women, N.C. State will take on South Carolina on Friday (April 5) at 7 p.m. EST. Also that night, UConn and Iowa will go up against each other at 9:30 p.m. EST.
Lots of people will be watching the women’s Iowa vs. UConn game, because of Iowa’s Caitlin Clark. The Elite Eight game, which had Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes beat Angel Reese’s LSU Tigers, garnered a record-breaking 12.3 million viewers for the sports network on Monday night (April 1). It’s the most-watched women’s college basketball game on record. According to ESPN, the game was also “one of the most-viewed games in any sport other than NFL football over the past year.” The Iowa, LSU game beat all one of the five games in last year’s NBA Finals, as well as the clinching game of last year’s World Series (11.48 million).
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