68 Facts on 68 NCAA Tournament Teams

Before you fill out your bracket, you should probably know at least a little about each team in the field. Before deciding which teams to advance and which teams to send home early, find out at least one fact on each team in the tournament.

68. North Carolina Central Eagles: The Eagles are able to give themselves second-chance opportunities by crashing the glass. They rank top-30 in the country with a 32.3% offensive rebounding percentage.

67. North Dakota State Bison: The Bison started their season going only 2-7. They turned it around and went 16-8 over the remainder of the season.

66. Fairleigh Dickinson Knights: The Knights can chuck it from deep. They rank 5th in the country with a 40.4% 3-point percentage.

65. Prairie View Panthers: The SWAC regular season and conference tournament champions started the season 1-11. They finished their regular season with a 21-1 run.

64. Iona Gaels:The MAAC Tournament winners are not your typical mid-major that will wilt under the pressure of the NCAA Tournament. Coach Tim Cluess has lead the New Rochelle-based school to four straight tournament appearances, plus a tournament win back in 2013.

63. Gardner-Webb Runnin Bulldogs: This is Gardner-Webb's first conference tournament championship and NCAA Tournament appearance since...ever.

62. Abilene Christian Wildcats: In their first year going dancing in school history, the Wildcats are the luckiest team to qualify for the tournament this year per KenPom.

61. Bradley Braves: The Braves completed the biggest comeback in MVC championship history to clinch a bid to this year's tournament.

60. Colgate Raiders: The Patriot League regular season and tournament champions are top-20 in the country from 3, where they connect 38.6% of the time. In fact, Colgate does a great job spacing the floor with their shooting, as all 5 starters shoot better than 35% from deep.

59. Montana Grizzlies: Boasting an offense that is top-10 in the country in effective field goal percentage, the Grizzlies have 4 players averaging at least 13 points per game.

58. Northern Kentucky Norse: Drew McDonald is one of only two Division I players to average 19 points, 9 boards, and shoot 40% from 3 this season.

57. Georgia State Panthers: This is the third time the Panthers have swept the regular season and tournament titles in the Sun Belt. They won a game in the NCAA tournament each of the two years they did that previously.

56. Old Dominion Monarchs: The Monarchs boast a stiff interior defense. Only 5 teams allow a lower 2-point percentage to their opponents than Old Dominion's 43.5% mark.

55. Yale Elis Bulldogs: In defeating their arch-rival Harvard Crimson in the Ivy League championship, the Bulldogs not only clinched their bid to the tournament but also avenged two earlier losses to the Crimson this season.

54. Northeastern Huskies: Thanks to four players shooting 40% or better from 3, the Huskies rank top-15 in the country with a 38.8% 3-point shooting percentage.

53. Saint Louis Billikens: In winning just their second Atlantic 10 championship in school history as a 6 seed, Saint Louis became the lowest seed to win the tournament since 2006, when Xavier won it before moving to the Big East.

52. Vermont Catamounts: Junior forward Anthony Lamb averages 21 points and 2 blocks per game for the America East regular season and tournament champions.

51. California-Irvine Anteaters: The Anteaters absolutely dominated their conference. Including the tournament, UC Irvine went 18-1 in Big West play.

50. Liberty Flames: This isn't a typical situation where a mid-major will fold against a Power-5 Conference school. In fact, Liberty defeated the UCLA Bruins at Pauley Pavillion this season, and the loss was so devastating Coach Steve Alford was fired the next day.

49. New Mexico State Aggies: The Aggies 37.0% offensive rebounding percentage ranks 2nd in the country.

48. Oregon Ducks: Despite starting the season slow, the Ducks have won 8 straight games as top-15 recruit Louis King has stepped up his level of play after missing the beginning of the season due to injuries.

47. St. John's (NY) Red Storm: The Red Storm started their season 12-0. They lumped down the stretch, however, as they went 9-12 thereafter.

46. Murray State Racers: Ja Morant is averaging 25 points and 10 assists per game, and is the only college player in the country who could hang with Zion in a dunk contest. No wonder he's expected to go top-3 in the NBA Draft.

45. Arizona State Sun Devils: Senior forward Zylan Cheatham is averaging a double-double on the season with 11.8 points and 10.4 rebounds per game.

44. Saint Mary's (CA) Gaels: The Gaels lost their two games against their rival Gonzaga by a combined 62 points. In the WCC Conference Tournament final, St. Mary's won by double-digits to clinch their bid into the NCAA Tournament field. That's March for you.

43. Temple Owls: Our database has the Philadelphia-based school as the least consistent team in the tournament this year.

42. Belmont Bruins: Coach Rick Byrd is one of the best offensive minds in the country. He has the Bruins ranked 3rd in the country in effective field goal percentage and 2nd in the country in assists per field goal made.

41. Ohio State Buckeyes: The Buckeyes started their season 12-1. They proceeded to lose their next five straight games.

40. Florida Gators: It's been a tale of two seasons for last year's leading scorer Jalen Hudson. Through January, he averaged just 6.2 points per game while shooting a miserable 29.4% from the field. He got hot down the stretch, however. From the beginning of February through the end of regular season play, he averaged 13.4 points per game on a 41.8% field goal percentage.

39. Minnesota Golden Gophers: Senior forward Jordan Murphy is averaging a double-double on the season, with 14.9 points and 11.6 rebounds per game.

38. Seton Hall Pirates: The Pirates are the only team outside of Duke to beat Kentucky in non-conference play.

37. Iowa Hawkeyes: Most teams are lucky to get one buzzer beater in a season. Iowa got two this season - in as many games, including this crazy shot off the side of the backboard.

36. Oklahoma Sooners: Leading scorer Christian James probably wishes he had smaller feet. The Sooners lost their first game in the Big 12 Tournament when James game-tying 3 at the buzzer was changed to a 2 when the review showed his toes were over the line.

35. Baylor Bears: The team from Waco, Texas creates a lot of extra chances. They rank top-5 in offensive rebounding percentage.

34. Central Florida Knights: 7'6" Tacko Fall (yes you read that right) is shooting 75% from the field this season.

33. Washington Huskies: Matisse Thybull is one of the best defenders in the country. He is the only Division I player averaging at least 3.5 steals and 2.3 blocks per game.

32. Utah State Aggies: If your favorite team is playing the Aggies, don't expect a lot of second-chance points. Utah State ranks 1st in the nation in defensive rebounding percentage.

31. Mississippi Rebels: Despite being picked to finish last in the SEC preseason poll, Kermit Davis has the Rebels playing great basketball all season long. They rank 22nd in nERD.

30. Syracuse Orange: Jim Boeheim has his squad playing excellent defense as always, as they rank 12th in both block percentage and steals per possession.

29. Virginia Commonwealth Rams: Teams that have played VCU have struggled to hang onto the ball this season. The Rams rank top-10 in forcing turnovers, as their opponents are giving the ball up on 22.8% of their possessions.

28. Wofford Terriers: Fletcher Magee is averaging 20 points per game, and he does it all kinds of ways. He is shooting over 40% from 3 and over 90% from the charity stripe.

27. Cincinnati Bearcats: Jarron Cumberland doesn't mess around. He leads the team in all of points, assists, and steals per game.

26. Nevada Wolf Pack: Nevada's senior-laden team takes care of the basketball. With the 23 year-old Martin twins at the helm, they rank top-10 in fewest turnovers per possession on offense.

25. Louisville Cardinals: Despite the scandals of last year, Louisville has held up well against their toughest ACC opponents. The Cardinals blew out North Carolina by 21 in Chapel Hill, and they've held halftime leads against both Duke and Virginia this season.

24. Iowa State Cyclones: Freshman guard Tyrese Haliburton is one of only two Division I players with at least 25 blocks and 50 steals on the season. The other? Zion Williamson.

23. Buffalo Bulls: The Bulls were a force to be reckoned with in the MAC this year. They swept the top 2 conference awards, as Coach Nate Oats and guard C.J. Massinburg won coach and player of the year respectively. Senior Nick Perkins also won his third consecutive MAC sixth man of the year award.

22. Maryland Terrapins: The Terps are terrific at crashing the glass. They rank top-5 in the nation in total rebounding rate.

21. Villanova Wildcats: Jay Wright's teams are famous for chucking plenty of 3-pointers, and this year's squad is no different. Villanova ranks 4th in the country in 3-point rate.

20. Mississippi State Bulldogs: While the Bulldogs have only made the tournament 10 times in school history. They've had a fair amount of success in the years they've made it that far. They've won at least one game six times, made it to three Sweet 16s, and have even made a Final Four.

19. Wisconsin Badgers: The Badgers' best player may also be their Achilles heel. Ethan Happ is averaging over 17 points and 10 rebounds a game, but he connects on less than 50% of his free throws.

18. Auburn Tigers: You think Auburn and SEC basketball, you likely assume this team scores primarily from the point. But that's not the case, as the Tigers rank top-5 nationally in the percentage of points that come from the 3-pointer.

17. Marquette Golden Eagles: Markus Howard is averaging 25 points per game on the season for the Golden Eagles while shooting over 40% from deep and nearly 90% from the free-throw line.

16. Virginia Tech Hokies: Justin Robinson, the Hokies' third-leading scorer and leading assist man, has been out with a foot injury since the beginning of February. Robinson is expected to play in the NCAA Tournament.

15. Kansas State Wildcats: The Wildcats return their 7 leading scorers from last year's Elite Eight squad, including seniors Dean Wade, Barry Brown Jr., and Kamau Stokes. Wade's status could be up in the air for the tournament as he recovers from a foot injury.

14. Florida State Seminoles: The Noles have been a streaky team this year. Including the ACC tournament, they closed the season winning 14 of their final 16 games. The strange thing, however, is that the winning streak was preceded by a stretch in which they dropped 4 of 5.

13. Kansas Jayhawks: Their streak of 14 consecutive Big 12 Regular Season titles ended this season.

12. Purdue Boilermakers: Purdue went undefeated at home in the Mackey Arena this year. In fact, other than neutral court losses to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Minnesota Golden Gophers, all of their defeats came in true road environments.

11. Louisiana State Fighting Tigers: The Tigers have played in a ridiculous 7 overtime games this season. LSU is 5-2 in those games.

10. Texas Tech Red Raiders: Despite losing four of five starters from last year's team, Chris Beard has his team ranked 1st in the nation in defensive efficiency according to our nERD metric.

9. Houston Cougars: Houston has played lockdown defense all year, and it shows. They allow the lowest effective field goal percentage in the country.

8. Michigan Wolverines: Other than Virginia, Michigan was the last remaining undefeated team this season.

7. Kentucky Wildcats: The Wildcats lost their opening game (to Duke) by 34 points. In their other 5 losses, their margin of defeat is only a combined 28 points.

6. Michigan State Spartans: Tom Izzo's squad has been playing without their third-leading scorer in Joshua Langford, who suffered a season-ending ankle injury, since the start of the 2019 calendar year.

5. Tennessee Volunteers: Prior to this season, the Vols had spent a total of only 3 weeks ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll in program history. They enjoyed 4 consecutive weeks ranked No. 1 this season.

4. Gonzaga Bulldogs: Before their unceremonious exit in the WCC Conference Tournament final, Mark Few's squad had gone undefeated in conference play, winning each game by double-digit margins.

3. North Carolina Tar Heels: Coby White passed his Airness Michael Jordan on the North Carolina freshman scoring list earlier this month.

2. Virginia Cavaliers: Tony Bennett's program is famous for its strong defensive play, but this year our database has the Hoos ranked 4th in the country in offensive.

1. Duke Blue Devils: Zion Williamson became just the 23rd player in men's DI history to take at least 13 shots and make all of them in a single game. And he just happened to do that in his first game back from injury in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament.