Biggest Win Margins in March Madness

The NCAA March Madness tournament brings out the wildcat in all of us. When Selection Sunday commences, it's off to the First Four in Dayton, Ohio for the 2020 NCAA premier Men's Division 1 Basketball Tournament. March Madness is probably one of my favorite sporting events of the early part of the year. It is adrenaline-fueled entertainment from inception to the crowning of the NCAA Champions.

As a fellow NCAA basketball fan, you’re probably eager to save the dates on Google Calendar, or Apple notes, so let's get started:

* The First Four kicks off on March 17/18, 2020
* The Sweet 16 plays on March 26 – March 27, 2020
* The Elite 8 blazes a trail on March 28 – March 29, 2020
* The Final Four compete for glory on April 4, 2020
* The NCAA Championship game plays on April 6, 2020

There's a lot going on in between these major stages of the tournament, with First and Second rounds of play, and multiple Regional Tournaments too. Ready to check out some of the biggest winning margins in March Madness?

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What Colleges have the Most March Madness Wins?

* UCLA: This team lays claim to 106 tournament wins,  11 championship titles, 49 tournament appearances, and a win/loss percentage of 71.6%
* Kentucky: This team boasts 128 tournament wins with 8 championships, 58 tournament appearances, and a win/loss percentage of 71.1%                                           
* Duke: this college basketball team has an impressive 112 tournament wins, 5 championships, 42 tournament appearances, and a win/loss percentage of 74.7%.
* Kansas: this incredible team boasts 107 tournament wins, 3 championship titles, 47 tournament appearances, and a win/loss percentage of 69.9%.

These teams certainly have impressive credentials, along with other NCAA college basketball teams with a high championship count such as North Carolina (6) Indiana (5) and, Connecticut (4). These figures were all correct at the time of writing up to the 2019 NCAA Men's Division 1 Basketball Tournament.  

Best March Madness Win Margins

While these records certainly speak volumes about the quality of these college basketball teams, they don't necessarily give us an indication of the biggest win margins that took place during the March Madness tournament. For this, we need to dig a little deeper to find some examples of out-sized performances.

*1963: Loyola vs Tennessee Tech (111-42) South Regional First Round >69 points
*1998: Kansas vs Prairie View (110-52) Midwest Regional First Round >58 points
*1986: Syracuse vs Brown (101-52) East Regional First Round  >49 points
*2016: Villanova vs Oklahoma (95-51) >44 points
*1965: Princeton vs Wichita State (118-82) Consolation Game >36 points
*2001: Michigan State vs Alabama State (69-35) South Regional First Round >34 points
*1963: Cincinnati vs Oregon State (80-46) Semi-Final >34 points
*1979: Michigan State vs Penn (101-67) Semi-Final  >34 points
*1968: UCLA vs Houston (101-69) National Semifinal >32 points
*1990: UNLV vs Duke (103-73) Final  >30 points
*1940: Indiana vs Springfield (48-24) East Regional Final  >24 points
*1980: Texas A&M vs North Carolina (78-61) Midwest Regional Second Round >17 points

These performances reflect plenty of daylight between the winning team and the losing team. If we go by points scored alone, then the biggest margin of victory must go to the game between Loyola and Tennessee Tech where a 69-point margin of victory was scored. That's got to be one of the biggest blowouts in men's college basketball at March Madness.

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Naturally, many incredible records have been broken in March Madness tournaments. These include the biggest blowouts in the Final Four, the most incredible comebacks, the biggest upsets, and the biggest winning margins of victory. Enjoy this year's NCAA tournament as the top contenders go toe-to-toe for the biggest prize in CBB ever!

*March Madness 2019 David J. Phillip and AP