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The NCAA March Madness tournament showcases the hard work and skill of the top 64 college basketball teams across the nation. Typically it’s filled with upsets and Cinderella stories, but only one team can be crowned champions, and that team is typically one of the best squads entering the tournament.
In this article, we’ll outline the five most recent March Madness winners since 2019 (excluding 2020 due to COVID-19), including when they occurred, who won the championship, what the final score was and any important coaches and players.
Coming out of the ACC as a #1 seed in the 2019 March Madness tournament, the Virginia Cavaliers would make history in claiming the NCAA Division I championship, and rightfully so. The previous season, Virginia would also make history as the first No. 1 to lose to a No. 16 seed in the tournament.
However, they committed an incredible bounceback in 2019, where they showcased a 35-3 overall final record under head coach Tony Bennett. In the National Championship, they faced the Texas Tech Red Raiders in a game that headed to overtime, where Virginia would take home the trophy with an 85-77 victory.
After a canceled season due to the raging COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Baylor would waste no time in claiming the next Naismith trophy, starting 2021 with an amazing 18-game win streak.
Coached by Scott Drew and coming out of the Big 12 conference, the No. 1 seed Baylor would end their 2021 season with an impressive 28-2 record as well as the final NCAA Division I trophy they’d been striving for. The final game would see Baylor take on the Gonzaga Bulldogs for an intense 86-70 scoreline, which saw Baylor the 2021 victors in the end.
Up next, Kansas would become another No. 1 seed to reach the NCAAM Basketball National Championship, with a full season record of 34-6 coached under legendary head coach Bill Self. Kansas would be the second team from the Big 12 conference in two years to make the finals of the tournament, where they would win it spectacularly.
In the final game against the North Carolina Tar Heels, the Kansas Jayhawks would sit at a 10-point deficit leading into the second half. Kansas would ramp up the scoring in the second half, with 47 points scored to make it 70-69. With a wild ending to the game ensuing, the Jayhawks would win their first trophy in years with a final score of 72-69 against UNC.
2023 saw the UCONN Huskies go on an exemplary run to the finals after placing as a No. 1 seed out of the Big East Conference. Coached by Dan Hurley, the team would rep an impressive 31-8 overall record after winning the NCAA Division I Championship.
Their final game saw them face runner-ups of UNC (for the second year in a row), where the Huskies would come out champions after a 76-59 scoreline. While this season was truly impressive for Dan Hurley and the Huskies squad, it wouldn’t be their last shot at attaining a championship in recent years.
As one of the first teams to win championships back-to-back since Florida in 2006 and 2007, the UCONN Huskies would head into the 2024 March Madness tourney as a No. 1 seed out of the Big East once again. With a near identical outcome to their previous season of play, the Huskies would finish the season with an improved 37-3 record, taking home the trophy in the most recent NCAA March Madness tournament.
In the finals, the Purdue Boilermakers would put up a valiant fight, yet it was not enough to topple the two-time champions, UCONN, who won the game with a 75-60 scoreline.
Liam has been a major sports fan and soccer player for over a decade, with a particular focus on major top-level soccer leagues, including the EPL, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and MLS. He has written numerous promotional articles for various top sportsbooks and continues to publish historical and factual sports articles covering the NFL, MLS, NHL, MLB, EPL and more.