Longest streaks of teams making March Madness: Longest ever and longest active
Being able to qualify for the NCAA Tournament is an impressive accomplishment. Which teams have put together the longest streaks of March Madness participation?
College basketball's signature event is the NCAA Tournament but participation in March Madness isn't guaranteed. There are more than 350 Division I basketball programs but only 68 get to play in the NCAA Tournament during a given year, making teams who appear regularly in March Madness very special.
With the 2024 NCAA Tournament set to begin in less than a week, let's take a look at some of the longest streaks of March Madness appearances. Let's start with the longest active streaks of NCAA Tournament Appearances
Editor's Note: Kansas technically has appeared in 34 consecutive NCAA Tournaments, which would be the longest streak in terms of both active appearances and all-time, but the Jayhawks' participation in the 2018 NCAA Tournament was vacated. According to the NCAA, that vacation counts as a breakup of the current streak. 2020 doesn't count in this data since the NCAA Tournament was not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Longest Active Streaks Of NCAA Tournament Appearances
Team | Conference | Year Streak Began | Consecutive Appearances |
|---|---|---|---|
Michigan State | Big Ten | 1998 | 25 |
Gonzaga | WCC | 1999 | 24 |
Purdue | Big Ten | 2015 | 8 |
Houston | Big 12 | 2018 | 5 |
Tennessee | SEC | 2018 | 5 |
The current active leader for most consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances belongs to Michigan State, which has made 25 consecutive trips to March Madness since 1998. The Spartans usually stay a while when they show up, making nine Final Four appearances in this run under Tom Izzo.
The next longest streak is Gonzaga's run of 24 straight NCAA Tournaments, which dates back to 1999. Mark Few has never missed March Madness since taking over for Dan Monson in 1999, which is a remarkable feat of consistency for a program in the tiny West Coast Conference.
The list drops off significantly after that as Purdue is next up with eight straight tickets to dance while Tennessee and Houston have five straight appearances each.
Longest All-Time Streaks Of NCAA Tournament Appearances
Team | Conference | Year Streak Began | Year Streak Ended | Consecutive Appearances |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Kansas | Big 12 | 1990 | 2017 | 28* |
North Carolina | ACC | 1975 | 2001 | 27 |
Michigan State | Big Ten | 1998 | Active | 25 |
Duke | ACC | 1996 | 2019 | 24 |
Gonzaga | WCC | 1999 | Active | 24 |
Michigan State and Gonzaga appear on both lists although both trail Kansas, whose run of 28 straight appearances before their 2018 trip was vacated still ranks as the longest all-time streak. North Carolina's run of March Madness appearances from 1975 to 2001 is also a remarkably long run that covered the end of Dean Smith's coaching tenure along with the first four years afterwards.
Gonzaga is currently tied with Duke's 24-year run of March Madness appearances from 1996-2019 for the fourth-longest streak of all time. The Blue Devils' run ended after a disastrous 2020-21 campaign left Mike Krzyzewski out of the dance for the first time since 1995.
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