Three years ago, as part of a larger historical analysis of the 2019 men’s NCAA tournament field, I coined a term called “Extreme Teams.” An Extreme Team, I explained, is one that ranks in the top 10 of KenPom in efficiency on either offense or defense, and outside the top 50 in the other (if it ranks outside the top 100 in the other, I dub it a “Super Extreme”). Extreme teams have appeared in the NCAA tournament every year of the KenPom era (since ’02), and as part of my research, I examined how each one has done in the bracket—especially relative to expectation of its seed.
Since 2002 (not counting the ’19–20 season, when there was no March Madness), there have been 155 Extreme Teams in men’s college basketball. Of those, 134 (86.5%) made the NCAA tournament, but none won the national title. Thirteen (9.7%) of those 134 advanced to the Elite Eight, with only four (0.3%) making the Final Four. A fifth Final Four team, ’13–14 Wisconsin, just missed out on qualifying as an Extreme after entering the tournament with the No. 50 defense.
Darron Cummings/AP
