2019 NCAA Tournament: History of East Region Schools

 

1 Duke vs 16. NC Central/North Dakota State

Duke Blue Devils 

All-time appearances – 43
All-time record – 112-38
Last appearance – 2018 – lost to Kansas in Elite 8

Tournament history: Duke has made X straight tournament appearances. They last won the National Championship in 2015 and that’s the last time they made the Final Four. Coach K has the most tournament wins of all-time (94) and is tied with John Wooden with 12 Final Four appearances and trails Wooden with 5 total Championships. 

North Carolina Central Eagles

All-time appearances – 9 
All-time record – 0-3
Last appearance – 2018 – Lost to Texas Southern in First Four 

This is NC Central’s 3rd consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, with each of the last two being played in the First Four in Dayton. 

North Dakota State Bison

All-time appearances – 4
All-time record – 1-3
Last appearance – 2015 – Lost to Gonzaga in first round 

NDSU only win came in 2014, as a 12 seed, beating Oklahoma in overtime. 

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8. VCU vs 9. UCF

VCU Rams

All-time appearances -17
All-time record- 13-16
Last appearance – 2017 – Lost in first round to Saint Mary’s

Last time VCU made it to second weekend was 2011, when Rams made it to Final Four. Since 2014, VCU is 1-4 in tournament games. 

UCF Knights

All-time appearances – 5
All-time record – 0-4
Last appearance – 2005 – Lost in first round to UConn as a 15 seed

Knights have never won an NCAA Tournament game. They have been a 16 seed twice, 14, and 15. In 8 years as Stanford head coach, Johnny Dawkins made 2 NCAA tournament appearances, winning at least 1 game each time and  making the Sweet 16 in 2014. He also led the Cardinals to 2 NIT Championships. 

UCF is one of 12 schools seeking their first ever NCAA Tournament win

All-time series

No previous matchups

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4. Mississippi St vs 13. Liberty

Mississippi State Bulldogs

All-time appearances – 11
All-time record- 11-10
Last appearance – 2009

Mississippi State snaps a 9 year tournament drought this year, marking the first time in Ben Howland’s four year tenure that they are in the Big Dance. Howland coached UCLA to three straight Final Fours from 2005-2008 . Mississippi State was one-and-done in 2009, losing to Washington as a 13 seed. In their 10 all-time tournament appearances, the Bulldogs have one at least one game in 7 of those appearances and they have won exactly one game in 4 of their last 6 appearances, dating back to 2002.

Liberty Flames

All-time appearances: 4
All-time record: 0-3
Last appearance – 2013 – Lost to NC A&T in First Four 

Liberty has only made 3 tournaments previously, losing by 20 both times in the field of 64 and by 1 in their First Four game in 2013. Flames got here by beating Lipscomb in the Atlantic Sun Championship game. They also won at UCLA in early December. 

All-time series

No previous matchups

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4. Virginia Tech vs 13. Saint Louis

Virginia Tech Hokies

All-time appearances – 11
All-time record – 6-10
Last appearance – 2018 – Lost in first round to Alabama

2019 will be the Hokies third consecutive tournament appearance, all under coach Buzz Williams. They are 0-2. Last win came in 2007 against Illinois in the first round. The only time Virginia Tech ever advanced beyond the second round was 1967, in their first tournament appearance. Since than, they have been one-and-done 5 of their 9 tournaments.

Saint Louis Billikens 

All-time appearances – 11
All-time record – 6-10
Last appearance – 2014 – Lost in second round to Louisville

Saint Louis last made the tournament three straight years from 2012-2014, winning their first round game each year. They have never won more than 1 game in the tournament. 

All-time series

Virginia Tech won 7 of 8 all-time vs Saint Louis. Billikens won the most recent meeting last season.

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6. Maryland vs 11. Belmont/Temple

Maryland Terrapins

All-time appearances – 27
All-time record – 41-26
Last appearance – 2017 – Lost to Xavier in first round as a 6 seed

Mark Turgeon has been the Terps head coach since 2011 and has only 3 tournament appearances (2015-2017), entering 2019. He is 3-3 overall as Terps coach in the Tournament. 

Belmont Bruins 

All-time appearances – 8
All-time record – 0-7
Last appearance – 2015

2015 was their last appearance, losing to Virginia by 12. They have been a 15 seed four times and their highest seed has been 11. Closest game was a 71-70 loss to Duke in 2008

Temple Owls

All-time appearances -33
All-time record- 33-32
Last appearance – 2016 – Lost in first round to Iowa 

This is coach Fran Dunphy’s 8th and final appearance in the NCAA Tournament with Temple. He is retiring after the season. Dunphy, who replaced John Chaney in 2006, is just 2-7 in tourney games and never made it to second weekend.

All-time series

Temple and Belmont have never faced each other and Maryland and Belmont have never faced each other.

Temple has a 5-4 edge all-time over Maryland, winning the last three matchups (2012, 2010, 2006). Maryland’s last win over Temple came in 2004

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3. LSU vs 14 Yale

LSU Tigers

All-time appearances -22
All-time record- 24-24
Last appearance – 2015 – Lost in first round to NC State as a 9 seed

Since 2000, LSU has only appeared in the tournament 6 times, with 2019 being their first since 2015. Their last win came in 2009 as a 9 seed in a first round win over Butler. Prior to that, they made the Final Four in 2006 (they’ve been to 4 total)

Yale Bulldogs

All-time appearances – 5
All-time record 1-5
Last appearance – 2016 – Lost in second round to Duke 

The second round loss to Duke in 2016, came after Yale beat Baylor, to win their first (and only) NCAA tournament game ever. Prior to that appearance, the school hasn’t made the tournament since 1962. 

All-time series

Yale won the only meeting between the schools in 1969

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7. Louisville vs 10. Minnesota

Louisville Cardinals 

All-time appearances – 39
All-time record – 76-43
Last appearance – 2017

2017 was the first time in 5 tournament appearances (since 2011) that they did not advance to (at least) the Sweet 16. They are 16-4 over that run. 

Minnesota Gophers

All-time appearances – 14
All-time record – 13-13
Last appearance – 2017 – Lost to Middle Tennessee State in first round 

Since a Final Four appearance in 1997, Gophers are just 1-6, with the lone win coming in 2013. 

All-time series

Each team has won 3 meetings, with Louisville winning the most recent battle in 2014.

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2. Michigan State vs 15. Bradley

Michigan State Spartans

All-time appearances -33
All-time record -65-31
Last appearance – 2018 

2019 is the 22nd consecutive NCAA Tournament for the Spartans. 2015 is the last time Michigan State advanced to the Sweet 16, actually making the Final Four that year. They are just 2-3 the last three years, which includes a loss as a 2 seed to 15th seeded Middle Tennessee State and 11th seeded Syracuse last year. During this 22 year run, Spartans have one National title and 7 Final Four appearances and 1 loss in the National title game.

Bradley Braves 

All-time appearances: 9
All-time record: 11-8
Last appearance – 2006 – Lost in Sweet 16

Bradley knocked off last year’s Cinderella darling Loyola-Chicago and Northern Iowa in the Missouri Valley Conference to earn their first bid since 2006. That year, they made the Sweet 16 after upsetting Kansas as a 13 seed, followed by a win over 4th seeded Pitt. They ultimately fell to Derrick Rose’s Memphis team.

All-time series

Michigan leads 7-1. Most recent meeting was 2012. Bradley’s lone win came in 1997.