Earning a berth in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament is difficult. Stringing those appearances together is even more demanding.
Consider this: Since the NCAA tournament began in 1939 as a tidy, eight-team affair, only five Division I programs have made the field for 20 or more consecutive years. Sustaining excellence in college basketball is no easy task.
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Here’s a look at the longest active NCAA tournament streaks. Note that Kansas has an on-court streak of 34 — 1990 to present — but its 2018 appearance was later vacated by the IARP.
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1. Michigan State (26)
Tom Izzo assumed command in East Lansing prior to the 1995-96 season, replacing his boss Jud Heathcote. The first two seasons didn’t go as planned, as the Spartans had a combined record of 33-28 and were relegated to the NIT each season.
But Izzo’s program broke through in a big way in his third season. In 1998, the Spartans took a share of the Big Ten regular season title and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament.
Now, Izzo’s name is synonymous with postseason success, guiding the Spartans to eight Final Fours. In 2000, Izzo’s Spartans won the whole thing.
The 2022-23 Spartans earned a No. 9 seed in the 2023 NCAA tournament.
2. Gonzaga (25)
How’s this for a coaching career? In 25 seasons as the top man in Spokane, coach Mark Few has reached the NCAA tournament every year and never won fewer than 23 games in a season.
The Zags’ impressive NCAA tournament streak actually started in 1999, when Few was an assistant to Dan Monson. That team won 28 games and reached the Elite Eight. Monson headed to Minnesota and Few slid over one seat and elevated the program, making Gonzaga a perennial player on the national scene. Aside from the 2001-02 season, the Zags have been ranked in the AP Top 25 poll in every season.
Speaking of which, the Zags went wire-to-wire at No. 1 in the AP Poll in 2020-21. Gonzaga was named the No. 1 overall seed for the 2021 NCAA tournament and reached the final. The Bulldogs were again the No. 1 overall seed in 2022, making it to the Sweet 16.
The list (through 2024)
| BIDS | School | yearS |
|---|---|---|
| 26 | Michigan State | 1998-24 |
| 25 | Gonzaga | 1999-24 |
| 9 | Purdue | 2015-24 |
| 6 | Houston | 2018-24 |
| 6 | Tennessee | 2018-24 |
| 5 | Baylor | 2019-24 |
| 5 | Colgate | 2019-24 |
| 5 | Kansas | 2019-24 |
Brian Mull contributed to the original version of this story in 2015.
