Allowing 4 points for the national champion, 3 points for the runner-up, and 2 points for each of the first round losers in the NCAA Men's Final Four, since the tournament began in 1939, (of 138 teams), following are those in the top 10%:
- UCLA - 62.
- North Carolina - 60.
- Kentucky - 54.
- Duke - 50.
- Kansas - 46.
- Ohio State - 28.
- Indiana - 27.
- Louisville - 26.
- UConn - 26.
- Michigan State - 25.
- Michigan -24.
- Villanova -21.
- Cincinnati - 17.
- Oklahoma State - 17.
- Florida - 17.
The list above is in order except for Louisville and UConn (tied for 8th) and Cincinnati, Oklahoma State, and Florida (tied for 13th). In this moment, (before the first round of the 2025 Final Four), Florida is in that tie with Cincinnati and Oklahoma State but may leapfrog both with one or two wins. The point again, (which I have previously written about here 4/2/22 and here 4/8/23), is that even in men's college basketball, the rich continue to get richer. To find a Final Four in which one of these teams was not a participant, we have to go all the way back to 1956, and even then (from 1939 to 1956) there were only 7 tournaments in which at least one of these teams did not participate. Alternatively, there have been 19 tournaments in which 3 of the final 4 were from this group and 5 times in which all 4 were from this top 10%. So though it took them a couple of decades to do so, since 1956 these blue bloods have asserted and represented well. So much for a level playing field.
Furthermore…
If we were to equate Final Four appearances with income and Championships with wealth, the inequality percentages are scarily similar. Updated recent comparisons (income and wealth data from Statista and Wealth Inequality Database) are below.
Final Four Appearances:
- Top 10 – 48.0%
- Middle 40 – 43.5%
- Bottom 50 – 8.5%
US Income Inequality:
- Top 10 – 46.8%
- Middle 40 – 39.8%
- Bottom 50 – 13.4%
National Championships:
- Top 10 – 69.4%
- Middle 40 – 30.6%
- Bottom 50 – 0.0%
US Wealth Inequality:
- Top 10 – 66.7%
- Middle 40 – 30.8%
- Bottom 50 – 2.5%
Based on this information, I pick Duke to beat Florida in the championship game Monday night. Houston would not be a big surprise (currently only 1 point behind Florida, Cincinnati, and Oklahoma State) and could vault into the top 10% with one or two victories. Auburn, (win or lose) will be rewarded for their efforts by moving from the bottom 50% to the middle 40%; probably the most difficult journey of all…
Go America!
