You know what else “springs” into action this month? NCAA season! If you’re one of the enthusiasts who eagerly check the scores every now and then, know that it’s not just you who enjoys NCAA — there are even a few more March madness fun facts about the tournament and coaches you might want to know about.

10 March Madness Fun Facts — So You Can Know the Tournament and Coaches Better!

  1. The first-ever NCAA winner was the University of Oregon back in 1939.
  2. “March Madness” became the “unofficial” NCAA phrase when Brent Musburger said it in 1982.
  3. UTEP (or Texas Western then) was the first university — to have a lineup that consisted of black men — to win against an all-white team; this was against Kentucky!
  4. UCLA is known for championing 11 titles — and 10 of these wins were under coach John Wooden.
  5. Coaching seems to be Larry Brown’s calling. He not only led the Kansas Jayhawks to win back in 1988 in the NCAA, coach Brown also had a lot to do with the NBA’s Detroit Pistons winning the championship title in 2004.
  6. Fan support is detrimental to the players and coaches. For instance, Leon Rice once said that if the arena gets sold out (for a San Diego State game), he will swim the Boise River! Guess who did just that? Leon Rice!
  7. Most coaches have the right to coach because they know what they’re talking about! Like Xavier Musketeers’ Sean Miller! Not only was he a revered player himself back in the day, but Sean Miller has always been so great at basketball, that — as a kid — he showed off his dribbling skills back in the Johnny Carson show as well as appeared in the movie The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh.
  8. Whether you believe in manifestation or not, one crazy coincidence is how Creighton Bluejays’ coach, Greg McDermott grew up 16 miles from where the movie Field of Dreams was filmed (in Cascade, Iowa).
  9. This may come as a surprise, but Auburn Tigers’ Bruce Pearl never played basketball in high school due to an injury he sustained in his freshman year — from football!
  10. The Huskies don’t typically settle for just one championship — back in 2004 and 2014, both the University of Connecticut’s men and women’s division won the national championship. And they remain to be the only school to do so!

Let’s Cheer For Our Faves!

Tuning into NCAA is a traditional American pastime that can even be considered to be a part of our culture. But there are other March madness fun facts about the coaches and tournament that will always surprise us to know about!

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