No. 1 seed Kansas aims to be first back-to-back NCAA champion since Florida in 2006-07

No. 1 seed Kansas has the chance to pull off a rare college basketball feat — to repeat as national champions.

Only twice since the UCLA dynasty, which saw the Bruins win seven straight titles from 1967 to 1973, has a defending national champion cut down the nets. Mike Krzyzewski’s Duke teams in 1991 and 1992 won the title, and Billy Donovan’s Florida Gators won championships in 2006 and 2007.

Kansas came into this season ranked No. 6 in the AP preseason poll, though it lost most of its firepower from last year’s championship team. Five of the seven players who averaged at least 12 minutes per game did not return, including top scorers Ochai Agbaji and Christian Braun. 

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The two players who did return have upped their production. Jalen Wilson has emerged as the Big 12’s top scorer in 2021-22 at 19.6 points per game, while Dajuan Harris Jr. is second in the nation’s best conference in assists at 6.3 and first in three-point percentage (.424). Freshman Gradey Dick has been the most important addition to the Jayhawks, averaging 14.9 points and five rebounds in what will likely be his only season before he heads to the NBA Draft.

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Should the Jayhawks repeat, their road will be much different than their two predecessors, who both had a lot of returning talent in place.

Florida Gators, 2006-07

Florida unexpectedly won the 2006 national championship. Unranked in the preseason, the Gators played their way to a No. 3 seed, then stormed through the bracket, winning five of their six games by at least 13 points. Florida beat UCLA 73-57 in Indianapolis to win its first national title.

All five starters (who all averaged double-figures in scoring) and the top two reserves from that team all returned for the 2007 season. Florida was ranked No. 1 in the preseason, and led by Al Horford, Joakim Noah and Corey Brewer, who would all be Top 10 picks in the NBA Draft, Florida rolled to another title. The Gators won every game in the tournament by at least eight points, finishing the run by topping Ohio State 84-75 in Atlanta.

Duke Blue Devils, 1991-92

Unlike Florida, Duke was already among college basketball’s ruling class when it broke through with its first national championship in 1991. Duke entered the season off three straight Final Four appearances. The Blue Devils, led by Christian Laettner, won the ACC and earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Duke won an epic Final Four game against UNLV, which had beaten Duke by 30 points in the previous year’s final, then topped Kansas 72-65 in the championship game.

Duke had eight players average at least 12 minutes in 1991, and six returned to defend the title. The only true key piece to depart was Billy McCaffrey, who averaged 11.6 points in 25 minutes per game. Duke was ranked No. 1 in the preseason and stayed there every week en route to a 28-2 record and No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament.

Duke needed Laettner’s miracle buzzer-beater in overtime against Kentucky to reach the Final Four, where it survived Indiana and then thumped Michigan’s Fab Five by 20 in the title game. Laettner was drafted No. 3 overall and Brian Davis was taken in the second round in the 1992 draft. Future first-round picks Grant Hill, Bobby Hurley and Cherokee Parks also were part of that title team.

Defending champions as No. 1 seeds

One trait Kansas shares with Duke and Florida is that it has a No. 1 seed. However, that has not always meant a return trip to the Final Four. Since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985, 11 reigning national champs have earned No. 1 seeds. Five of those returned to the Final Four (1991 UNLV, 1992 Duke, 1997 Kentucky, 2001 Michigan State, 2007 Florida), though none since the Gators pulled it off.

Florida is the last defending champ to get back to the Final Four, regardless of seed, a drought of 16 years. In the first 16 years after the field expanded to 64, it happened six times.