The NCAA Tournament has been an annual extravaganza for decades. It is one of the greatest challenges in college basketball. Only 16 teams have managed to come out of it unscathed for a full season.
Seven men's teams and nine women's teams have won a national championship with a perfect win-loss record since the birth of the tournaments in 1939 and 1982, respectively.
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South Carolina's women's team is trying to become No. 17 this year. It will take a 36-0 record into its Final Four game Friday against Iowa.
Here's what you need to know about each of those historic teams:
Who was the first undefeated men's national champion?
San Francisco in the 1955-56 season was the first men's team to win a national championship while going undefeated.
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Led by Bill Russell, the Dons went 29-0 to win their second title in a row. Russell averaged 20.6 points and 21 rebounds per game that season.
Who was the first undefeated women's national champion?
Thirty years later, during the 1985-86 season, Texas became not only the fifth national champion in Division I women's basketball, but also the first women's team to win the title while going undefeated.
The Longhorns went 34-0 that year, averaging 83.9 points per game without the women's 3-point line — that was added the next season.
After they had the rings, head coach Jody Conradt spoke about her team's historic accomplishment, according to the NCAA:
"The first thought was perfection. There will be a champion crowned every year, but the undefeated champions will form an elite group," Conradt said.
List of undefeated men's basketball national champions
UCLA has recorded the most undefeated seasons as men's national champion, with four of the seven below:
| Season | School | Record | Head coach | Players who went on to the NBA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1955-56 | San Francisco | 29-0 | Phil Woolpert | Bill Russell, K.C. Jones |
| 1956-57 | North Carolina | 32-0 | Frank McGuire | Lennie Rosenbluth, Pete Brennan |
| 1963-64 | UCLA | 30-0 | John Wooden | Gail Goodrich, Walt Hazzard, Keith Erickson |
| 1966-67 | UCLA | 30-0 | John Wooden | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Lucius Allen |
| 1971-72 | UCLA | 30-0 | John Wooden | Bill Walton, Henry Bibby, Jamaal Wilkes, Greg Lee, Swen Nater |
| 1972-73 | UCLA | 30-0 | John Wooden | Bill Walton, Jamaal Wilkes, Dave Meyers. Greg Lee, Swen Nater |
| 1975-76 | Indiana | 32-0 | Bob Knight | Scott May, Kent Benson, Quinn Buckner, Tom Abernethy, Bob Wilkerson, Wayne Radford |
List of undefeated women's basketball national champions
UConn has recorded the most undefeated seasons as women's national champion, with six of the nine below:
| Season | School | Record | Head coach | Players who went on to the WNBA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985-86 | Texas | 34-0 | Jody Conradt | N/A |
| 1994-95 | UConn | 35-0 | Geno Auriemma | Rebecca Lobo |
| 1997-98 | Tennessee | 39-0 | Pat Summitt | Chamique Holdsclaw, Tamika Catchings |
| 2001-02 | UConn | 30-0 | Geno Auriemma | Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Swin Cash, Tamika Williams, Asjha Jones, Ashley Battle, Jessica Moore |
| 2008-09 | UConn | 30-0 | Geno Auriemma | Maya Moore, Renee Montgomery, Tina Charles, Kalana Greene, Tiffany Hayes |
| 2009-10 | UConn | 30-0 | Geno Auriemma | Tina Charles, Maya Moore, Kalana Greene, Tiffany Hayes, Kelly Faris |
| 2011-12 | Baylor | 40-0 | Kim Mulkey | Brittney Griner, Odyssey Sims |
| 2013-14 | UConn | 40-0 | Geno Auriemma | Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, Stefanie Dolson, Breanna Stewart, Kelly Faris, Bria Hartley, Moriah Jefferson, Saniya Chong, Kiah Stokes, Morgan Tuck |
| 2015-16 | UConn | 38-0 | Geno Auriemma | Breanna Stewart, Moriah Jefferson, Morgan Tuck, Katie Lou Samuelson, Kia Nurse, Gabby Williams, Naphessa Collier, Saniya Chong |
