Time to overthink almost every game and use the stats, nuggets and goodies I’ve compiled below to help you gleefully fill out your bracket(s).
Behold, a heaping helpful of facts, stats, trends, did-you-knows and more that can expand your mind and induce plenty of self-doubt over the veracity of your picks. An annual rite of March! Let’s uncover the best teams, players and trends across the men’s NCAA Tournament.
In addition to my own research, all additional info is provided by CBS Sports’ research team, the NCAA, KenPom.com, ESPN Stats & Info, Elias Sports, Sports Reference and BartTorvik.com.
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- Highest-scoring team: Gonzaga (87.8 points per game)
- Lowest-scoring team: San Diego State (65.3 points per game)
- Fastest team: Gonzaga (73.8 possessions per game)
- Slowest team: Akron (63.8 possessions per game)
- Best free-throw shooting team: Villanova (82.3%)
- Worst free-throw shooting team: Boise State (65.0%)
- Best 3-point shooting team: South Dakota State (44.2%)
- Worst 3-point shooting team: TCU (30.4%)
- Most experienced team(s): Texas Southern (2.81 average seasons)
- Least experienced team: Arizona (.52 average seasons)
- Tallest team: Arizona (average height 79.4 inches)
- Smallest team: Longwood (75.6 inches)
- Deepest bench: Texas Southern (46.5% of minutes played)
Most efficient offenses, adjusted points scored per 100 possessions:
Most efficient defenses, adjusted points allowed per 100 possessions:
- Texas Tech (85.1)
- San Diego State (85.9)
- Tennessee (86.2)
- LSU (88.6)
Over the years, teams that have won it all have checked a lot of boxes. You can make the stats tell you a lot of things you want to hear. But if you’ve got a top-30 per-possession D and a guard that’s definitely projected to be drafted, you’ve got a solid shot. Only a handful of teams meet this criteria each year. Four apply in 2022, one of which has two such players.
83: This is the 83rd NCAA Tournament. Thirty-seven programs have won a national title dating to 1939, when Oregon won its only championship. Two of the teams from the first Final Four are in the field this year: Ohio State was runner-up back in ’39; Villanova was a semifinalist. (Oklahoma and Oregon aren’t dancing.) Indiana, a 12, is the lowest-seeded team in this year’s field with a national title.
0: The Gonzaga Bulldogs, Auburn Tigers, Texas Tech Red Raiders, Tennessee Volunteers and Purdue Boilermakers are the best-seeded teams in the field without a national title.
32: The percentage of brackets at CBS Sports that have Gonzaga winning it all.
27.6: Gonzaga’s percentage to win the title, according to BartTorvik.com. For perspective, top teams normally hover around 15-20%, so Gonzaga is a dominant favorite. (Last year’s undefeated Gonzaga team entered at 33.3%.) The top five for this year: Gonzaga, Houston (8.9%), Kansas (8.2%), Baylor (5.8%), Arizona (5.3%).
1: Only three times has the No. 1 overall seed won the NCAA Tournament since the selection committee began ranking the No. 1s in 2004: Florida (2007), Kentucky (2012) and Louisville…