Should historical trends continue, one of these teams will win the NCAA division-1 men's basketball tournament:
- Duke (6)
- Kentucky (2)
- Washington (1)
- Kansas St. (1)
- Baylor (1)
- Tennessee (1)
- Ohio St. (1)
So what do they all have in common? Each roster contains at least one McDonald's High School All-American. The number next to the team name indicates the number of high school All-Americans on each team.
Since 1979 the only team to win the men's division-1 NCAA championship in basketball without a McDonald's All-American was Maryland in 2001. It's fair to point out that while that Maryland team didn't have a high school All-American, it did feature four players who played in the NBA (Lonnie Baxter, Chris Wilcox, Steve Blake and Juan Dixon).
Equally as interesting are the teams in the sweet 16 without such a player. It's no shock that the mid majors such as Butler, Northern Iowa, St. Mary's and Cornell are void, but so are powerhouses such as Michigan State, West Virginia, Syracuse, Baylor and Xavier.
Will this 30+ year trend continue? If the first two rounds of the tournament are an indication, there is nothing to suggest that anything considered "usual" will occur.
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