Since the NCAA tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985 — its modern format — only five of the 40 national champions were unranked to start the season.

But it does happen.

The first may be most memorable. In 1985, Villanova — coming off of a 19-12 season that ended in the second round of the NCAA tournament — was left out of the preseason poll.

The Wildcats responded strongly, starting the season 8-0, enough to get them in the AP Top 25 Poll for six weeks. But Villanova finished its last nine games of the season 4-5, terrible momentum heading into postseason play. The Wildcats received a No. 8 seed, giving them one of the toughest paths to a Final Four, but it didn’t matter. They won five games in a row to secure a matchup with the Patrick Ewing-led, No. 1 seed Georgetown Hoyas, and beat the clear favorites in remarkable fashion to become the lowest-ever seed to win a national championship.

In 2003, Syracuse wasn’t ranked to start the year after a second-half collapse in the 2002 season saw the Orange head to the NIT. But in 2003, Syracuse won 11 out of its last 13 games, climbed to No. 11 in the AP Poll by March and entered the tournament as a No. 3 seed. There, led by freshman Carmelo Anthony, the Orange won six straight, beating Kansas in the championship game.

In 2006, unranked Florida won 17 straight games to start the season and quickly found itself No. 2 in the AP Top 25 Poll come January. The Gators then went 7-6 in their final 13 games of the regular season, sliding to No. 16 in the poll, before winning the SEC championship and securing a No. 3 seed. They would go on to beat UCLA 73-57 for the school’s first-ever national championship and would even repeat as champs the following year.

The most recent unranked team to win the title came in 2022-23. UConn wasn’t ranked to begin the season but not long after entered the AP Top 25 at No. 25. A 14-0 start pushed the Huskies to No. 2 before a small slump — a 2-6 stretch — dropped UConn down the poll. However, UConn dominated in the NCAA tournament, winning every game by double digits to win its fifth national title.

NCAA champions since 1985

Year
Team
Preseason AP rank
Lowest AP rank
Highest AP rank
Final AP Rank
Tournament seed
Final record
Runner-up

2025
Florida
21
21
2
3
1
36-4
Houston

2024
UConn
6
6
1
1
1
37-3
Purdue

2023
UConn
NR
NR
2
10
4
31-8
San Diego St.

2022
Kansas
3
10
3
3
1
34-6
UNC

2021
Baylor
2
3
2
3
1
28-2
Gonzaga

2019
Virginia
5
6
2
2
1
35-3
Texas Tech

2018
Villanova
6
6
1
2
1
36-4
Michigan

2017
UNC
6
14
3
6
1
33-7
Gonzaga

2016
Villanova
11
17
1
6
2
35-5
UNC

2015
Duke
4
5
2
4
1
34-4
Wisconsin

2014
UConn
18
NR
9
18
7
32-8
Kentucky

2013
Louisville
2
12
1
2
1
35-5
Michigan

2012
Kentucky
2
3
1
1
1
38-2
Kansas

2011
UConn
NR
NR
4
9
3
32-9
Butler

2010
Duke
9
11
3
3
1
35-5
Butler

2009
UNC
1
5
1
2
1
34-4
Mich. St.

2008
Kansas
4
4
2
4
1
37-3
Memphis

2007
Florida
1
7
1
3
1
35-5
Ohio State

2006
Florida
NR
NR
2
11
3
33-6
UCLA

2005
UNC
4
11
2
2
1
33-4
Illinois

2004
UConn
1
9
1
7
2
33-6
Ga. Tech

2003
Syracuse
NR
NR
11
13
3
30-5
Kansas

2002
Maryland
2
8
2
4
1
32-4
Indiana

2001
Duke
2
4
1
1
1
35-4
Arizona

2000
Mich. St.
3
11
2
2
1
32-7
Florida

1999
UConn
2
4
1
3
1
34-2
Duke

1998
Kentucky
8
9
4
5
2
35-4
Utah

1997
Arizona
19
19
6
15
4
25-9
Kentucky

1996
Kentucky
1
5
1
2
1
34-2
Syracuse

1995
UCLA
6
7
1
1
1
31-2
Arkansas

1994
Arkansas
3
6
1
2
1
31-3
Duke

1993
UNC
7
8
1
4
1
34-4
Michigan

1992
Duke
1
1
1
1
1
34-2
Michigan

1991
Duke
6
14
5
6
2
32-7
Kansas

1990
UNLV
1
14
1
2
1
35-5
Duke

1989
Michigan
3
13
2
10
3
30-7
Seton Hall

1988
Kansas
7
NR
7
NR
6
27-11
Oklahoma

1987
Indiana
3
8
2
3
1
30-4
Syracuse

1986
Louisville
9
19
7
7
2
32-7
Duke

1985
Villanova
NR
NR
14
NR
8
25-10
Georgetown

There is a flip side to this, of course. Just being ranked in the preseason does not guarantee success.

A year after going 32-7 and winning the program’s second national championship, Louisville entered the season ranked No. 2 in 1987. And then, disaster. Louisville lost three games to unranked foes to start the year and was 3-6 through its first nine games. The Cardinals were out of the rankings by the first regular season poll, failed to make the tournament and finished 18-14.

Later, Kentucky was ranked No. 3 to start the 2013 season but then lost three of its first seven games — with two of those losses coming at the hands of unranked opponents — and was promptly out of the top 25. The Wildcats would make a brief appearance at No. 25 in February, but were out again the very next week. Kentucky would finish 21-12, losing to Robert Morris in the first round of the NIT.

In the 2020-21 season, both Duke (No. 9) and Kentucky (No. 10) started the season ranked in the top 10 but missed the tournament. The Blue Devils finished 13-11 (9-9 ACC) and Kentucky plummeted to 9-16 (8-9 SEC).

Then, in 2022-23, North Carolina even started as the preseason No. 1 team after reaching the national championship the previous season. Though UNC got off to a 5-0 record, the Tar Heels finished only 20-13 (11-9 ACC) and missed the NCAA tournament.