We've ranked all 50 states based on the number of Division I men's basketball championships they've won and now we're taking a closer look at each state. What is the winningest DI program in every state?
Well, that depends on how you define "winningest." We broke it down based on all-time DI wins and all-time winning percentage at the DI level. The data was compiled via Sports Reference and the only schools that were considered are those currently competing at the Division I level. Only wins at the DI level were included.
The entire list is below (with some bonus trivia questions, too) and is updated through games played through the 2021-22 season.
Alabama
Number of Division I programs: 10
Program with most wins: Alabama (1,738 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: UAB (.628)
Alabama has more than a 300-victory lead over rival Auburn. Newest to the state's list of DI teams is North Alabama, which just finished its fourth season at the highest level of college basketball.
Alaska
Number of Division I programs: 0
Program with most wins: N/A
Program with highest winning percentage: N/A
There aren't any Division I men's basketball programs in Alaska.
Arizona
Number of Division I programs: 4
Program with most wins: Arizona (1,858 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: Arizona (.660)
Arizona has more than 450 more wins than Arizona State, which has an all-time winning percentage that's 13 percentage points lower than the Sun Devils.
Arkansas
Number of Division I programs: 5
Program with most wins: Arkansas (1,761 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: Arkansas (.642)
Arkansas almost has as many wins as the other four DI programs in the state combined.
California
Number of Division I programs: 26
Program with most wins: UCLA (1,958 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: UCLA (.688)
UCLA has almost 29 times as many wins as a DI program as Cal Baptist, which just finished its fourth year as a DI school.
Colorado
Number of Division I programs: 5
Program with most wins: Colorado (1,383 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: Northern Colorado (.541)
Colorado is 52 wins ahead of Colorado State for the most DI wins among schools in the state.
Connecticut
Number of Division I programs: 7
Program with most wins: Connecticut (1,713)
Program with highest winning percentage: Connecticut (.634)
The state of Connecticut is tied for fifth nationally with four national championships, despite only having seven DI men's basketball programs. That's all because of the Huskies.
Delaware
Number of Division I programs: 2
Program with most wins: Delaware (982 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: Delaware (.498)
Delaware's 49.8 all-time winning percentage is roughly 11 percentage points higher than Delaware State.
Florida
Number of Division I programs: 13
Program with most wins: Florida (1,486 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: Florida State (.597)
Florida Gulf Coast and Miami are tied for second among Florida schools with a .571 winning percentage.
Georgia
Number of Division I programs: 6
Program with most wins: Georgia (1,459 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: Georgia Tech (.526)
Georgia Tech's all-time winning percentage is only .01 better than Georgia, which means the two schools could theoretically trade the lead every few months, depending on the ebbs and flows of a season.
Hawaii
Number of Division I programs: 1
Program with most wins: Hawaii (803 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: Hawaii (.529)
Arguably the most famous non-conference men's basketball tournament, the Maui Invitational, is in Hawaii but there's only one DI program in the 50th state.
Idaho
Number of Division I programs: 3
Program with most wins: Idaho (1,362 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: Boise State (.563)
Idaho has 66 more years of history than Boise State but the Broncos have a winning percentage that's 10 percentage points higher.
Illinois
Number of Division I programs: 13
Program with most wins: Illinois (1,856 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: Illinois (.641)
Did you know Bradley (1,721 wins) has the second-highest DI win total of any program in the state?
Indiana
Number of Division I programs: 10
Program with most wins: Notre Dame (1,937 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: Notre Dame (.645)
Indiana (1,886 wins) is 51 wins behind Notre Dame and Purdue (1,884 wins) isn't far behind, either.
Iowa
Number of Division I programs: 4
Program with most wins: Iowa (1,721 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: Iowa (.589)
Three of the four DI programs in Iowa have an all-time winning percentage of at least 50 percent, so pound for pound, there's some pretty good hoops in the Hawkeye State.
Kansas
Number of Division I programs: 3
Program with most wins: Kansas (2,357 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: Kansas (.729)
To put into perspective how storied the Jayhawks' program is, Kansas State has 1,691 wins and an all-time winning percentage of .583 — two very good marks — yet Kansas is far and away the winningest program in the state.
Kentucky
Number of Division I programs: 8
Program with most wins: Kentucky (2,355 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: Kentucky (.762)
Kentucky has the highest winning percentage in the country with the Wildcats' winning more than three out of every four games in program history, on average.
Louisiana
Number of Division I programs: 12
Program with most wins: LSU (1,624 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: Louisiana Tech (.586)
There are three other programs in the stat with a winning percentage north of 57 percent so for a football-crazy state, there's also some good basketball being played in Louisiana.
Maine
Number of Division I programs: 1
Program with most wins: Maine (816 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: Maine (.437)
There are five states with just one DI men's basketball program. Hawaii and Maine are two of those states and they played each other during the 2020 season with Maine playing a road game at Hawaii.
Maryland
Number of Division I programs: 9
Program with most wins: Maryland (1,619 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: Maryland (.601)
Navy (1,445 wins, .569 win percentage) is the second-winningest program in Maryland.
Massachusetts
Number of Division I programs: 8
Program with most wins: Holy Cross (1,429 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: Holy Cross (.575)
Did you know that Holy Cross is responsible for Massachusetts' only men's basketball national championship?
Michigan
Number of Division I programs: 7
Program with most wins: Michigan State (1,777 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: Michigan State (.612)
Michigan State's .612 winning percentage is only .002 higher than Michigan's.
Minnesota
Number of Division I programs: 2
Program with most wins: Minnesota (1,690 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: Minnesota (.572)
Minnesota ranks 22nd nationally in population, according to World Population Review, yet the state only has two DI men's basketball program, with St. Thomas joining Minnesota.
Mississippi
Number of Division I programs: 6
Program with most wins: Mississippi State (1,481 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: Mississippi State (.544)
Through the 2021 season, Ole Miss' all-time record was 1,344-1,344 — exactly .500. They're now at .499.
Missouri
Number of Division I programs: 5
Program with most wins: Missouri (1,683 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: Missouri State (.593)
Missouri State's .593 winning percentage is just .012 higher than that of Missouri.
Montana
Number of Division I programs: 2
Program with most wins: Montana (1,488 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: Montana State (.548)
Nebraska
Number of Division I programs: 3
Program with most wins: Creighton (1,631 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: Creighton (.609)
Nebraska is almost 100 wins behind Creighton but the Bluejays have an all-time winning percentage that's roughly nine percentage points higher.
Nevada
Number of Division I programs: 2
Program with most wins: UNLV (1,147 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: UNLV (.688)
UNLV has been a DI program for 14 fewer seasons than Nevada but the Runnin' Rebels have nearly 150 more wins.
New Hampshire
Number of Division I programs: 2
Program with most wins: Dartmouth (1,328 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: Dartmouth (.460)
Along with Delaware and Maine, New Hampshire is one of three states that doesn't have a men's basketball program with a winning percentage better than 50 percent.
New Jersey
Number of Division I programs: 8
Program with most wins: Princeton (1,784 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: Princeton (.616)
Seton Hall, which has the second-most wins of any New Jersey program, is more than 200 wins behind Princeton with 1,570 wins all-time.
New Mexico
Number of Division I programs: 2
Program with most wins: New Mexico State (1,603 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: New Mexico State (.594)
How about the New Mexico-New Mexico State rivalry? New Mexico State has a slight edge in all-time wins (1,603 to 1,535) and winning percentage (.594 to .575).
New York
Number of Division I programs: 22
Program with most wins: Syracuse (2,057 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: Syracuse (.684)
Syracuse won New York's last men's basketball national championship. Can you name the other New York school that won a national title? Hint: It's no longer a Division I program (answer below).
North Carolina
Number of Division I programs: 18
Program with most wins: North Carolina (2,322 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: North Carolina (.735)
Duke's 2,246 wins and .711 winning percentage would rank first in almost any state. But not in North Carolina.
North Dakota
Number of Division I programs: 2
Program with most wins: North Dakota State (572 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: North Dakota State (.689)
Both North Dakota State and South Dakota State have more wins and a higher winning percentage than North Dakota and South Dakota, respectively.
Ohio
Number of Division I programs: 13
Program with most wins: Cincinnati (1,865 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: Cincinnati (.639)
The state of Ohio won three consecutive men's basketball national championships to start the 1960s with Ohio State and Cincinnati winning the title from 1960 to 1962.
Oklahoma
Number of Division I programs: 4
Program with most wins: Oklahoma (1,739 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: Oklahoma (.608)
Oklahoma State (1,714 wins, .585 winning percentage) is within shouting distance of Oklahoma.
Oregon
Number of Division I programs: 4
Program with most wins: Oregon State (1,801 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: Oregon State (.564)
Oregon won the first-ever NCAA tournament as we know it today, but it's Oregon State that leads all schools in the state in wins and winning percentage.
Pennsylvania
Number of Division I programs: 14
Program with most wins: Temple (1,962 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: Villanova (.659)
With the Big 5, the city of Philadelphia has more DI programs than 24 states do individually.
NOTHING BUT NET: The NET rankings, explained
Rhode Island
Number of Division I programs: 4
Program with most wins: Rhode Island (1,560 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: Providence (.613)
Three of the four DI programs in Rhode Island have at least 1,000 wins.
South Carolina
Number of Division I programs: 12
Program with most wins: South Carolina (1,468 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: College of Charleston (.680)
College of Charleston has one of the highest all-time winning percentages in the country.
South Dakota
Number of Division I programs: 2
Program with most wins: South Dakota State (305 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: South Dakota State (.666)
South Dakota State has only been a DI program for two more years than South Dakota but the Jackrabbits have 110 more wins.
Tennessee
Number of Division I programs: 12
Program with most wins: Tennessee (1,718 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: Belmont (.673)
In addition to Belmont, three other schools in the state have an all-time winning percentage of at least 60 percent.
Can you name them? (Answer below.)
Texas
Number of Division I programs: 24
Program with most wins: Texas (1,849 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: Texas (.623)
Texas' 24 DI programs have combined to win just one men's basketball national championship.
Which school is responsible for Texas' lone title? Hint: The school has fewer letters in its name than "Texas" (answer below).
Utah
Number of Division I programs: 6
Program with most wins: BYU (1,897 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: Utah (.638)
Only 13 active DI programs have more wins all-time than BYU.
Vermont
Number of Division I programs: 1
Program with most wins: Vermont (988 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: Vermont (.541)
Vermont is the state's only DI men's basketball program.
Virginia
Number of Division I programs: 14
Program with most wins: Virginia (1,694 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: VCU (.649)
VCU (977 wins), which has competed in 49 DI seasons, could reach the 1,000-win mark by the time it finishes its 50th season as a DI program.
Washington
Number of Division I programs: 5
Program with most wins: Washington (1,834 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: Gonzaga (.664)
Will Gonzaga ever catch Washington? Gonzaga's all-time winning percentage is almost seven percentage points higher but the Bulldogs have almost 450 fewer wins. That's quite a gap.
Washington D.C.
Number of Division I programs: 4
Program with most wins: Georgetown (1,706 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: Georgetown (.606)
Can you name the four DI schools in D.C.?
West Virginia
Number of Division I programs: 2
Program with most wins: West Virginia (1,827 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: West Virginia (.616)
West Virginia's all-time win statistics are impressive compared to any state's DI population, not just a state with two DI schools.
Wisconsin
Number of Division I programs: 4
Program with most wins: Marquette (1,683 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: Marquette (.617)
The Wisconsin Badgers are five wins behind the Golden Eagles all-time.
Wyoming
Number of Division I programs: 1
Program with most wins: Wyoming (1,585 wins)
Program with highest winning percentage: Wyoming (.563)
Wyoming ranks in the top 20 percentile in terms of all-time wins.
Trivia answers:
- New York: CCNY won the 1950 men's basketball national championship.
- Tennessee: Belmont (.656), Chattanooga (.600) and Tennessee (.612) also have a winning percentage of at least .600.
- Texas: UTEP won the 1966 men's basketball national championship.
- Washington D.C.: American, George Washington, Georgetown and Howard are the four schools in D.C.
