March Madness Trivia Challenge
See how well you remember all the upsets, game-winning shots, and madness that the NCAA Tournament has provided over the years
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The Her Hoop Stats trivia challenge is back, and just in time for March Madness! It really is the most wonderful time of year for college basketball fans. Upsets, game-winning shots, players elevating their play on the national stage — the excitement and drama that the NCAA Tournament brings is unmatched in sports. Just watch Columbia’s jubilation after learning it received an at-large bid (It’s worth the watch, trust me. I’ve already watched it about 27 times).
Typically, the Her Hoop Stats trivia challenge focuses on events from the past week. However, a good chunk of the questions this week will key in on a few of the most unforgettable moments this great event has provided fans over the years.
As always, just a friendly reminder that Substack doesn’t have the functionality to display the correct answer after you respond (the checkmark simply denotes which option you chose), so you’ll have to scroll to the bottom to discover the correct answers. Good luck!
Question 1. Who is the only coach to lead three different programs to the NCAA Final Four?
Question 2. Demonstrating the NCAA Tournament’s increased level of parity, two No. 1 seeds – Stanford and Indiana – fell in the round of 32 last year. However, parity hasn’t historically extended to the tournament’s three lowest seed lines. Excluding First Four games, what is the combined record of No. 14, 15, and 16 seeds over NCAA Tournament history?
Question 3. Caitlin Clark had an unforgettable 2023 NCAA Tournament, scoring 191 points during her team’s six-game tournament run to (and including) the national championship game and breaking whose record for points in a single tournament?
Question 4. Before there was Arike Ogunbowale’s national championship-winning shot, there was the 1994 national championship. In that game, North Carolina trailed Louisiana Tech 59-57 with just 0.7 seconds remaining and the ball under its own basket. In one of the most memorable shots in NCAA Tournament history, which Tar Heel received the inbounds pass and drained a national championship-winning three?
Question 5. UConn and Tennessee have combined to win a mind-boggling 19 of 41 national championships in NCAA history. Which two teams are tied for third on the NCAA Division I national championship list with three apiece?
Question 6. Which mid-major team has really brought the madness to March, winning its first-round game from the No. 12 seed twice in a row and in three of the last five NCAA Tournaments? The team in question has a chance to replicate the feat this year.
Question 7. Last year, Ohio State eliminated UConn in the Sweet Sixteen, snapping the Huskies’ incredible streak of 14 consecutive Final Four appearances. It’s a record that will likely never be broken, given the current age of increased parity and talent pool depth. Technically speaking, with the longest active Final Four streak, South Carolina has the best shot at the record. How many consecutive Final Four appearances have the Gamecocks made?
Question 8. Liberty, Texas A&M, and what team out of the MAAC complete the list of No. 13 seeds to have advanced to the Sweet Sixteen? The team in question accomplished the feat in 2007.
Answers
1. B - C. Vivian Stringer - The legendary coach led Cheyney (1982), Iowa (1993), and Rutgers (2000 and 2007) to the Final Four. Mulkey (LSU and Baylor), Blair (Arkansas and Texas A&M), and Stanley (Old Dominion and Stanford) are the only other coaches to take multiple programs to the Final Four.
2. A - 1-348 - It’s been tough sledding for those on the No. 14-16 seed lines. The only win came in 1998 when No. 16 Harvard shocked No. 1 Stanford in the first round. 1998 was a particularly wild year for upsets, as it included No. 9 Arkansas’ Cinderella run to the Final Four. That year’s Razorbacks team is still the lowest seed to ever make it to the final weekend.
3. A - Sheryl Swoopes - To be fair, this isn’t exactly an apples-to-apples comparison. Clark had six games to amass her 191 points. Swoopes had just five games to tally her 177 points with Texas Tech in 1993, a run that included a record 47 points in the national title game (no other player has ever dropped more than 31 in the national championship).
4. D - Charlotte Smith - Please, just watch the video below.
5. B - Stanford and Baylor - OK, I’ve brought up some painful memories for Stanford fans, so it’s only fair that we also look back on some happy times. The Cardinal won titles in 1990, 1992, and 2021 under the all-time winningest coach in DI history, Tara VanDerveer. The Bears earned their crowns in 2005, 2012, and 2019 with Kim Mulkey at the helm.
6. B - Florida Gulf Coast - The Eagles knocked off Washington State last year, Virginia Tech in 2022, and Missouri in 2018. FGCU faces another No. 5 seed, Oklahoma, on Saturday at 4 p.m. Eastern.
7. A - 3 - In a bet pitting South Carolina winning this year’s title vs. any other team in the field winning the national championship, the Gamecocks are actually favored. So, they likely stretch this streak to four. It's an amazing run that has South Carolina on pace to break UConn’s record…in 2035.
8. A - Marist - The Red Foxes knocked off No. 4 Ohio State and No. 5 Middle Tennessee State before falling to eventual national champion Tennessee in the Sweet Sixteen.
So, how’d you do? Let us know in the comments below and hope to see you here next week for more March Madness trivia fun!
Thanks for reading the Her Hoop Stats Newsletter. If you like our work, be sure to check out our stats site, our podcast, and our social media accounts on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.
Charlotte Smith's shot was a clean 3 Arike's shot to beat Uconn and thento beat Mississippi State were both contested, she could barely see the hoop .