Last five NCAA men’s basketball champions ranked

The Michigan Wolverines capped a remarkable season on Monday with their second men’s college basketball national title in program history.

But where does 2025-26 Michigan place among the past five champs? Below, we examine NCAA Tournament winners from 2022-26 and rank them from worst to best.

Kansas, which also claimed Big 12 regular-season and tournament titles this season, earned the conference’s back-to-back national titles by following the Baylor Bears’ 2021 triumph with its fourth national championship and second under head coach Bill Self. 

A veteran core featuring four upperclassmen — center David McCormack, guards Remy Martin and Ochai Agbaji and forward Christian Braun — in the starting lineup led the Midwest Region No. 1 Jayhawks, who capped March Madness with a 72-69 win over the No. 8 seed North Carolina Tar Heels, erasing a 15-point halftime deficit.

Of the past five national champions, Kansas has the lowest adjusted offensive efficiency, per KenPom, and the second-worst adjusted defensive efficiency. It also lacks the size of other recent champs; its average height of 77.1 inches is only slightly above the Division I average (77″). When splitting hairs between great teams, that’s enough to put the Jayhawks in last place.

Connecticut entered the 2023 tournament 25-8, the worst record by a national champion entering March Madness over the past five years. But the Huskies’ March run was one of the ages, as they outscored their six opponents by an average of 20 points per game. UConn held four of its six opponents under 60 points. All six shot worse than 40 percent.

It needed a strong defense with an offense that didn’t always value the ball. The Huskies averaged 12.9 turnovers per game; their 18.9 percent turnover rate was slightly above the D-I average (18.2 percent). But when the games mattered most, UConn played its best. That counts for something.

Last year’s champs were explosive offensively, finishing the 2024-25 season No. 5 in scoring (84.8 points per game). First-team All-American senior guard Walter Clayton Jr. had an excellent March, finishing the NCAA Tournament averaging 22.3 points per game on 47.4/43.5/91.3 percent shooting splits.

Florida struggled at times with fouls, averaging 17.1 per game, and on defense, where it ranks last in adjusted efficiency among the past five tourney champs. Those momentary lapses led to several close calls during March Madness, making it hard to place the Gators any higher. 

2. Michigan Wolverines (2026)

It speaks to how good the Wolverines were this season that even when playing their worst game of the season, they had enough to prevent Connecticut from a third national title in four seasons. Michigan entered Monday’s national final having scored at least 90 points in all five tournament games — an NCAA record — but was held to 69 points in the six-point victory. 

It made an uncharacteristically low two threes (on 15 attempts) while finishing with a 55.1 percent defensive rebound rate, well below its season average (71.8 percent). 

Michigan overwhelmed UConn with its size, with forwards Morez Johnson Jr. and Yaxel Lendeborg (both 6-foot-9) and center Aday Mara (7-3), making it hard for the Huskies, who shot 34.3 percent, from getting many good looks. 

Per KenPom, the Wolverines ranked first in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency, while ending the season third in block rate (16.4 percent). For a team that was led by its offense for most of the season, Monday served as a reminder that Michigan is one of the most complete title winners in history.

“We’re the best team ever assembled,” guard Elliot Cadeau boasted after the national championship win.

His squad certainly has a case, although one recent champ has a slightly better argument.

1. UConn Huskies (2024)

As amazing as UConn’s 2023 title run was, its follow-up was even more breathtaking. The Huskies, who ranked first in offensive efficiency and fourth in defensive efficiency during the 2023-24 season, won their six tournament games by an average of 23.3 points per game. 

Coach Dan Hurley returned several key players from the previous season’s championship run, including center Donovan Clingan, forward Alex Karaban and point guard Tristen Newton, while adding dynamic 6-foot-6 freshman guard Stephon Castle, the NBA’s 2024-25 Rookie of the Year. Senior guard Cam Spencer, who made 99 threes, was one of the country’s more impactful transfers, giving the program an elite perimeter shooter.

Despite Cadeau’s claim, Michigan doesn’t even have the best-assembled team of the past five years. 2024 UConn holds that designation, and it might not relinquish the title anytime soon.