Has a Mid-Major Ever Won the NCAA Tournament?

The UNLV Rebels were a juggernaut in the early 1990s.
(AP Photo/Ed Reinke)

The best example of a mid-major team winning the NCAA Tournament is when UNLV clobbered Duke, 103-73, in the 1990 national championship game.

At the time, UNLV was part of the Big West conference.ย So yes, mid-major teams do occasionally emerge from March Madness as successful NCAA Basketball champions.ย 

Keep that in mind the next time youโ€™re checking out NCAA basketball championship odds, March Madness fans.ย 

UNLV’s 1989-90 championship was part of the Rebelsโ€™ legendary 45-game winning streak, which is the longest and most impressive of any college basketball team across the last 40 years.ย 

Before UNLV’s run, the most recent non-power champion was Marquette in 1977, which was independent at the time and not yet part of the Big East.ย 

Prior to 1960, all kinds of random teams won the national championship, including La Salle, Oklahoma A&M, San Francisco and the City College of New York.

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Our BetMGM authors are sports experts, with a wealth of knowledge of the sports betting industry at all levels. Their coverage includes sports news across players, teams and coaches, providing betting previews and predictions, fun facts and more.