Last Time the College Basketball National Championship Game Had Two Teams From the Same Conference

It’s pretty rare for the men’s basketball national championship game to feature two teams from the same conference.

In fact, the last time it happened was so long ago, the conference that supplied both championship teams no longer exists.

Last Time the NCAA Tournament Had Two Teams From the Same Conference In the National Championship Game

Big Eight rivals Kansas and Oklahoma played each other in the 1988 men’s basketball national championship game. That’s the last time one conference furnished both sides of a NCAA Tournament men’s finale.

Oklahoma was a No. 1 seed in the tournament and entered the title game with a 35-3 record. It had won both the Big Eight regular-season championship and the conference tournament, sweeping Kansas in the regular season.

Kansas won the game that mattered most, winning the title with an 83-79 victory.

The Big Eight, which preceded the Big 12, was a major player in college sports in the 1980s. It eventually combined itself with elements of the old Southwest Conference and formed the Big 12 in the 1990s.

NCAA Tournament Championship Games Where Both Teams Were From the Same Conference

• 1988: Kansas vs. Oklahoma
• 1985: Villanova vs. Georgetown
• 1976: Indiana vs. Michigan

Historical Effect of Conference Realignment

If you look back at the full list of NCAA Tournament champions by year, you’ll notice that it appears there are more title games with teams from the same conference than I’ve just listed.

For instance, UConn played Butler in 2011. Maryland played Indiana in 2002. Louisville played Duke in 1986.

These games would all be conference games now, as decades of conference realignment have molded former tournament foes into annual bunkmates.

The games listed above are the only real examples of teams who were conference mates who faced off in the national championship game, at the time of the game.