The odds of your favorite school having both their men’s and women’s teams in the Final Four are very low. Not just because the actual odds are stacked against you no matter how good your team might be, but because it’s March.
It’s made for miracles and upsets and things not going according to plan, it’s typically not made for everything to go right. But for Syracuse basketball, everything has gone right, and it almost makes more sense that it has happened with both teams not expected to be in their respective positions.
#FinalFour pic.twitter.com/FcCu64tmu8
— Syracuse Men’s Basketball (@Cuse_MBB) March 28, 2016
It’s happened only 12 times, but the Orange were able to accomplish having both their men’s and women’s teams in their respective Final Fours in the same year. The men were a 10-seed in the men’s NCAA Tournament, with many feeling that they had no business being invited to the dance in the first place. They are also the first 10-seed to ever make the Final Four in the men’s tournament.
The women were slightly better off, seeded 4th, but still had the powerful South Carolina, Arizona State, Ohio State, and historically-great Tennessee in their region. The Sweet 16 upset over top seed South Carolina was especially impressive considering the Gamecocks were 33-1 entering the game and their lone loss came to undefeated UConn. The Syracuse women also overcame a 10 point deficit in that game to win 80-72 before defeating Tennessee in the Elite 8 89-67.
The last team to do it was a former Big East rival of the Orange in the UConn Huskies, who did it just a couple of years ago in 2014, where both teams won their respective national championships.
Nice for you guys to join us in the #FinalFour, @Cuse_MBB. 🍊🏀 #OrangeNation pic.twitter.com/6yDom9P7tR
— Syracuse Women's Basketball (@CuseWBB) March 28, 2016
In fact, UConn became the first school to have both their men’s and women’s teams win the national title in the same season in 2004. The Huskies are no strangers to having success for both teams. Out of the now 12 times for both the men’s and women’s teams of one school to make it to the Final Four, UConn owns four of them, with no other school holding more than one.
Out of the 11 that have come before Syracuse, six of the instances have seen neither the school’s men’s or women’s teams winning a national championship. Four times the men have won it, and three times the women have, with both winning it happening just twice, both belonging to UConn.
The University of Georgia was the first team to do so in 1983. A 16-year break would be broken by Duke in 1999, resulting in a 5-year stretch between 2002-2006 where Oklahoma, Texas, UConn, Michigan State, and LSU all had it happen.
Could Syracuse become the third set of teams to hold both titles? It’s certainly a long-shot, but both teams were also long-shots to get to their Final Fours. The women are set to face 7-seed Washington on April 3, with the men to face 1-seed North Carolina the day before.
