With the Oakland University men’s basketball team making its long-awaited return to the Big Dance, it’s essential to take a dive into how former Horizon League champions have finished in the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament.
At one point, dubbed ‘Motor City Madness,’ the Horizon League Tournament has been around since 1980, a time that predates head coach Greg Kampe’s time at OU and the move to become Division I in 1997.
While the Horizon League has never produced a national champion since the league’s inception, multiple teams have found success in the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament.
To start, the winner of the Horizon League Tournament has made it past the first round only 11 times in the 40 seasons a Horizon League Tournament winner has been invited to compete in the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament.
Notably, the winners of the Horizon League Tournament in 1980, 1981, and 1994 were not invited to the Big Dance. Additionally, Xavier lost in the preliminary round in 1983 to Alcorn State, meaning the team did not even make the tournament’s first round.
Furthermore, the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament was not held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. So the Northern Kentucky Norse, which won the Horizon League Tournament, were not given a chance to play in the Big Dance.
If you take into account all 39 Horizon League Tournament-winning teams that made it to the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament, there is a 28.2 percent chance that the winner will advance to the second round.
However, considering the recent trend of how Horizon League Tournament winners have finished in the Big Dance, a 28.2 percent change to make it out of the first round may be misleading. The Horizon League Tournament winner has not seen the second round since 2011.
As for the Sweet 16, just four of the 11 teams that made it out of the first round of the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament have advanced to the Sweet 16.
If you take into account all 39 teams that have made appearances in the Big Dance once again, that leaves a staggering 10.2 percent chance that a Horizon League champion has played into the second week of competition.
While all of these numbers might seem gloomy, there have been Horizon League Tournament winners who have had success in the Big Dance.
The biggest success story of the Horizon League includes Butler. Although Butler has since moved into the Big East Conference, Butler remains the only team that has won the Horizon League Tournament and reached the national championship.
Incredibly, Butler made it to the national championship in two consecutive seasons under head coach Brad Stevens. However, both times, Butler finished in second place, once to Duke in 2010 and once to Connecticut in 2011.
To date, Butler remains the only Horizon League Tournament winner to make and advance past the Elite Eight and the Final Four.
Besides producing national championship-appearing teams, Horizon League champions have also defied the odds in a different way: upsets.
Interestingly, the most recent Horizon League upset in the Big Dance came from the Cleveland State University Vikings in 2009.
After winning the Horizon League Tournament, the Vikings entered the Big Dance as complete underdogs against a loaded Wake Forest University (WFU) Demon Deacons team. Notably, the WFU roster was filled with NBA talent, including Al-Farouq Aminu, Jeff Teague, James Johnson and Ish Smith.
Although the Vikings were a No. 13 seed, they completely dominated the fourth-seeded Demon Deacons, winning 84-69.
As the OU men’s basketball team gears up to return to the NCAA Tournament, they step onto the national stage, representing a conference with a history of thrilling upsets and competitive prowess.
