basketball-men-d1 flag

Stan Becton | NCAA.com | March 16, 2023

A complete history of HBCU men's basketball in the NCAA tournament’s round of 64

Full game: Norfolk State pulls off 15-over-2 upset vs. Missouri in 2012

North Carolina A&T and Southern broke NCAA tournament ground when they made the first appearance by an HBCU in the DI men's basketball tournament's round of 64 in 1985, the first year of the expanded bracket. Since then, a total of 18 HBCU men's basketball programs have played in the first round of the March Madness bracket.

Let's dive in to the past performance of the HBCU programs during the first round.

School Breakdown

Texas Southern has the most round of 64 appearances of any HBCU men's basketball program, but has yet to win a game. The Tigers last appeared in the round of 64 in 2022. North Carolina Central became the latest HBCU to make its debut appearance in the round of 64 during the 2014 season.

Here's a look at the appearance of HBCUs in the round of 64.

# of Appearances HBCU
8 Texas Southern
7 North Carolina A&T, Southern
5 Hampton, South Carolina State
4 Mississippi Valley State
3 Coppin State, Jackson State, Norfolk State
2 Alabama State, Florida A&M, Howard, Morgan State, Tennessee State
1 Alcorn State, Delaware State,
North Carolina Central, Prairie View A&M

The only HBCUs to win a round of 64 game are Southern, Coppin State, Hampton and Norfolk State. Alcorn State does have a first-round win, but that came in 1980 when there were only 32 teams in the bracket. Every other HBCU men's NCAA tournament win came in the opening or First Four round.

Here's a look at the records of HBCUs, by school, in the round of 64.

School Record Win % Last APP
Alabama State 0-2 .000 2004
Alcorn State 0-1 .000 1999
Coppin State 1-2 .333 1997
Delaware State 0-1 .000 2005
Florida A&M 0-2 .000 2004
Hampton 1-4 .200 2016
Howard 0-2 .000 2023
Jackson State 0-3 .000 2007
Mississippi Valley State 0-4 .000 2008
Morgan State 0-2 .000 2010
Norfolk State 1-2 .333 2022
North Carolina A&T 0-7 .000 2013
North Carolina Central 0-1 .000 2014
Prairie View A&M 0-1 .000 1998
South Carolina State 0-5 .000 2003
Southern 1-6 .142 2013
Tennessee State 0-2 .000 1994
Texas Southern 0-8 .000 2022

Conference breakdown

Here's a breakdown of NCAA tournament performance by HBCU conference.

Conference appearances Wins Losses Win %
MEAC 31 3 28 .096
SWAC 26 1 25 .038
Tennessee State (OVC) 2 0 2 .000
Total 58 4 54 .069

Seeding

HBCUs have typically been seeded towards the bottom of the bracket since the round of 64 began. Of the 59 times HBCUs have participated in the round of 64, they have been seeded 16th — the lowest possible seed — 33 times.

The best seed any HBCU has had entering the Round of 64 has been No. 13, held by Southern in 1993. The Jaguars won their first round game with a 93-78 win over No. 4 Georgia Tech.

Seed Total seeds % Seeded Seed Record Win %
No. 13 1 .017 1-0 1.000
No. 14 4 .069 0-4 .000
No. 15 21 .362 3-18 .143
No. 16 33 .559 0-33 .000

Game results

Here are the results from every round of 64 game from an HBCU men's basketball program

Year School Seed Opponent Result Score
2023 Howard No. 16 No. 1 Kansas L 68-96
2022 Texas Southern No. 16 No. 1 Kansas L 56–83
  Norfolk State No. 16 No. 1 Baylor L 49–85
2021 Texas Southern No. 16 No. 1 Michigan L 66–82
  Norfolk State No. 16 No. 1 Gonzaga L 55–98
2018 Texas Southern No. 16 No. 1 Xavier L 83–102
2017 Texas Southern No. 16 No. 1 North Carolina L 64–103
2016 Hampton No. 16 No. 1 Virginia L 45–81
2015 Texas Southern No. 15 No. 2 Arizona L 72–93
  Hampton No. 16 No. 1 Kentucky L 56–79
2014 North Carolina Central No. 14 No. 3 Iowa State L 75–93
2013 Southern No. 16 No. 1 Gonzaga L 58–64
  North Carolina A&T No. 16 No. 1 Louisville L 48–79
2012 Norfolk State No. 15 No. 2 Missouri W 86–84
2011 Hampton No. 16 No. 1 Duke L 45–87
2010 Morgan State No. 15 No. 2 West Virginia L 50–77
2009 Morgan State No. 15 No. 2 Oklahoma L 54–82
2008 Mississippi Valley State No. 16 No. 1 UCLA L 29–70
2007 Jackson State No. 16 No. 1 Florida L 69–112
2006 Southern No. 16 No. 1 Duke L 54–70
2005 Delaware State No. 16 No. 1 Duke L 46–57
2004 Alabama State No. 16 No. 1 Duke L 61–96
  Florida A&M No. 16 No. 1 Kentucky L 76–96
2003 South Carolina State No. 16 No. 1 Oklahoma L 54–71
2002 Hampton No. 15 No. 2 Connecticut L 67–78
2001 Alabama State No. 16 No. 1 Michigan State L 35–69
  Hampton No. 15 No. 2 Iowa State W 58–57
2000 Jackson State No. 16 No. 1 Arizona L 47–71
  South Carolina State No. 16 No. 1 Stanford L 65–84
1999 Alcorn State No. 15 No. 2 Stanford L 57–69
  Florida A&M No. 16 No. 1 Duke L 58–99
1998 Prairie View A&M No. 16 No. 1 Kansas L 52–110
  South Carolina State No. 15 No. 2 Kentucky L 67–82
1997 Jackson State No. 16 No. 1 Kansas L 64–78
  Coppin State No. 15 No. 2 South Carolina W 78–65
1996 Mississippi Valley State No. 15 No. 2 Georgetown L 56–93
  South Carolina State No. 15 No. 2 Kansas L 54–92
1995 Texas Southern No. 15 No. 2 Arkansas L 78–79
  North Carolina A&T No. 16 No. 1 Wake Forest L 47–79
1994 Texas Southern No. 15 No. 2 Duke L 70–82
  Tennessee State No. 14 No. 3 Kentucky L 70–83
  North Carolina A&T No. 16 No. 1 Arkansas L 79–94
1993 Southern No. 13 No. 4 Georgia Tech W 93–78
  Tennessee State No. 15 No. 2 Seton Hall L 59–81
  Coppin State No. 15 No. 2 Cincinnati L 66–93
1992 Mississippi Valley State No. 16 No. 1 Ohio State L 56–83
  Howard No. 16 No. 1 Kansas L 67–100
1990 Texas Southern No. 14 No. 3 Georgetown L 52–70
  Coppin State No. 15 No. 2 Syracuse L 48–70
1989 Southern No. 15 No. 2 North Carolina L 79–93
  South Carolina State No. 15 No. 2 Duke L 69–90
1988 Southern No. 15 No. 2 Kentucky L 84–99
  North Carolina A&T No. 14 No. 3 Syracuse L 55–69
1987 Southern No. 15 No. 2 Temple L 56–75
  North Carolina A&T No. 15 No. 2 Alabama L 71–88
1986 Mississippi Valley State No. 16 No. 1 Duke L 78–85
  North Carolina A&T No. 16 No. 1 Kansas L 46–71
1985 Southern No. 16 No. 1 St. John's L 59–83
  North Carolina A&T No. 16 No. 1 Oklahoma L 83–96

Arkansas-Pine Bluff's 2010 season was vacated for NCAA violations

Alabama State rejoins the top 10 of Week 10's HBCU football power rankings

Here are Week 10's HBCU football power rankings from NCAA Digital's Stan Becton.
READ MORE

2023 SWAC Championship: Date, time, location, tv channel, history

Here's the what you need to know for the 2023 SWAC Championship Game, including a list of past SWAC champions and how teams qualify for the postseason game.
READ MORE

Ranking the top 20 HBCU offensive stars in the 2023 season — so far

Let's take a look at the top HBCU offensive players at the skill positions in halfway through the 2023 season.
READ MORE

Subscribe To Email Updates

Enter your information to receive emails about offers, promotions from NCAA.com and our partners