Average total points in March Madness final: How to score your 2026 NCAA Tournament bracket tiebreaker based on history originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The ides of March have come and go. The drama remains, tethered to the hardwood, where 68 of the nation's finest sides joust for glory — and a chance to hoist one of sport's grandest prizes.
March Madness is back in 2026. This year's iteration is caked in all the pomp and circumstance of its predecessors. There will be upsets. There will be game-winners. There will be tears.
And there will be brackets, too. Millions of disciples will fill out theses to determine, attempting to predict just how the tournament field shakes up. Many bracket challenges will be decided not my the number of upsets one selects — at least not entirely — but by the final score of the championship game.
So, how does one decide just what score to scribble to finish off their brackets? The Sporting News fills you in.
Average total points in March Madness final games
The three-point line was introduced in 1987. The addition of an additional apparatus spurred on scoring, helping create the game we've come embrace in recent years.
The NCAA tournament final has taken on a similar disposition to its regular season counterparts. Scores fluctuate year-by-year. But generally, title games tend to feature score lines that fall between 70 and 80 points apiece.
The average total score of NCAA men's basketball title games since 1987 is 145.3. Teams can't score a percentage of a point, so we'll round that total up to 146.
Average college basketball game score
March Madness contests can prove more tense than their regular season counterparts. But scores tend to fall within the range of 145 to 150 points, meaning the average NCAA tournament finale is right in line with a regular season contest — at least as far as the final score is concerned.
There are, of course, extenuating factors that could change that mark. Teams playing in the NCAA final are rarely average, often boasting offenses and defenses far better than their adversaries. Still, you should be cautiously optimistic that the final score of the final game of the Division I calendar sits between 140 and 150 points. Perhaps you can even err on the side of caution given the game's testiness, siding for a score on the lower end of that spectrum. The caginess of the affair can blot attacking endeavor, after all.
List of NCAA Tournament championship scores
| Year | Final Score | Total Points |
| 2025 | Florida 65, Houston 63 | 128 |
| 2024 | UConn 75, Purdue 60 | 135 |
| 2023 | UConn 76, San Diego State 59 | 135 |
| 2022 | Kansas 72, UNC 69 | 141 |
| 2021 | Baylor 86, Gonzaga 70 | 146 |
| 2020 | No tournament (COVID) | N/A |
| 2019 | Virginia 85, Texas Tech 77 (OT) | 162 |
| 2018 | Villanova 79, Michigan 62 | 141 |
| 2017 | UNC 71, Gonzaga 65 | 136 |
| 2016 | Villanova 77, UNC 74 | 151 |
| 2015 | Duke 68, Wisconsin 63 | 131 |
| 2014 | UConn 60, Kentucky 54 | 114 |
| 2013 | Louisville 82, Michigan 76 | 158 |
| 2012 | Kentucky 67, Kansas 59 | 126 |
| 2011 | UConn 53, Butler 41 | 94 |
| 2010 | Duke 61, Butler 59 | 120 |
| 2009 | UNC 89, Michigan State 72 | 161 |
| 2008 | Kansas 75, Memphis 68 (OT) | 143 |
| 2007 | Florida 84, Ohio State 75 | 159 |
| 2006 | Florida 73, UCLA 57 | 140 |
| 2005 | UNC 75, Illinois 70 | 145 |
| 2004 | UConn 82, Georgia Tech 73 | 155 |
| 2003 | Syracuse 81, Kansas 78 | 159 |
| 2002 | Maryland 64, Indiana 52 | 106 |
| 2001 | Duke 82, Arizona 72 | 154 |
| 2000 | Michigan State 89, Florida 76 | 165 |
| 1999 | UConn 77, Duke 74 | 151 |
| 1998 | Kentucky 78, Utah 69 | 147 |
| 1997 | Arizona 84, Louisville 79 (OT) | 163 |
| 1996 | Kentucky 76, Syracuse 67 | 143 |
| 1995 | UCLA 89, Arkansas 78 | 167 |
| 1994 | Arkansas 76, Duke 72 | 148 |
| 1993 | UNC 77, Michigan 71 | 148 |
| 1992 | Duke 71, Michigan 51 | 122 |
| 1991 | Duke 72, Kansas 65 | 137 |
| 1990 | UNLV 103, Duke 73 | 186 |
| 1989 | Michigan 80, Seton Hall 79 (OT) | 159 |
| 1988 | Kansas 83, Oklahoma 79 | 162 |
| 1987 | Indiana 74, Syracuse 73 | 144 |
HISTORY OF UPSETS BY SEED:
16 vs. 1 | 15 vs. 2 | 14 vs. 3 | 13 vs. 4 | 12 vs. 5
Who will win March Madness 2026?
Here are the latest college basketball betting odds on which school will win the 2026 NCAA men's basketball tournament as of March 11, according to BetMGM.
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| Duke | +320 |
| Michigan | +325 |
| Arizona | +475 |
| Florida | +675 |
| Houston | +1000 |
| UConn | +1300 |
| Illinois | +1800 |
| Iowa State | +2200 |
| Kansas | +3500 |
| Michigan State | +4000 |
| Purdue | +5000 |
| Gonzaga | +5500 |
| Arkansas | +6600 |
| Virginia | +6600 |
| Alabama | +8000 |
| Nebraska | +8000 |
| Louisville | +9000 |
| St. John's | +10000 |
| Tennessee | +10000 |
| Vanderbilt | +10000 |
| Missouri | +6600 |
| Purdue | +8000 |
| Marquette | +8000 |
| St. Mary's | +10000 |
| Mississippi State | +10000 |
| UCLA | +10000 |
| Michigan | +10000 |
| Ole Miss | +10000 |
| Louisville | +10000 |
| Creighton | +15000 |
| Oregon | +15000 |
| Memphis | +15000 |
March Madness bracket predictions
Everyone has an opinion on who will hoist the trophy come the end of the 2026 NCAA tournament. Here are our experts' Final Four picks. Click the links to see their full bracket predictions for 2026 March Madness: