Postseason play is when college basketball history is written.
Some milestones emerge during tournament games. Others arrive before bracket play even tips off.
Entering the 2026 postseason, several historic streaks, records and trends are already shaping storylines across NCAA basketball.
Here are some of the records and milestones worth watching.
NYU chasing history — and a rare Division III three-peat
New York University's women's basketball team enters the semifinals of the NCAA Division III championship riding a 91-game winning streak, the second-longest winning streak in NCAA women's basketball history.
Only UConn's 111-game streak from 2014-17 is longer.
The Violets also are pursuing a rare third straight Division III national championship. The only other program to accomplish that feat in Division III was Washington University in St. Louis, which won four consecutive titles from 1998-2001. That WashU run also held the previous Division III record (81) for consecutive wins in women's basketball. New York University will play in the national semifinals Thursday, with a potential return to the championship game Saturday. Â
Longest winning streaks in NCAA basketball history (men's and women's)Â
| Team (men's or women's) |
Division |
Wins |
Years |
| UConn (W) |
I |
111 |
2014-17 |
| NYU (W) |
III |
91 |
2023-present |
| UConn (W) |
I |
90 |
2008-10 |
| UCLA (M) |
I |
88 |
1971-74 |
| WashU (W) |
III |
81 |
1998-01 |
Nova Southeastern owns one of the wildest home-court streaks in college basketball
The Nova Southeastern men's basketball team has turned its home court into one of the toughest places to play in college basketball.Â
The Sharks have won 104 straight home games, a streak that includes two NCAA tournament victories this postseason. Earlier this month, Nova Southeastern reached its 100th consecutive home win, becoming the first Division II men's program and the second men's program in any NCAA division to hit that milestone.Â
Top all-time home-court winning streaksÂ
| Team (men's or women's) |
Division |
Consecutive wins |
Dates |
| Kentucky (M) |
I |
129 |
1943-55 |
| Amherst (W) |
III |
121 |
2009-16 |
| Lubbock Christian (W) |
II |
113 |
2015-23 |
| Nova Southeastern (M) |
II |
104 |
2020-present |
| UConn (W) |
I |
99 |
2007-12 |
| St. Bonaventure (M) |
I |
99 |
1948-61 |
| UConn (W) |
I |
98 |
2013-20 |
| UCLA (M) |
I |
98 |
1970-76 |
Purdue's Braden Smith nearing the NCAA assists record
Purdue guard Braden Smith is on the verge of rewriting the NCAA Division I record book.
Smith enters the NCAA tournament with 1,075 career assists, just one shy of Duke guard Bobby Hurley's NCAA record of 1,076 set from 1989-93.
If Smith records two assists in Purdue's first-round game against Queens (North Carolina) Friday, he will break the NCAA Division I career assists record.
NCAA Division I career assists leaders
| Player |
School |
Assists |
| Bobby Hurley |
Duke |
1,076 |
| Braden Smith |
Purdue |
1,075 |
| Chris Corchiani |
NC State |
1,038 |
| Ed Cota |
North Carolina |
1,030 |
| Jason Brickman |
LIU |
1,009 |
Queens (NC) joins rare group of first-year DI men's basketball tournament teams
When Queens (North Carolina) takes the court in the NCAA Division I men's tournament against Smith's Boilermakers, the Royals will be doing something less than a handful of programs have accomplished in the modern era: Reaching the tournament in their first year of eligibility after transitioning to Division I.
Since 1950, only nine programs had previously made the field in their first season of eligibility. Only three teams had done so since 1985, when the bracket expanded to 64 teams.Â
| Year |
School |
Record |
Result |
| 1953 |
Seattle |
26-3 |
2-1 |
| 1955 |
Memphis |
17-4 |
0-1 |
| 1956 |
Morehead St. |
17-9 |
2-1 |
| 1962 |
Massachusetts |
15-8 |
0-1 |
| 1970 |
Long Beach St. |
23-3 |
1-2 |
| 1972 |
Louisiana |
23-3 |
2-1 |
| 2009 |
North Dakota St. |
26-6 |
0-1 |
| 2017 |
Northern Ky. |
24-10 |
0-1 |
| 2025 |
UC San Diego |
30-4 |
0-1 |
UConn enters the tournament undefeated
UConn women's basketball enters the Division I women's basketball tournament as the No. 1 overall seed and undefeated, placing the Huskies in rare historical company.
Before this year's UConn squad, only 20 teams had entered the NCAA women's tournament undefeated. Half of those teams won the national championship, with UConn accounting for six of those undefeated champions.Â
Related:Â How undefeated teams do in the NCAA women's basketball tournament.Â
Active NCAA tournament appearance streaks
While some teams are making their first appearance, others have built impressive streaks of sustained success.
Division I men's basketball active tournament streaks
| School |
Consecutive appearances |
| Michigan State |
28 |
| Gonzaga |
27 |
| Purdue |
11 |
| Houston |
8 |
| Kansas* |
8 |
| Tennessee |
8 |
*Kansas has an actual streak of 35 from 1990 to present, but its 2018 appearance was later vacated.Â
Division I women's basketball active tournament streaks
| School |
Consecutive appearances |
| Tennessee |
44Â |
| UConn |
37 |
| Baylor |
22 |
| Louisville |
15 |
| Maryland |
15 |
| South Carolina |
14 |
| Texas |
12 |
Tennessee remains the only program to appear in every tournament since the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship began in 1982.
A trend that has predicted men's champions
Recent tournament history also points to a pattern among national champions.
Since the NCAA men's tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, every national champion has reached at least the semifinals of their conference tournament beforehand (with the exception of a couple that were in leagues with no conference tournament). And all of those champions currently belong to one of the following conferences: Atlantic Coast Conference, Big 12 Conference, Big East Conference, Big Ten Conference and Southeastern Conference.
Based on that trend, this year's teams that meet the benchmark are Arkansas, Arizona, Clemson, Duke, Florida, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, Miami (Florida), Michigan, Purdue, St. John's (New York), UCLA, UConn, Vanderbilt, Virginia and Wisconsin.
16 programs have won the women's national championship
Since the first NCAA women's basketball championship in 1982, 16 programs have won the NCAA Division I women's basketball championship.
NCAA Division I women's basketball champions
| School |
Titles |
Championships (years) |
| UConn |
12 |
1995, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2025 |
| Tennessee |
8 |
1987, 1989, 1991, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2007, 2008 |
| Baylor |
3 |
2005, 2012, 2019 |
| South Carolina |
3 |
2017, 2022, 2024 |
| Stanford |
3 |
1990, 1992, 2021 |
| Louisiana Tech |
2 |
1982, 1988 |
| Notre Dame |
2 |
2001, 2018 |
| Southern California |
2 |
1983, 1984 |
| LSU |
1 |
2023 |
| Maryland |
1 |
2006 |
| North Carolina |
1 |
1994 |
| Old Dominion |
1 |
1985 |
| Purdue |
1 |
1999 |
| Texas |
1 |
1986 |
| Texas A&M |
1 |
2011 |
| Texas Tech |
1 |
1993 |
This year's field includes 11 of those 16 programs: Baylor, LSU, Maryland, North Carolina, Notre Dame, UConn, Tennessee, South Carolina, Southern California, Texas and Texas Tech.
Will a new program join the mix? No team has ever won the women's championship outside of the top three seeds, so following that historic precedent the top contenders include No. 1 seed UCLA, No. 2 seeds Iowa, Vanderbilt and Michigan, as well as No. 3 seeds Ohio State, Duke, Louisville and TCU.Â
