| 2038 | Old Dominion (38-3) | Lloyd | 87-81 | Georgetown | Trey Sims (ODU) | Watch Full Game |
| 2037 | Oklahoma St (32-7) | chuckexotic | 89-78 | Wichita St | Kwadjo LaFlem (OK St) | Watch Full Game |
| 2036 | Connecticut (36-5) | KeVbK | 92-85 | Wichita St | Ernie Campbell (UConn) | Watch Full Game |
| 2035 | Florida (38-2) | Bubbajr | 92-87 | San Diego St | Brad Tyler (Florida) | Watch Full Game |
| 2034 | Louisville (36-5) | Cards1125 | 95-83 | Connecticut | Howard Barr (Louisville) | Watch Full Game |
| 2033 | Louisville (33-7) | Cards1125 | 70-53 | LSU | JR Ramey (Louisville) | Watch Full Game |
| 2032 | Michigan (27-9) | Dave Galindo | 93-84 | Colorado | Rob Stevenson (Michigan) | Watch Full Game |
| 2031 | Syracuse (31-8) | Dawegg | 88-80 | Ohio State | Wright Maloney (Syracuse) | Watch Full Game |
| 2030 | Notre Dame (40-1) | Agalia | 90-73 | Baylor | Mike Askew (Notre Dame) | Watch Full Game |
| 2029 | Notre Dame (40-1) | Agalia | 72-65 | VCU | Fareed Trahan (Notre Dame) | Watch Full Game |
| 2028 | Mississippi State (28-9) | Big Ev | 90-84 | Notre Dame | Armani Heaton (Miss St) | Watch Full Game |
| 2027 | Michigan State (40-1) | Shawn Respert (AI) | 75-61 | Louisville | Carrington Hanna (Mich St) | Watch Full Game |
| 2026 | Baylor (27-11) | Lloyd | 68-65 | Louisville | Kerwin Montgomery (Baylor) | Watch Full Game |
| 2025 | Creighton (38-2) | GM Games Chris | 96-72 | Louisville | Anton Gordon (Creighton) | Watch Full Game |
| 2024 | Texas Tech (40-0) | Trip Lykely | 84-73 | Creighton | Darrin Powell (Texas Tech) | Watch Full Game |
| 2023 | Texas Tech (34-5) | Trip Lykely | 103-67 | Creighton | Darrin Powell (Texas Tech) | Watch Full Game |
| 2022 | Oregon (32-8) | Graham Stratford | 81-69 | Georgetown | Kevin Price (Oregon) | Watch Full Game |
| 2021 | Memphis (36-2) | Dave Galindo | 73-69 | Xavier | Andre Emanuel (Memphis) | Watch Full Game |
| 2019 | Virginia (35-3) | Tony Bennett | 85-77 (OT) | Texas Tech | Kyle Guy (Virginia) | |
| 2018 | Villanova (36-4) | Jay Wright | 79-62 | Michigan | Donte DiVincenzo (Villanova) | |
| 2017 | North Carolina (33-7) | Roy Williams | 71-65 | Gonzaga | Joel Berry (North Carolina) | |
| 2016 | Villanova (35-5) | Jay Wright | 77-74 | North Carolina | Ryan Arcidiacono (Villanova) | |
| 2015 | Duke (35-4) | Mike Krzyzewski | 68-63 | Wisconsin | Tyus Jones (Duke) | |
| 2014 | Connecticut (32-8) | Kevin Ollie | 60-54 | Kentucky | Shabazz Napier (Connecticut) | |
| 2013 | Louisville (35-5)* | Rick Pitino | 82-76 | Michigan | Luke Hancock (Louisville) | |
| 2012 | Kentucky (38-2) | John Calipari | 67-59 | Kansas | Anthony Davis (Kentucky) | |
| 2011 | Connecticut (32-9) | Jim Calhoun | 53-41 | Butler | Kemba Walker (Connecticut) | |
| 2010 | Duke (35-5) | Mike Krzyzewski | 61-59 | Butler | Kyle Singler (Duke) | |
| 2009 | North Carolina (34-4) | Roy Williams | 89-72 | Michigan State | Wayne Ellington (North Carolina) | |
| 2008 | Kansas (37-3) | Bill Self | 75-68 (OT) | Memphis | Mario Chalmers (Kansas) | |
| 2007 | Florida (35-5) | Billy Donovan | 84-75 | Ohio State | Corey Brewer (Florida) | |
| 2006 | Florida (33-6) | Billy Donovan | 73-57 | UCLA | Joakim Noah (Florida) | |
| 2005 | North Carolina (33-4) | Roy Williams | 75-70 | Illinois | Sean May (North Carolina) | |
| 2004 | Connecticut (33-6) | Jim Calhoun | 82-73 | Georgia Tech | Emeka Okafor (Connecticut) | |
| 2003 | Syracuse (30-5) | Jim Boeheim | 81-78 | Kansas | Carmelo Anthony (Syracuse) | |
| 2002 | Maryland (32-4) | Gary Williams | 64-52 | Indiana | Juan Dixon (Maryland) | |
| 2001 | Duke (35-4) | Mike Krzyzewski | 82-72 | Arizona | Shane Battier (Duke) | |
| 2000 | Michigan State (32-7) | Tom Izzo | 89-76 | Florida | Mateen Cleaves (Michigan State) | |
| 1999 | Connecticut (34-2) | Jim Calhoun | 77-74 | Duke | Richard Hamilton (Connecticut) | |
| 1998 | Kentucky (35-4) | Tubby Smith | 78-69 | Utah | Jeffrey Sheppard (Kentucky) | |
| 1997 | Arizona (25-9) | Lute Olson | 84-79 (OT) | Kentucky | Miles Simon (Arizona) | |
| 1996 | Kentucky (34-2) | Rick Pitino | 76-67 | Syracuse | Tony Delk (Kentucky) | |
| 1995 | UCLA (31-2) | Jim Harrick | 89-78 | Arkansas | Ed O'Bannon (UCLA) | |
| 1994 | Arkansas (31-3) | Nolan Richardson | 76-72 | Duke | Corliss Williamson (Arkansas) | |
| 1993 | North Carolina (34-4) | Dean Smith | 77-71 | Michigan | Donald Williams (North Carolina) | |
| 1992 | Duke (34-2) | Mike Krzyzewski | 71-51 | Michigan | Bobby Hurley (Duke) | |
| 1991 | Duke (32-7) | Mike Krzyzewski | 72-65 | Kansas | Christian Laettner (Duke) | |
| 1990 | UNLV (35-5) | Jerry Tarkanian | 103-73 | Duke | Anderson Hunt (UNLV) | |
| 1989 | Michigan (30-7) | Steve Fisher | 80-79 (OT) | Seton Hall | Glen Rice (Michigan) | |
| 1988 | Kansas (27-11) | Larry Brown | 83-79 | Oklahoma | Danny Manning (Kansas) | |
| 1987 | Indiana (30-4) | Bob Knight | 74-73 | Syracuse | Keith Smart (Indiana) | |
| 1986 | Louisville (32-7) | Denny Crum | 72-69 | Duke | Pervis Ellison (Louisville) | |
| 1985 | Villanova (25-10) | Rollie Massimino | 66-64 | Georgetown | Ed Pinckney (Villanova) | |
| 1984 | Georgetown (34-3) | John Thompson | 84-75 | Houston | Patrick Ewing (Georgetown) | |
| 1983 | North Carolina State (26-10) | Jim Valvano | 54-52 | Houston | Hakeem Olajuwon (Houston) | |
| 1982 | North Carolina (32-2) | Dean Smith | 63-62 | Georgetown | James Worthy (North Carolina) | |
| 1981 | Indiana (26-9) | Bob Knight | 63-50 | North Carolina | Isiah Thomas (Indiana) | |
| 1980 | Louisville (33-3) | Denny Crum | 59-54 | UCLA | Darell Griffith (Louisville) | |
| 1979 | Michigan State (26-6) | Jud Heathcote | 75-64 | Indiana State | Magic Johnson (Michigan State) | |
| 1978 | Kentucky (30-2) | Joe Hall | 94-88 | Duke | Jack Givens (Kentucky) | |
| 1977 | Marquette (25-7) | Al McGuire | 67-59 | North Carolina | Butch Lee (Marquette) | |
| 1976 | Indiana (32-0) | Bob Knight | 86-68 | Michigan | Kent Benson (Indiana) | |
| 1975 | UCLA (28-3) | John Wooden | 92-85 | Kentucky | Richard Washington (UCLA) | |
| 1974 | North Carolina State (30-1) | Norm Sloan | 76-64 | Marquette | David Thompson (NCST) | |
| 1973 | UCLA (30-0) | John Wooden | 87-66 | Memphis State | Bill Walton (UCLA) | |
| 1972 | UCLA (30-0) | John Wooden | 81-76 | Florida State | Bill Walton (UCLA) | |
| 1971 | UCLA (29-1) | John Wooden | 68-62 | Villanova | Howard Porter (Villanova) | |
| 1970 | UCLA (28-2) | John Wooden | 80-69 | Jacksonville | Sidney Wicks (UCLA) | |
| 1969 | UCLA (29-1) | John Wooden | 92-72 | Purdue | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (UCLA) | |
| 1968 | UCLA (29-1) | John Wooden | 78-55 | North Carolina | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (UCLA) | |
| 1967 | UCLA (30-0) | John Wooden | 79-64 | Dayton | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (UCLA) | |
| 1966 | UTEP (28-1) | Don Haskins | 72-65 | Kentucky | | |
| 1965 | UCLA (28-2) | John Wooden | 91-80 | Michigan | | |
| 1964 | UCLA (30-0) | John Wooden | 98-83 | Duke | | |
| 1963 | Loyola (Ill.) (29-2) | George Ireland | 60-58 (OT) | Cincinnati | | |
| 1962 | Cincinnati (29-2) | Ed Jucker | 71-59 | Ohio State | | |
| 1961 | Cincinnati (27-3) | Ed Jucker | 70-65 (OT) | Ohio State | | |
| 1960 | Ohio State (25-3) | Fred Taylor | 75-55 | California | | |
| 1959 | California (25-4) | Pete Newell | 71-70 | West Virginia | | |
| 1958 | Kentucky (23-6) | Adolph Rupp | 84-72 | Seattle | | |
| 1957 | North Carolina (32-0) | Frank McGuire | 54-53 (3OT) | Kansas | | |
| 1956 | San Francisco (29-0) | Phil Woolpert | 83-71 | Iowa | | |
| 1955 | San Francisco (28-1) | Phil Woolpert | 77-63 | LaSalle | | |
| 1954 | La Salle (26-4) | Ken Loeffler | 92-76 | Bradley | | |
| 1953 | Indiana (23-3) | Branch McCracken | 69-68 | Kansas | | |
| 1952 | Kansas (28-3) | Phog Allen | 80-63 | St. John's | | |
| 1951 | Kentucky (32-2) | Adolph Rupp | 68-58 | Kansas State | | |
| 1950 | CCNY (24-5) | Nat Holman | 71-68 | Bradley | | |
| 1949 | Kentucky (32-2) | Adolph Rupp | 46-36 | Oklahoma A&M | | |
| 1948 | Kentucky (36-3) | Adolph Rupp | 58-42 | Baylor | | |
| 1947 | Holy Cross (27-3) | Doggie Julian | 58-47 | Oklahoma | | |
| 1946 | Oklahoma State (31-2) | Henry Iba | 43-40 | North Carolina | | |
| 1945 | Oklahoma State (27-4) | Henry Iba | 49-45 | NYU | | |
| 1944 | Utah (21-4) | Vadal Peterson | 42-40 (OT) | Dartmouth | | |
| 1943 | Wyoming (31-2) | Everett Shelton | 46-34 | Georgetown | | |
| 1942 | Stanford (28-4) | Everett Dean | 53-38 | Dartmouth | | |
| 1941 | Wisconsin (20-3) | Bud Foster | 39-34 | Washington State | | |
| 1940 | Indiana (20-3) | Branch McCracken | 60-42 | Kansas | | |
| 1939 | Oregon (29-5) | Howard Hobson | 46-33 | Ohio State | | |