Not every great basketball school has a great football program and not every great football school has a great basketball program (some schools don’t have either). But there are a handful of schools that will look back fondly on the 2023-24 school year as a great one for both of their top athletics programs.
According to ESPN’s Mike Greenberg, seven schools won both a bowl game in college football and an NCAA Tournament game. The seven are Arizona, Kansas, Duke, Tennessee, Oregon, Clemson and Northwestern.
Arizona went 10-3 under head coach Jeff Fisch, just missing the Pac-12 Championship Game, but beat Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl to finish as the No. 11 team in the country. Their basketball program was the Pac-12 regular season champion and is currently heading to the Sweet 16 after wins over Long Beach State and Dayton.
Kansas went 9-4 this year – one of their best seasons ever – and ended the year with a Guaranteed Rate Bowl win over UNLV to finish No. 23 in the final AP poll. Bill Self’s basketball team went 23-10, suffering a loss in the Round of 32 to Gonzaga after beating Samford in the First Round.
Duke went 8-5 and ended their season with a Birmingham Bowl win over Troy. On the basketball side, they’re 25-8 and beat Vermont in the First Round. They face James Madison in the Second Round tomorrow.
Tennessee finished third in the SEC East and went 9-4 on the season, ranking No. 17 overall, after beating Iowa 35-0 in the Citrus Bowl. Rick Barnes’ basketball players were the SEC regular season champions and face future SEC rival Texas in the Round of 32 after beating Saint Peter’s in the First Round.
Oregon narrowly lost the Pac-12 Championship Game on the football side before winning the Fiesta Bowl over Liberty and finished No. 6 in their final year in the conference. The basketball team, on the other hand, finished the job and won the Pac-12 title to secure their NCAA Tournament berth, then stunned South Carolina in an upset. They face Big East giant Creighton tonight.
Clemson finished in the middle of the pack in both the regular season for football and basketball. They beat Kentucky in the Gator Bowl en route to a No. 20 finish in the country, and opened their NCAA Tournament account with a win over New Mexico.
Northwestern overcame a ton of preseason adversity to go 8-5 with a win over Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl to end David Braun’s first year at the helm. On Friday, the Wildcats beat last year’s Final Four Cinderella Florida Atlantic for their third NCAA Tournament win in history.