5 teams with the most consecutive Final Four appearances ft. the UCLA Bruins

The UCLA Bruins have taken a trip to the Final Four 18 times in the history of the men's basketball program. Reaching the Final Four in the NCAA tournament is a badge of honor for any college basketball team, including UCLA.

To make it to the National Semi-Finals, a team has to win four straight games starting from the first round of a 64-team bracket. That's why schools hoist Final Four banners above the rafters of their basketball gyms or arenas; they serve as a reminder of these accomplishments.

Advancing to the Final Four is a difficult feat for any college basketball team.

Let's look at the five teams with the most consecutive appearances in the NCAA tournament's Final Four.

Also Read: Which was the lowest-seeded team ever to make the Final Four? Exploring the history of underdogs in the NCAA Tournament

Five teams with the most consecutive Final Four appearances

Honorable Mention:

The teams mentioned below have gone on three straight trips to the Final Four.

Houston (1982-84)
North Carolina (1967-69)
Ohio State (1944-46)
Ohio State (1960-62)
San Francisco (1955-57)

Tied for 3rd: Kentucky (3, 1996-1998)

Rick Pitino won a national title with Kentucky in 1996.

During Kentucky's run of 17 straight NCAA tournament appearances, Rick Pitino and Tubby Smith won two national titles, reached five Elite Eights and made three consecutive trips to the national championship game.

Pitino won the NCAA championship with the Wildcats in 1996, but in an attempt to win back-to-back titles, lost the following year to No. 4 Arizona in the title game. He departed for the Celtics in 1997, and Tubby Smith, his former assistant coach, took over. Not missing a beat, Smith clinched the NCAA title in his first year in Kentucky.

Notable players during Kentucky's three-straight Final Four appearances

Tony Delk
Antoine Walker
Walter McCarty
Derek Anderson
Ron Mercer
Jeff Sheppard
Wayne Turner
Nazr Mohammed
Scott Padgett

Tied for 3rd: Michigan State (3, 1999-2001)

Tom Izzo led the Spartans to three straight Final Four appearances.

Under Tom Izzo, the Michigan Spartans left a significant impact in college basketball, marching on to three straight Final Four appearances from 1999 to 2001, collecting a 93-17 record.

The Spartans went on an 11-game winning streak, securing an NCAA title in 2001 after beating out No. 5 Florida in the national championship game.

Notable players during Michigan State's three-straight Final Four appearances

Mateen Cleaves
Morris Peterson
Charlie Bell
Jason Richardson
Zach Randolph
Andre Hutson
Mat Ishbia (current majority owner of the Phoenix Suns)

Tied for 2nd: Cincinnati (5, 1959-63)

Cincinatti;s Oscar Robertson is widely recognized as one of the best basketball players of all-time.

In the 1950s-1960s, the Cincinatti Bearcats dominated college basketball. The program's five consecutive trips to the Final Four is tied for second all-time.

"The Big O" Oscar Roberton led the Bearcats, averaging a triple-double in back-to-back seasons and leading the NCAA in scoring for three seasons in a row. Robertson averaged 33.7 points, 14.1 rebounds, and 7.3 assists in his last season with Cincinatti.

When Robertson left, coach George Smith vacated his position to serve as athletic director at the university. Rookie HC, Ed Jucker took over and won back-to-back national championships, almost winning a third-straight title losing to the Loyola Ramblers in overtime (60-58) after squandering a 15-point lead.

Notable players during Cincinatti's five-straight Final Four appearances

Oscar Robertson
Connie Dierking
Ralph Davis
Bob Wiesenhahn
Paul Hogue
Tom Thacker
Tony Yates
Ron Bonham
George Wilson

Tied for 2nd: Duke (5, 1988-92)

Coach K leads NCAA men's basketball in most wins by a college coach, with 1,202 games.

The Duke Blue Devils became a household name during the late 1980s when the team cemented itself among college basketball blue bloods.

Coach Mike Krzyzewski led the team to five-straight 'Final Four' appearances, tied for second all time, but his squads achieved the feat in the modern era, when it's more difficult to advance to the nationals because the tournament has expanded to 64 teams.

This era is summed up by the Elite Eight game between Duke and Kentucky in the 1992 NCAA tournament. With the Blue Devils down by one-point with 2.1 seconds left in overtime, Grant Hills throws a full-court pass to Christian Laettner.

He caught the ball in the free throw line and knocked down the game-winning buzzer beater to help Duke advance to the Final Four. The clutch basket by Laettner would be later known as "The Shot" in college basketball folklore.

The school from Durham, North Carolina won back-to-back national titles in 1991 and 1992, a feat that made Coach Krzyzewski a legend in college basketball.

Notable players during Duke's five-straight Final Four appearances

Christian Laettner
Danny Ferry
Grant Hill
Bobby Hurley
Cherokee Parks
Thomas Hill
Brian Davis
Antonio Lang
Alaa Abdelnaby

1st Place: UCLA (10, 1967-1976)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won three straight national championships for the UCLA Bruins.

The UCLA Bruins had tremendous success during the John Wooden era in the 1960s up to the mid-1970s, collecting NCAA championships left and right.

That's the reason why banners fill up the rafters of Pauley Pavilion. Wooden's Bruins went to a record 10 straight Final Four appearances from 1967-1976, winning seven straight championships from 1967-1973.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar known as Lew Alcindor back then, led the Bruins to three consecutive NCAA championships, winning the same number of Most Outstanding Player awards in the process.

They say that "records are meant to be broken," but this one might just stand the test of time, especially when the NCAA expanded the tournament to 64 teams in 1985 and 68 in 2011.

Notable players during UCLA's 10-straight Final Four appearances