The 2013 Final Four teams have combined for 20 previous appearances. Louisville has reached the sport's final weekend nine times, Michigan six, Syracuse four and Wichita State once. Each Final Four team had a different story and added a different element to its school's rich basketball history.

From the Fab Five to Carmelo Anthony to the McCray Brothers to Cazzie Russell, here are some tidbits from each school's previous Final Four teams.

NCAA Final Four History For Louisville, Michigan, Syracuse And Wichita State Slideshow

 

Louisville 2012

Seed: No. 4. Teams defeated: Davidson, New Mexico, Michigan State, Florida. Result: National semifinals. Notable Players: Kyle Kuric, Russ Smith, Chris Smith, Peyton Siva, Gorgui Dieng, Chase Benanan. After winning the Big East tournament as the No. 7 seed, the Cardinals rode their momentum into the NCAAs. They knocked off No. 1 seed Michigan State in the Sweet Sixteen and won an instant classic against Florida in the Elite Eight. Louisville finished the game on a 23-8 run to win 72-68. Russ Smith had 19 points off the bench in the victory. In the Final Four, Bluegrass State rival Kentucky ousted the Cardinals 69-61. An 18-point, 14-rebound, five-block performance by Anthony Davis was too much for Louisville to handle.

 

Louisville 2005

Seed: No. 4. Teams defeated: Louisiana-Lafayette, Georgia Tech, Washington, West Virginia. Result: National semifinals Notable Players: Francisco Garcia, Larry O'Bannon, Taquan Dean. In their final year in Conference USA, the Cardinals came from the No. 4 spot to reach the Final Four. Louisville's performance is perhaps most remembered for the team's 93-85 Sweet Sixteen victory over West Virginia, coached by current Michigan head coach John Beilein. The Mountaineers led by ten points with six minutes to play thanks to a 25-point outing by tournament legend Kevin Pittsnogle, but Louisville charged back to force an extra period. The Cardinals doubled the Mountaineers 16-8 to go to the national semifinals. In St. Louis, Louisville was downed by Illinois' three-headed backcourt of Deron Williams, Luther Head and Dee Brown.

 

Syracuse 2003

Seed: No. 3. Teams defeated: Manhattan, Oklahoma State, Auburn, Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas. Result: Champion. Notable Players: Carmelo Anthony, Hakim Warrick, Gerry McNamara, Kueth Duany. With a core of two freshmen, Carmelo Anthony and Gerry McNamara, and a sophomore, Hakim Warrick, Syracuse came out of nowhere to win Jim Boeheim's first title. Anthony put himself in the national spotlight with a 33-point night in the national semifinals versus Texas, a record for most points in a tournament game by a freshman. Anthony scored 20 points and McNamara added 18 points (all on three-pointers) for an 81-78 win over Kansas in the national championship game. The play of the game though came from Warrick, who blocked a three-point attempt by the Jayhawks' Michael Lee with less than one second left.

 

Syracuse 1996

Seed: No. 4. Teams defeated: Montana State, Drexel, Georgia, Kansas, Mississippi State. Result: Runner-up Notable Players: John Wallace, Otis Hill, Todd Burgan, Jason Cipolla. Senior John Wallace nearly entered the draft after his junior season, but returned for a run to the National Championship Game. The Orangemen held Kansas' Paul Pierce to 11 points in the regional final and Mississippi State's Erick Dampier to 12 points in the National Semifinals. In the national championship game, Syracuse could not stop Kentucky's nine future NBA players, known as "The Untouchables." Tony Delk, Antoine Walker, Ron Mercer and Derek Anderson outlasted a 29-point effort by Wallace, 76-69.

 

Michigan 1993

Seed: No. 1. Teams defeated: Coastal Carolina, UCLA, George Washington, Temple, Kentucky. Result: Runner-up. Notable Players: Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King, Ray Jackson, Eric Riley, Rob Pelinka. With the Fab Five returning as sophomores, Michigan began the 1992-93 season ranked No. 1 and entered the tournament as a No. 1. Jamal Mashburn (26 points) and Kentucky gave Michigan a scare in the national semifinals, but behind 27 points from Chris Webber, the Wolverines escaped 81-78 in overtime. The national championship game against North Carolina is perhaps most remembered for Webber's gaffe. With 11 seconds left and Michigan down by two points, Webber called a timeout. The Wolverines were out of timeouts, so a technical foul was called. The Tar Heels ended up winning by a final of 77-71. A scandal involving illegal benefits from boosters later caused Michigan to vacate the entire 1992-93 season (as well as the Final Four in 1992).

 

Michigan 1992

Seed: No. 6. Teams defeated: Temple, East Tennessee State, Oklahoma State, Ohio State, Cincinnati Result: Runner-up. Notable Players: Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King, Ray Jackson, Eric Riley. The Fab Five was the talk of college basketball in the preseason, but by the end of the regular season, eight losses (including seven in the Big Ten) had taken away some of the Wolverines' buzz. That all changed in March when Michigan made a run to the final as a six-seed. The Wolverines knocked off bitter rival Ohio State 75-71 in the Regional Final, prompting Juwon Howard's famous "We gon' shock the world" line. Webber, King, Rose and Howard all scored in double figures in a 76-72 National semifinals victory over Cincinnati before Michigan ran into Duke in the national championship game. Christian Laettner scored 19 points and the Blue Devils beat the Wolverines for the second time that season, 71-51.

 

Michigan 1989

Seed: No. 3. Teams defeated: Xavier, South Alabama, North Carolina, Virginia, Illinois, Seton Hall Result: Champion Notable Players: Glen Rice, Rumeal Robinson, Loy Vaught, Terry Mills, Sean Higgins. In one of the more bizarre situations in sports history, nine-year Michigan coach Bill Frieder (a graduate of Michigan's Stephen M. Ross School of Business) announced before the NCAA tournament that he would be leaving Ann Arbor to coach at Arizona State at the end of the season. Michigan athletic director Bo Schembechler immediately ordered Frieder to leave and appointed assistant coach Steve Fisher as interim house. Behind Fisher, the Wolverines ran the table in the tournament, topped off by a national semifinals victory over Big Ten foe Illinois and a national championship game win in overtime over Seton Hall 80-79. Glen Rice led Michigan in the title game with 31 points.

 

Syracuse 1987

Seed: No. 2 Teams defeated: Georgia Southern, Western Kentucky, Florida, North Carolina, Providence. Result: Runner-up. Notable Players: Sherman Douglas, Rony Seikaly, Greg Monroe, Derrick Coleman, Howard Triche. Lebanese-born junior center Rony Seikaly became the darling of March, co-leading the tournament in scoring with 138 points (as did Indiana's Steve Alford). In the national semifinals, the Orangeman handled Billy Donovan and the sixth-seeded Providence Friars, coached by Rick Pitino, 77-63. The national championship game was a different story, as Steve Alford and Keith Smart's Indiana Hoosiers edged the Orangemen 74-73. The tournament featured Jim Boeheim's first Final Four appearance.

 

Louisville 1986

Seed: No. 2. Teams defeated: Drexel, Bradley, North Carolina, Auburn, LSU, Duke. Result: Champion Notable Players: Pervis Ellison, Billy Thompson, Milt Wagner, Herbert Crook, Jeff Hall. The Cardinals were tested by two Cinderellas, eighth-seeded Auburn and 11th-seeded LSU in the regional final and national semifinals, respectively, but edged both. In the national championship game against Duke, freshman center "Never Nervous" Pervis Ellison burst on the scene with 25 points and 11 rebounds. Louisville overcame an opponent featuring Johnny Dawkins, Tommy Amaker, Jay Bilas and Billy King to win 72-69. Ellison became the second freshman to win the NCAA tournament's Most Outstanding Player Award (Utah's Arnie Ferrin was the first in 1944).

 

Louisville 1983

Seed: No. 1. Teams defeated: Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky. Result: National semifinals Notable Players: Lancaster Gordon, Rodney McCray, Scotter McCray, Milt Wagner, Charles Jones. In-state rival Kentucky led Louisville 37-30 at halftime of the Mideast regional final in Knoxville. A second-half Cardinals comeback tied the game at 62 and forced overtime. Louisville prevailed 80-68 in the extra period, with Lancaster Gordon finishing with 24 points and Milt Wagner with 18 points. In the national semifinals, Houston's Akeem Olajuwon had 21 points and 22 rebounds and Clyde Drexler added 21 points of his own, as the eventual runner-up Cougars won 94-81.

 

Louisville 1982

Seed: No. 3. Teams defeated: Middle Tennessee State, Minnesota, Alabama-Birmingham. Result: National semifinals. Notable Players: Jerry Eaves, Derek Smith, Lancaster Gordon, Charles Jones, Rodney McCray, Scooter McCray. After surviving tests from Trent Tucker's Minnesota Golden Gophers and UAB's Oliver Robinson, Louisville took on future Big East rival Georgetown. The Cardinals held the Hoyas' freshman center Patrick Ewing to just 8 points, but 14 points from Eric Smith lifted Georgetown to a 50-46 national-semifinal victory. Derek Smith was the only Cardinal in double figures in the game with 10 points.

 

Louisville 1980

Seed: No. 2. Teams defeated: Kansas State, Texas A&M, LSU, Iowa, UCLA. Result: Champion. Notable Players: Darrell Griffith, Derek Smith, Wiley Brown, Rodney McCray. The tournament started with a narrow 71-69 win over Kansas State, but the Cardinals straightened themselves out from there. Darrell Griffith scored 34 points in the nationals semifinals against Iowa to set up a national championship game against UCLA. Griffith, the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, scored 23 points in the Finals to win a 59-54 defensive grind against Rod Foster, Kiki Vandeweghe and the Bruins for the Cardinals' first title.

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Michigan 1976
Teams defeated: Wichita State, Notre Dame, Missouri, Rutgers
Result: Runner-up
Notable players: Rickey Green, Phil Hubbard, John Robinson, Wayman Britt, Steve Grote.

One year removed from junior college, Rickey Green led the Wolverines to the National Title Game. In the National Semifinals, Michigan knocked off undefeated Rutgers to set up a date with undefeated Big Ten rival Indiana. Scott May and Kent Benson combined for 51 Hoosier points, as Indiana beat Michigan for the third time that season, 86-68. Bob Knight earned Indiana's first title, and the '76 Hoosiers are the most recent team to finish a season, wire-to-wire, undefeated.

Syracuse 1975
Teams defeated: La Salle, North Carolina, Kansas State
Result: Fourth Place
Notable Players: Rudy Hackett, Jim Lee, Chris Sease

Under Coach Roy Danforth, the Orangemen reached its first Final Four. In the East Regional Final, Rudy Hackett scored 28 points and Jim Lee dropped 25 points (Hackett and Lee were known as "Roy's Runts") to outlast a 35-point outing by Kansas State's Chuckie Williams. Kentucky ended the upstart Orangemen's run with a 95-79 National Semifinals victory. Louisville then knocked off Syracuse 96-88 in the Third Place Game.

Louisville 1975
Teams defeated:: Rutgers, Cincinnati, Maryland, Syracuse (in consolation game)
Result: Third Place.
Notable Players: Junior Bridgeman, Allen Murphy, Wesley Cox, Philip Bond, Bill Bunton.

In the Midwest regional final, five Cardinals finished in double figures, as Louisville outlasted 27 points from Maryland's John Lucas, 96-82. In the national semifinals, Allen Murphy's 33 points nearly helped knock off five-time defending champion UCLA. The Bruins held on 75-74 behind 26 points from Richard Washington. Bill Bunton scored 24 points and Junior Bridgeman had 21 points and 11 rebounds in the third-place victory over Syracuse.

Louisville 1972
Teams defeated: Southwest Louisiana, Kansas State.
Result: Fourth Place
Notable Players: Jim Price, Rob Thomas, Henry Bacon, Mike Lawhorn.

Jim Price scored 25 points in the Cardinals' two victories over Southwest Louisiana and Kansas State to reach the final weekend. In Los Angeles, Louisville danced with a local UCLA team that defended its turf 96-77. Bill Walton went for 33 points and 21 rebounds in the national semifinals for the eventual champion Bruins. In the third place game, Bob McAdoo poured in 30 points and pulled down 19 rebounds in a 105-91 North Carolina win.

Wichita State 1965
Teams defeated: SMU, Oklahoma State.
Result: Fourth Place.
Notable Players: Kelley Pete, Jamie Thompson, Dave Leach.

In Coach Gary Thompson's first year, the Shockers reached No. 1 in the AP Poll during the season. Wichita State escaped tests from SMU and Oklahoma State before a national semifinal matchup with defending champion UCLA. Gail Goodrich and Edgar Lacy combined for 52 points in a 108-89 Bruins win. One day later, Bill Bradley scored 58 on the Shockers for a 118-82 Tigers victory in the third-place game.

Michigan 1965
Teams defeated: Dayton, Vanderbilt, Princeton
Result: Runner-up
Notable Players: Cazzie Russell, Bill Buntin, Oliver Darden, Larry Tregoning.

One year after reaching its first Final Four, Michigan took the next step to reach the national championship Game. The run to the Finals was capped off by a 93-76 win in the national semifinals against Bill Bradley's Princeton Tigers behind 28 points from Russell. Michigan fell to UCLA in the national championship game 91-80. Gail Goodrich dropped 42 on the Wolverines for the title.

Michigan 1964
Teams defeated: Loyola (Ill.), Ohio, Kansas State (in consolation game)
Result: Third Place.
Notable Players: Cazzie Russell, Bill Buntin, Bob Cantrell, Oliver Darden.

Cazzie Russell scored 25 points in a 69-57 Elite Eight victory over Ohio to send the Wolverines to their first Final Four. In the national semifinals, eventual runner-up Duke, led by Jay Buckley and Jeff Mullins, beat Michigan 91-80. The Wolverines returned to form in the third-place game, knocking off Kansas State in Kansas City, 100-90. Playing without Russell, Bill Buntin topped the box score with 33 points, including a then Final Four single game record of 15 made free throws.

Louisville 1959
Teams defeated: Eastern Kentucky, Kentucky, Michigan State.
Result: Fourth Place.
Notable players: Don Goldstein, Harold Andrews, Roger Tieman.

The Cardinals knocked off in-state rival Kentucky and Michigan State to reach the Final Four in Louisville's home arena, Freedom Hall. The local flavor was not kind to the Cardinals. Jerry West dropped 38 on Louisville, as West Virginia won 94-79 in the national semifinals. Oscar Robertson scored 39 points on Louisville the next day in a 98-85 Cincinnati victory in the third-place game.