Why Defense Wins in March: Breaking Down Championship DNA

How Elite Defensive Teams Dominate March Madness and Why It Matters

· Feb 24 - 4 minutes read

Defensive Aura

High-flying offense sells tickets, but the truth is defense still wins championships in most sports. College basketball is not an exception.

You can bet the team that wins this March Madness championship will have to get it done on defense at some point before they can call themselves champions.

Why Defense Wins in March: Breaking Down Championship DNA — Thomas Sorber #35 of the Georgetown Hoyas | Timothy Nwachukwu/getty Images/afp

The Role of Defense in March Madness Success

The offense may take precedence for college basketball lines in the regular season, but come tournament time, you’re going to have to grind out some tough games against teams you may not be familiar with playing.

You’re not going to get far having to win shootouts every round of the tournament. In fact, of the last five champions, they allowed 70 points in just 6-of-30 tournament wins (20%).

Game winning stops from last night:

The Top 4 clutch stops with under 2min to go in March Madness

#4: Great def possession – locked in on ball defense, great triple switch on the back side, protect the rim, force the extra pass. (CU gets the open shot but great overall poss) pic.twitter.com/vDar1KNiQ8

— Michael Jagacki (@Mike_Jagacki) March 25, 2024

The only recent champion to allow 75 points in a tournament game was 2019 Virginia, which did it twice in overtime grinds against Purdue and Texas Tech. Virginia still had the nation’s No. 1 scoring defense that season.

In going back-to-back in 2023-24, the UConn Huskies held 11 of 12 tournament opponents to 65 points or fewer, including a season-low 60 points by Purdue in the 2024 championship game.

Key Defensive Metrics to Watch

Here are some key defensive metrics to track for finding championship-caliber defenses:

Defensive Rating (adjusts for pace and can be adjusted for opponents).
Rebound Percentage.
Turnover Percentage.
eFG% (adjusts for shot type).

Knecht turning defense into offense 💥#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/o6tBnaenHq

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 31, 2024

Teams That Built Their Legacy on Defense

Some of the best college coaches of all time stressed the importance of defense for their teams. They may have had great offenses too, but some of the best title teams for John Wooden (UCLA), Bobby Knight (Indiana), and Coach K (Duke) had great defenses too.

UConn has won six championships since 1999 and has usually had a solid defensive base for its success.
Rick Pitino’s 1995-96 Kentucky Wildcats used full-court pressure to stifle teams.
Jim Boeheim’s 2-3 zone helped Syracuse win a championship in 2003.
The 1983-84 Georgetown Hoyas won the championship behind a great defense led by Patrick Ewing.
Florida won back-to-back titles in 2006-07 behind Joakim Noah, and Al Horford, and a dominant rebounding performance (+90) in the 2007 tournament.

Adam Kunkel is locked in on defense. 🔒#FirstFour | #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/xhR64lpVy5

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 20, 2019

Why Defense Matters for Fans and Bettors

It’s never a bad idea for bettors to consider the stronger defensive team for picking a championship winner in college basketball. The offense can be streaky (run hot or cold) from game to game, but a defensive system/scheme is usually going to have its desired impact. When it’s not working, the coach can choose to change it up (zone vs. man, full-court vs. half-court pressure, etc.).

Hard to change out a star guard who is shooting 2-of-13 from the field that night. Sometimes it’s just not your night.

Defensive Teams to Watch on 2025 March Madness

Teams like Duke and Florida have strong defenses that could help them go far in this year’s tournament. But if a team could lean on its defense to go the distance this year, it would be the Houston Cougars (23-4):

Houston allows an NCAA-low 57.7 points per game.
The 2024-25 Cougars are 22-0 when allowing fewer than 70 points.
In the five games where Houston allowed 70 points, four of them were in overtime (1-3 in record).
Houston allows the fifth-lowest FG% (.383) and forces the 13th-highest turnover rate (19.4%).

THE COUGARS HAVE WON 19 OF THEIR LAST 20 GAMES‼️

No. 5 @UHCougarMBK beats No. 8 Iowa State! pic.twitter.com/HA2I6zF97f

— ESPN (@espn) February 22, 2025

The March Madness odds for Houston are currently +850 at BetUS. If you’re trying to make the best bracket for March Madness this year, you might want to include that Houston defense in your Final Four.