Let's start here: Of the 265 football-playing Division I universities, 108 make the postseason. That's 12 (for now) in the FBS playoffs, another 70 in traditional bowl games, 24 in the FCS playoffs, and the MEAC and SWAC champions that meet in the Celebration Bowl.
To start, we're now down to around 40 percent of the membership.
Of the 108, 35 also appeared in the men's NCAA basketball tournament. This is our first big cut since only 68 (for now) get invites to the Big Dance. We can sort those 35 into buckets pretty easily.
Power 4 (25): Alabama, Arizona, BYU, Clemson, Duke, Georgia, Houston, Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State*, Louisville, Miami, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, NC State, Ohio State, SMU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, TCU, Texas Tech, Vanderbilt, and Virginia.
The SEC wins on a per capita basis with seven of its 16 reaching both postseasons, tied with the ACC's seven (albeit with one and a half more members). The Big 12 got six, while the Big Ten put only five in (but won both titles). The Big 12's number includes Iowa State, who went 8-4 in football but opted out of a bowl game following Matt Campbell's departure for Penn State.
Group of 4 (7): UConn, Hawaii, Kennesaw State, Miami (Ohio), South Florida, Troy, Utah State
Shoutout to Kennesaw State, champions of Conference USA in football and surprise winners of the C-USA basketball tournament.
FCS (3): Lehigh, North Dakota State, Prairie View A&M
These three earn the highest honors, given the bar they each must clear to reach the postseason. Lehigh and Prairie View went on Cinderella runs through their respective conference tournaments, while North Dakota State was a combined 25-2 in conference play in football and men's basketball.
11 schools reached the postseason in football, men's basketball, and baseball
Alabama, Georgia, Miami, Nebraska, NC State, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, TCU, Troy, and Virginia. Troy was the only FCS or Group of 6 school to go 3-for-3 on the men's side.
Now let's add the women to the mix (something said all too rarely in my college experience).
Football, men's basketball, baseball + volleyball: 6
Miami, Nebraska, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M and TCU
Football, men's basketball, baseball, volleyball + women's basketball: 4
Nebraska, Tennessee, Texas, and TCU
And now, the final layer of across-the-board athletic excellence
Football, men's basketball, baseball, volleyball, women's basketball + softball: 3
Nebraska
Tennessee
Texas
-- Nebraska: Nebraska's year so far was highlighted by Fred Hoiberg's basketball team making a Sweet 16 run (where they lost to rival Iowa, further proving that no good deed goes unpunished). Volleyball made the Elite Eight, women's basketball won a tournament game, softball is in the College World Series, and baseball hosts its first regional since 2008. Your turn, Matt Rhule.
-- Tennessee: The Vols went a perfect 6-for-6 for the fifth straight academic year, the longest ongoing streak in Division I. With softball in the WCWS and baseball back in the tournament, Tennessee has not seriously contended for a national title in any of the six sports, at least not yet. I wonder if the 2024 College World Series title still keeps Vol Nation warm at night?
-- Texas: In the hunt for their fifth Directors Cup in six years, the Longhorns have gone 6-for-6 for four straight years, last missing because of a 5-7 football season in 2021. Men's basketball has squeezed into the First Four two years in a row, but a Sweet 16 run has Longhorns fans believing Sean Miller has turned the corner and will leave bubble life behind. On the women's side, volleyball reached the Elite Eight for the ninth time in 11 seasons, basketball played in its second straight Final Four, and defending national champion softball is in the WCWS for the fourth time in five years.
Who barely missed the cut?
-- Alabama: The Tide reached the SEC Championship and the CFP, the Sweet 16, are headed to the WCWS as the No. 1 national seed, are a national seed in baseball and won a tournament game in women's basketball, but went just 5-10 in SEC play in volleyball.
-- Georgia: The SEC champions in football and baseball, the Bulldogs enter the baseball tournament seeded third nationally, and men's basketball made the tournament for the second year in a row after a decade-long drought. Softball is in the WCWS. Only volleyball missed the cut.
-- Kansas: The Jayhawks needed one more win in football to go 6-for-6.
-- Michigan: Men's basketball won its first national championship in more than 30 years, women's basketball made a regional final, and football exchanged Sherrone Moore for Kyle Whittingham while keeping Bryce Underwood. Baseball was the only sport to miss the cut, but men's hockey lost in double OT in the Frozen Four. The Wolverines are loving life right now.
-- Texas A&M: The Aggies had an amazing fall, reaching their first CFP and winning their first volleyball national championship. Bucky McMillan won a tournament game in his first season leading Aggie basketball, and both diamond teams hosted/will host regionals, but women's basketball missed the Dance for the fourth time in five years.
-- TCU: TCU did not make the NCAA softball tournament because the Horned Frogs do not have a softball team. Women's soccer -- not recognized here simply because we this is an American publication -- lost to eventual champion Florida State in the Final Four.
-- UCLA: UCLA won its first national title in women's basketball, is in the College World Series in softball, and enters the baseball tournament as the No. 1 overall seed. Only 3-9 football kept the Bruins from going 6-for-6.
Now let's look at it in the other direction. How many schools made the tournament in only one sport?
-- Auburn: Rough year on the plains, especially with both rivals going 5-of-6. The self-proclaimed "everything school" missed the postseason in everything but baseball, where the Tigers are the No. 4 national seed.
-- Boston College: Like Auburn, baseball was the only sport of the six we track to reach the postseason.
-- California: A 7-6 football season was the Bears' only taste of the postseason, a perfect reversal from UCLA. Cal Baptist and Cal Poly made more Big 6 NCAA tournaments than Cal Berkeley.
-- Maryland: The Terps missed in everything but women's basketball.
-- Northwestern: Like Cal, 7-6 football was the only Big 6 sport to reach the postseason.
-- South Carolina: Dawn Staley's played for their fourth championship in six seasons, but the Gamecocks were shutout elsewhere, most disappointingly in football.
-- Syracuse: The Orange get an asterisk, given they don't offer baseball and men's lacrosse reached the Final Four. Still, men's basketball has completely fallen apart, and football slunk from 10 wins to three.
Are there any Power 4 schools that didn't make the tournament in anything? Yep, one.