The coolest alumni from all 68 NCAA tournament schools – ranked!

This year’s NCAA tournament kicks off in earnest on Thursday at noon. But rather than analyze and deconstruct the bracket right now (don’t worry, we will be doing that later), we’ve ranked the 68 schools in this year’s field by the coolest person who went there. Gonzaga might be the favorite on the hardwood, but where do they rank in cultural cachet?

68) Davidson: Woodrow Wilson

America’s 28th President attended the Presbyterian school as a freshman before falling ill, taking a year off and finishing at Princeton. Bottom of this list due to his racist policies.

67) Wyoming: Dick Cheney

Before he was fortunate enough to avoid prosecution in The Hague, the former US vice-president and Sacha Baron Cohen stablemate graduated from the Laramie school after twice failing out of Yale.

66) USC: OJ Simpson

A series of pesky legal troubles have compromised the reputation of the Heisman Trophy winner, commercial pitchman and movie star, but few Trojans have ever burned so bright.

65) Texas A&M Corpus Christi: Kim Henkel

The longtime screenwriter holds an enduring place in horror movie lore as the co-writer for Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

64) Vermont: Ben Affleck

The future Gigli star enrolled at the Burlington school to follow his girlfriend, fractured his hip playing intramural basketball, split campus with zero credits recorded … and then won a screenwriting Oscar for Good Will Hunting six years later.

63) Boise State: Jens Pulver

The UFC’s first-ever lightweight champion still graduated with a degree in criminal justice despite a college wrestling career at the Idaho school that was derailed by injury.

62) South Dakota State: Adam Vinatieri

The longtime New England Patriots placekicker is the NFL’s all-time leading scorer with 2,673 points, including not one but two last-gasp field goals to win Super Bowls.

61) TCU: Chris Klein

Klein shot to stardom as the beefcake with a heart of gold Chris ‘Oz’ Ostreicher in the American Pie movies, but not before studying theater and pledging the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity at Texas Christian.

60) Longwood: Jason Mraz

The two-time Teen Choice award-winning singer earned a scholarship to attend the public school in Farmville, Virginia, then bailed on the books for a road trip to San Diego to seek his fortune.

59) New Mexico State: Joe Pisarcik

The New York Giants quarterback responsible for the first Miracle at the Meadowlands played football collegiately in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

58) Duke: Ken Jeong

The comedian, actor and physician best known as Mr Chow in the Hangover films was a chemistry major in Durham and watched Coach K’s farewell game from Clifford.

57) Jacksonville State: Randy Owen

Before selling a preposterous amount of records as the frontman for country rockers Alabama, Owen took a break from music to earn an English degree from Jacksonville State, where he was a member of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity (and serves on the board of trustees today).

56) Virginia Tech: Hoda Kotb

The longtime staple of NBC’s breakfast-time Today show and barely hinged USA Gymnastics fan was a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority and graduated with a bachelor’s in broadcast journalism from the Blacksburg school in 1986.

55) Connecticut: Moby

More than a decade before shooting to global stardom with 1999’s Play, the musician started a philosophy degree at UConn and spun records at campus radio station WHUS before transferring to Suny Purchase.

54) Saint Peter’s: Will Durant

The historian and philosopher shared a Pulitzer with his wife as they became household names for their 11-volume series The Story of Civilization, which was published over a four-decade span between 1935 and 1975 and sold millions of copies.

53) Gonzaga: Bing Crosby

The White Christmas crooner enrolled at Gonzaga College in 1920 with the intent to become a lawyer – but sent away for a set of mail-order drums while in Spokane. The rest is history.

52) LSU: Dr James Andrews

The three words no NFL fan or player ever wants to hear. The orthopedic surgeon of the stars attended the Baton Rouge school and won an SEC championship in pole vaulting.

51) Notre Dame: George Wendt

The famed TV barfly was expelled from the South Bend school after getting a 0.00 GPA the first semester of his junior year …

50) Bryant: Nicholas Colasanto

… and the barhop that served ups the suds and punchlines attended Rhode Island’s Bryant University before enlisting in the US Navy and serving as a coxswain in the second world war.

49) Richmond: Lil Dicky

Before starring in the hit FXX sitcom about a white Jewish rapper dipping his toes into the world of hip-hop, the Philadelphia-area native graduated summa cum laude from Richmond in 2010.

48) Delaware: Joe Biden

The future US president went from gangland peacemaker in Wilmington to the lovely college town of Newark, where Grotto Pizza remains a must.

47) Murray State: Ja Morant

The NBA star’s sensational sophomore season was more than enough to catapult him past Deadwood’s W Earl Brown among notable alumni of the Kentucky university.

46) Arizona: Kristen Wiig

The longtime Saturday Night Live cast member was an art major in Tucson before dropping out to pursue acting.

45) Colorado State: Leslie Jones

Stop me if you’ve heard the one about the 6ft junior college basketball player who transferred to Colorado State to follow her hoop dreams, then entered a comedy contest and was named Funniest Person on Campus.

44) Chattanooga: Dennis Haskins

Saved by the Bell’s Mr Belding made a bigger impact on the culture than many star athletes, though it’s worth mentioning NFL Hall of Fame wideout Terrell Owens played in the NCAA tournament as a deep reserve for the Mocs back in 1995.

43) Purdue: Orville Redenbacher

The future popcorn magnate led a busy life at the West Lafayette school as a member of the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity, the marching band and the track team.

42) Arkansas: John Daly

Pro golf’s most enduring curiosity attended Arkansas on a golf scholarship from 1984 through 1987, maddening coaches with his frequent drinking and more selective approach to class attendance, before bursting from obscurity to win the US PGA Championship as the ninth and final alternate in 1991.

41) Illinois: Alan Ruck

Succession’s Connor Roy and Ferris Bueller’s Cameron Frye managed to reach the finish line at the Champaign school where Gene Hackman dropped out and Shel Silverstein was expelled.

40) Wright State: Nicole Scherzinger

The longtime Pussycat Dolls frontwoman earned a scholarship to the small Ohio school where she majored in theatre arts with a dance minor.

39) San Diego State: Raquel Welch

The One Million Years BC actor left school due to her heavy schedule as a weather anchor for a local TV station.

38) Loyola Chicago: Bob Newhart

The stand-up titan best known for the string of sitcoms that came later got his start at the private Catholic school in Chicago (and, yes, somehow predates Sister Jean).

37) Michigan State: James Caan

Sonny Corleone attended the public school in East Lansing, Michigan, before transferring back home to Hofstra.

36) Montana State: Craig Kilborn

The whip-smart ESPN SportsCenter anchor and predecessor to Jon Stewart on the Daily Show desk earned a pair of degrees in theater arts and media from the Bozeman school while allegedly leading the Big Sky Conference in turnovers as a member of the basketball team.

35) Seton Hall: Tony Soprano

Future acting head of the DiMeo crime family canonically dropped out after a semester and a half at the South Orange school while …

34) Rutgers: James Gandolfini

… his real-life alter ego graduated for real only a half hour down the Garden State Parkway.

33) Akron: The Black Keys

The garage-rock revival duo of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney met as students at the school in LeBron James’ hometown.

32) Texas Tech: John Denver

Johnny Deutschendorf studied architecture at the Lubbock school, sang in a folk-music trio, pledged the Delta Tau Delta fraternity … then dropped out and the rest is history.

31) Creighton: Bob Gibson

Hard to say if any pitcher in baseball history was better at their peak. But before making a mockery of batters during a 17-year career with the St Louis Cardinals, which included World Series MVP awards in 1964 and 1967, Gibson played basketball at the Omaha school where he’s still among the all-time program leaders in scoring average.

30) Iowa: Gene Wilder

A decade an a half before he became Willy Wonka, the celebrated actor studied communication and theatre arts and pledged Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity at the Iowa City school.

29) Miami: Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson

Before a glittering career in pro wrestling, Hollywood and beyond, the Rock won a national championship with the Hurricanes during the 1991 season, graduating four years later with a bachelor of general studies in criminology and physiology.

28) Kansas: Paul Rudd

Wilt Chamberlain may have been a more prolific scorer on and off the court, but Rudd is still the only Kansas alum to have been named Sexiest Man Alive. (Bonus points for sneaking a Jayhawks cap on to the set for multiple scenes in Clueless.)

27) San Francisco: Suzanne Somers

The future Three’s Company star (and seriously underrated poet!) attended the San Francisco College for Women, which later was absorbed into USF.

26) UAB: Vonetta Flowers

A star sprinter and long jumper at Alabama-Birmingham, Flowers took first in the two-women bobsleigh at the 2002 Olympics to become the first Black athlete to win a gold medal at a Winter Games.

25) Providence: Janeane Garofalo

The future Wet Hot American Summer star won the title of Funniest Person in Rhode Island in a comedy search competition while studying history at the Catholic school.

24) Villanova: Bradley Cooper

The future Wet Hot American Summer star spent a year at the Catholic school on Philadelphia’s Main Line before dipping south to Georgetown, where he graduated with honors in 1997 with a bachelor’s in English.

23) Baylor: Willie Nelson

Studied agriculture and joined the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity at Baylor. Later smoked a joint on the roof of the White House.

22) Iowa State: George Washington Carver

The man Time magazine called the Black Leonardo – great nickname – attended the Ames university for both undergrad and graduate studies.

21) North Carolina: Louise Fletcher

Piss on your fucking rules, Nurse Ratched!

20) Norfolk State: JB Smoove

Pootie Tang’s Trucky and Curb’s Leon Black studied engineering and graphic design at Virginia’s largest HBCU, which secured its place in NCAA tournament lore with a stunning first-round upset of Missouri in 2012.

19) Georgia State: Ludacris

The hip-hop hyphenate is one of several wildly successful dropouts, along with Julia Roberts, from the Atlanta state school.

18) Memphis: Jason Isbell

The country music star finished one physical education credit short of receiving his degree from the University of Memphis, where he studied English and creative writing.

17) Ohio State: Roy Lichtenstein

The famed pop artist graduated from the Columbus university after studies that were interrupted by the second world war.

16) Auburn: Lionel Richie

The Hello crooner briefly attended classes at Auburn while taking a bachelor’s in economics from the nearby Tuskegee Institute, where he enrolled on a tennis scholarship.

15) Houston: Lizzo

The Good as Hell singer blew, as she once said, “the baddest piccolo in the land” for the Spirit of Houston Marching Band, then graduated with a major in classical flute performance before going on to win three Grammy awards.

14) Cal State Fullerton: Kevin Costner

The 1990 Best Director Oscar winner and red-state Succession star grad earned a bachelor’s in business administration with a concentration in marketing at the Orange County school.

13) Michigan: Madonna

Her Madgesty (and Costner’s Truth or Dare co-star) earned a dance scholarship to Ann Arbor only to split town, as the legend goes, on a one-way ticket to the East Village with $35 in her pocket.

12) Alabama: Harper Lee

America’s greatest one-hit wonder attended the Tuscaloosa school more commonly known as a football factory but did not make it to graduation – though fellow literary titan Gay Talese did.

11) Marquette: Chris Farley

The inestimable comedy legend did a double major in communications and theater at the Catholic school in Milwaukee, graduating in 1986.

10) Texas: Janis Joplin

She’d hardly been on campus a month when the campus newspaper the Daily Texan profiled her. The headline: She Dares to Be Different.

9) Tennessee: Cormac McCarthy

One of America’s greatest living writers, with not one but two novels due out in 2022, enrolled at the University of Tennessee’s flagship Knoxville campus in 1951, but dropped out to join the US Air Force.

8) Indiana: Venus Williams

The second-best tennis player of her or maybe any generation earned a bachelor’s in business administration from IU East (eight years after first taking an associate’s from Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale)

7) Colgate: John Cassavettes

Before he became a titan of American cinema verite, Cassavetes majored in English at the upstate New York university before dropping out to become ... a sports announcer. Fate had different plans.

6) UCLA: James Dean

The Rebel Without A Cause heartthrob dropped out of UCLA after one semester of acting study to pursue a full-time acting career.

5) Saint Mary’s: Mahershala Ali

The future two-time Oscar winner, then known as Hershal Gilmore, played basketball for the Gaels from 1994 through 1997, going head to head with two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash twice a year in West Coast Conference play.

4) Yale: Lupita Nyong’o, Jodie Foster, Angela Bassett, Meryl Streep

Too close to call, but four queens beats a full house.

3) Wisconsin: Butch Vig

The producer of Nirvana’s Nevermind, The Smashing Pumpkins’ Gish and Sonic Youth’s Dirty studied at Madison and was a mainstay in the local music scene.

2) Kentucky: Harry Dean Stanton

An acting legend and cultural treasure with more than 200 movies and TV shows to his credit, he studied theater in Lexington before serving in the Navy in the second world war.

1) Texas Southern: Megan Thee Stallion

The Tigers are a No 16 seed in the bracket but No 1 in our hearts thanks to the chart-topping Houston rapper, who found time amid her dizzying ascent to finish her bachelor’s degree in health administration at Texas Southern with the goal of opening assisted living facilities in Houston.