Editor’s note: This post was originally published in 2022. It has since been updated.
There’s something extremely powerful about the court each year at the Final Four.
We don’t have to go into the whole Hoosiers speech and note that all the dimensions are the same as every other floor, but knowing that you’ve reached the final stage—not just in the NCAA Tournament, but for many players, their college careers—helps turn hardwood into hallowed ground.
The actual court themselves are, more often than not, a true sight to behold. A work of art in concept, style and design. It’s no wonder many teams who win the national title take the NCAA up on their offer to buy the floor after the game. Sometimes that means hanging the court in a team’s practice facility or auctioning off parts of it to fans and alumni.
Either way, it’s the ultimate conversation piece.
There have been many different iterations since 2001. Let’s run through them all.