March Madness: How many teams sponsored by Nike, Adidas and Under Armour are in the tournament?
Nike, Jordan, Adidas and Under Armour are the brands with teams in this year's NCAA tournament field
March Madness has arrived and the men’s NCAA Division I basketball tournament bracket is set with the First Four games beginning on Tuesday and Wednesday. While college athletes will be competing on the hardwood, apparel brands will be competing for exposure and hoping the teams they sponsor make deep runs in the tournament.
Four athletic brands will have teams they sponsor participating in this year’s NCAA tournament: Nike, Jordan (which is a brand within Nike), Adidas and Under Armour. Of the 68 teams in this year’s tournament field, Nike sponsors 36 while another four wear Jordan, Adidas sponsors 18, and Under Armour 10.
Here’s a look at which apparel brands are sponsoring the teams that may make or break your bracket this year.
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Purdue's Zach Edey scores over Penn State's Kebba Njie during the second half of an NCAA college basketball championship game at the Big Ten men's tournament, Sunday, March 12, 2023, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh / AP Newsroom)
Nike
Oregon-headquartered apparel giant Nike leads the way with 36 teams in this year’s NCAA tournament field with a number of perennial favorites. The lineup includes a pair of No. 1 seeds, the Alabama Crimson Tide and Purdue Boilermakers, and a trio of No. 2 seeds — the Arizona Wildcats, Marquette Golden Eagles and Texas Longhorns.
All four of the tournament’s No. 3 seeds — the Baylor Bears, Gonzaga Bulldogs, Kansas State Wildcats, and the Xavier Musketeers — are Nike-branded programs. They’re joined by three of the No. 4 seeds with the Tennessee Volunteers, UConn Huskies and Virginia Cavaliers in the ranks, plus the fifth-seeded Duke Blue Devils.
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Nike’s dominance of the field extends to the middle- and lower-seeded teams looking to pull off upsets and make a deep tournament run, including:
- No. 6 seeds Creighton Bluejays, Iowa State Cyclones, Kentucky Wildcats and TCU Horned Frogs.
- No. 7 seeds Michigan State Spartans and Missouri Tigers.
- No. 8 seeds Arkansas Razorbacks, Iowa Hawkeyes and Memphis Tigers.
- No. 9 seeds Illinois Fighting Illini and the West Virginia Mountaineers.
- No. 10 seeds Boise State Broncos, Penn State Nittany Lions, USC Trojans and Utah State Aggies.
- No. 11 seeds Pitt Panthers and Providence Friars.
- No. 12 seeds Oral Roberts Golden Eagles and Virginia Cavaliers.
- Plus the No. 13 seed Furman Paladins, the No. 14 Grand Canyon Antelopes and the No. 15 Princeton Tigers and Vermont Catamounts.
Arizona forward Azuolas Tubelis (10) drives the ball against UCLA forward Kenneth Nwuba (14) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the championship of the Pac-12 tournament, Saturday, March 11, 2023, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Chase Stevens / AP Newsroom)
Jordan
Nike’s Jordan Brand, named after basketball Hall of Famer Michael Jordan who still retains a percentage stake in the brand, sponsors four teams in this year’s tournament:
- No. 1 seed Houston Cougars.
- No. 2 seed UCLA Bruins.
- No. 5 seed San Diego State Aztecs.
- No. 16 seed Howard Bison.
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Kansas forward Jalen Wilson (10) gets past West Virginia guard Erik Stevenson (10) to put up a shot during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in the second round of the Big 12 Conference tournament Thursday, March 9, 2023, in Kansas C (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel / AP Newsroom)
Adidas
This year’s tournament field will include 18 teams sponsored by Adidas, which has its global headquarters in Germany but has a North American headquarters in Oregon. The Adidas lineup in this year’s tournament is led by the No. 1 seed Kansas Jayhawks and No. 4 seed Indiana Hoosiers, and will also feature the No. 5 seed Miami Hurricanes and No. 7 seed Texas A&M Aggies.
The middle and lower seeds wearing Adidas in this year’s tournament include:
- No. 9 seed Florida Atlantic Owls.
- No. 11 seeds Arizona State Sun Devils, Mississippi State Bulldogs, Nevada Wolfpack and the North Carolina State Wolfpack.
- No. 12 seeds Charleston Cougars and Drake Bulldogs.
- No. 13 seeds Iona Gaels and Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns.
- No. 14 seeds Kennesaw State Owls and UC Santa Barbara Gauchos.
- Plus the No. 15 seed UNC Asheville Bulldogs, the No. 16 seeds Northern Kentucky Norse and the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders.
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Saint Mary's guard Logan Johnson (0) drives the ball against Gonzaga guard Dominick Harris during the second half an NCAA college basketball game in the finals of the West Coast Conference men's tournament Tuesday, March 7, 2023, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/David Becker / AP Newsroom)
Under Armour
There will be 10 teams sponsored by Maryland-headquartered Under Armour in this year’s NCAA tournament led by the No. 5 seed Saint Mary’s Gaels, No. 7 seed Northwestern Wildcats and the No. 8 seed Maryland Terrapins.
Other Under Armour branded programs competing in this year’s tournament include:
- No. 9 seed Auburn Tigers.
- No. 13 seed Kent State Golden Flash.
- No. 14 seed Montana State Bobcats.
- No. 15 seed Colgate Raiders.
- No. 16 seeds Fairleigh Dickinson Knights, Southeast Missouri State Redhawks and the Texas Southern Tigers.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NKE | NIKE INC. | 77.39 | +2.29 | +3.06% |
| UAA | UNDER ARMOUR INC. | 9.24 | +0.12 | +1.32% |
| ADDYY | ADIDAS AG | 111.98 | +1.14 | +1.03% |