(AP) — No team has made more 3-pointers, nor launched more, than Alabama in the past four seasons. And nothing will shake coach Nate Oats from believing they’re at the core of building a winner in modern basketball.

Teams might struggle to match the Crimson Tide’s sheer volume heading into March Madness, but they’re leaning into those long-distance shots, too.

“Finding efficient shots is at the top of what we do,” Oats said recently. “It’s at the top of what everybody in the NBA is looking at is generating efficient shots. And if you’re not thinking about how to get open catch-and-shoot 3s, I don’t think you’re thinking about creating efficient shots.”

This marks the 40th season with the 3-pointer fully integrated into college basketball, an advancement that has transformed the sport since its 1986-87 introduction. Years of pounding the ball inside to bigs have given way to skilled players stretching defenses to create space for shooters to take those matchup-tilting shots.

In the NCAA Tournament, the 3 is an equalizer capable of igniting seismic upsets like Middle Tennessee’s takedown of Michigan State in 2016 or the first-ever 16-vs-1 win with UMBC beating Virginia in 2018. Going cold can just as easily mean an abrupt end to the season. So the question remains: How much should a team rely on the 3 in March?

Division I teams fittingly have taken nearly 40% of their shots from behind the arc in this 40th season of the 3, yet a fraction of Final Four teams and NCAA champions in the 3-point era have utilized it to this year’s levels with their seasons on the line.

Higher volume

At its core, the 3-pointer is a volatile bet.

The reward can be far-reaching offensive efficiency beyond simply the 50% added value compared to a traditional field goal. But it boasts a tougher conversion rate as officials have moved the arc back multiple times — from 19 feet, 9 inches to 20 feet, 9 inches in 2008-09, then to 22 feet, 1 3/4 inches to match the international distance for 2019-20.

As a result, the 3-point shooting percentage has barely moved. Division I teams have bounced from around 33-35% shooting on 3s going back to the 2002-03 season, with this year at 34.1% entering the week.

Yet 3s have gone from accounting for 32.1% of all shot attempts in 2002-03 to a 24-season high of 39.5% this year, according to SportRadar. And 3s account for 29.8% of all made shots in Division I, up from around 25% in 2002-03.

Those are thresholds rarely reached by teams that have pushed all the way to the sport’s final weekend:

— Only 28 of 152 (18.4%) teams to reach the Final Four in the 3-point era have had 3s account for this year’s percentage of their made shots;

— Only 21 of those Final Four teams (13.8%) had 3s account for this year’s percentage of shot attempts;

— And seven of 38 champions (18.4%) have had 3s account for more than 39% of their shot attempts, including the past three winners in UConn (2023-24) and Florida (2025).

Villanova’s two championships under Jay Wright remain outliers. Notably, his 2018 winner that blew through six tournament games to win it all behind eventual NBA players Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges and Donte DiVincenzo held the all-time highest marks among the champs; 3s accounted for 38% of the Wildcats’ made shots and 47.5% of their attempts.