The Final Four of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament tips off Saturday, and it is a bracket-busting quartet by any measure. Although the University of Connecticut is in search of its fifth tournament championship, the other three teams – San Diego State, Miami and Florida Atlantic – each surpassed expectations and are making their first Final Four appearance.

But enough about basketball – let’s see how each of these universities match up on the diamond. Here is how they rank based on what their alumni have accomplished in Major League Baseball.

Note: Only players who were drafted or selected into the professional ranks directly out of one of these universities are eligible for this list. For example, Mike Piazza was a member of the Miami Hurricanes team for one year, but he is not eligible here because he was drafted out of Miami Dade Community College.

1. San Diego State Aztecs

Among the four teams, SDSU doesn’t have the deepest crop of notable Major Leaguers, but it gets the top spot because the best hitter and the best pitcher eligible for this list were Aztecs. At the plate, few were better than Tony Gwynn. The program now plays in a stadium that bears his name. On the mound, Stephen Strasburg entered the bigs in 2010 as one of the most hyped prospects in history and has largely lived up to that hype when healthy.

• Tony Gwynn almost chose basketball over baseball

That duo is complemented by other MLB All-Stars, such as longtime Yankees third baseman Graig Nettles, four-time Gold Glove winner Mark Grace, and Mariners first baseman Ty France. San Diego State also boasts two pitchers who logged at least 2,000 Major League innings: Aaron Harang and current Rockies manager Bud Black.

2. Miami Hurricanes

The Hurricanes have achieved the second-most College World Series berths (25), so it’s no surprise that their history is littered with successful big leaguers. That includes 2011 NL MVP Ryan Braun, White Sox catcher Yasmani Grandal, former No. 1 overall Draft pick and two-time World Series champion Pat Burrell, and 15-year slugger Greg Vaughn. He leads all Miami draftees with 355 career homers.

Their starting rotation is a little thin on star power, but the bullpen features a couple of two-time All-Star closers: Danny Graves and Chris Perez. 

Red Sox skipper Alex Cora, drafted out of Miami in 1996, is one of seven individuals to win a World Series as a player and a manager in the divisional era (since 1969). Maybe one day he will manage his alma mater and follow in the footsteps of Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx, who was at the helm of the Hurricanes in 1956-57.

3. Connecticut Huskies

The author of a five-hit performance on Opening Day, George Springer was a first-round Draft pick out of UConn in 2011. With 61 more hits, he will pass Walt Dropo as the Huskies’ all-time hits leader in MLB. Dropo played for 13 seasons prior to the Draft and was the 1950 AL Rookie of the Year after pacing the Majors with 144 RBIs. The only other currently active Connecticut hitter is 10-year veteran and D-backs shortstop Nick Ahmed.

Charles Nagy would be the ace of this rotation, much like he was for some of Cleveland’s best teams during the 1990s. He would be backed up by 2021 All-Star Matt Barnes coming out of the ‘pen.

4. Florida Atlantic Owls

Nine FAU pitchers have combined to throw 716 innings in the Majors; nearly half of those innings have been supplied by Rockies left-lander Austin Gomber. He has made 55 of the Owls’ 57 MLB starts and has a 4.64 ERA in that role.

Offensively, Florida Atlantic alums have a grand total of two Major League home runs – one each by outfielders Jeff Fiorentino and Tommy Murphy. Fiorentino, the No. 79 overall pick in 2004 by the Orioles, is FAU’s highest-drafted player to make the Majors. But current Owl first baseman/outfielder Nolan Schanuel may become the new owner of that title down the road.