Famous non-sports alumni from the 2019 Final Four schools

All four schools in this year's Final Four will get to taste the height of college basketball success. Texas Tech and Auburn are making their first Final Four appearances, while Michigan State is back for the eighth time in the last 21 years. Virginia is making its first trip since 1984.

While there are hoops legends from each of these schools, along with other sports stars, there are some big-name alumni from other walks of life who went to each of these universities. There are actors, politicians, writers and doctors among the distinguished alum — some you may know and some who may surprise you.

Let's look at the famous non-sports alumni from the 2019 Final Four schools. 

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G.W. Bailey, Texas Tech

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Bailey attended Texas Tech in the mid-1960s before leaving to take up acting. His most famous role was as Captain Harris in the "Police Academy" movies. He also starred in "The Closer," "M*A*S*H" and "Mannequin."

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Jimmy Buffett, Auburn

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Jimmy Buffett is best known for his songs "Margaritaville" and "Cheeseburger in Paradise" as well as his restaurant and stores named after those songs. His legion of Parrotheads flock to to his concerts to this day. Buffett began his college education at Auburn University in 1964.

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Tim Cook, Auburn

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Tim Cook is the CEO at Apple since 2011 and has been with the company for over 20 years. He is also on the board of directors at Nike and the NFL. He graduated from Auburn in 1982 with a B.S. in industrial engineering. 

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Barry Corbin, Texas Tech

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Corbin is a popular character actor who earned two Emmy nominations for his role in "Northern Exposure." He's appeared in many movies and television shows such as "WarGames," "Urban Cowboy," "Lonesome Dove," "Anger Management" and "No Country For Old Men."

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Katie Couric, Virginia

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Katie Couric worked on NBC's "The Today Show," "CBS Evening News" and "60 Minutes" and ABC's talk show "Katie!."  At the University of Virginia, she worked at the school's newspaper, "The Cavalier Daily," and was a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority. She graduated in 1979 with a bachelor's degree in American Studies. 

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John Denver, Texas Tech

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John Denver's music may be better associated with West Virginia athletics, but he actually attended Texas Tech. While studying to be an architect, Denver performed in folk bands and was in the Delta Tau Delta fraternity. He would drop out to move to Los Angeles to make it in music. 

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Colby Donaldson, Texas Tech

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Donaldson gained fame as the runner-up on "Survivor: The Australian Outback." He returned to two more seasons: "Survivor, All-Stars" and "Heroes vs. Villains." He continues to be one of the most popular players to ever be on "Survivor" and has parlayed that into television roles, most notably as host of "Top Shot." 

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Tina Fey, Virginia

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TIna Fey graduated from the University of Virginia in 1992 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in drama. Fey grew to fame as a head writer and Weekend Update anchor on "Saturday Night Live." She would also produce, write and/or star in "30 Rock," "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," "Mean Girls" and "Baby Mama." 

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Dan Gheesling, Michigan State

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Dan Gheesling is a winner of the reality show, "Big Brother 10" and was runner-up of the show four years later. He is a legend of the show due to his ability to befriend houseguests as well as shrewdly play on their emotions. He graduated from Michigan State and is currently a teacher.

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Chris Hansen, Michigan State

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Chris Hansen graduated from Michigan State with a degree in telecommunications. He has done a lot of work for NBC News but is best known for his "To Catch A Predator" series where he hosted sting operations luring sexual predators into police custody. He has won eight Emmy awards.  

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John Hinckley Jr., Texas Tech

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Hinckley attended Texas Tech sporadically during the 1970s but would drop out to become a songwriter. He is best known for his assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan on March 30, 1981 as a way to impress actor Jodie Foster, whom he had an obsession with. 

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Brit Hume, Virginia

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Hume is a political commentator who was on ABC news as the White House's chief White House correspondent during the George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton presidencies. He would move onto the Fox News "Special Report with Brit Hume" as the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal was beginning. He won an Emmy for his reporting during the Gulf War. Hume graduated from Virginia with a Bachelor of Arts in English. 

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Rick Husband, Texas Tech

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Rick Husband was a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot and an astronaut. He earned a bachelor of science at Texas Tech in 1980 and would be selected to train as an astronaut in 1994. He was a member of the Space Shuttle Columbia that disintegrated upon re-entry of Earth's atmosphere on Feb. 1, 2003.   

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Laura Ingraham, Virginia

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Ingraham graduated from Virginia School of Law with a Juris Doctor in 1985. She was a speech writer during the Reagan administration, clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and has hosted a variety of radio and cable news shows. She currently hosts "The Ingraham Angle" on Fox News. 

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Robert F. Kennedy, Virginia

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Kennedy was the U.S. Attorney General, a senator and a major force in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. At Virginia's Law School, Kennedy was president of its Student Legal Forum and graduated in 1951. He was the front-runner for the Democratic nomination for the 1968 presidential election, but during his campaign, he was assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan.

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Bill Lee, Auburn

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Bill Lee is the current and 50th governor of Tennessee. A dark horse, he won the 2018 governor's election by 21 percent of the vote. Lee earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Auburn in 1981 and has been president and CEO of Lee Company, a family-owned construction business. 

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Jackie Martling, Michigan State

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Martling is a comedian, radio personality, writer and actor who is best known for his appearances on "The Howard Stern Show" from 1983 to 2001. In 1971 he earned a mechanical engineering degree from Michigan State. 

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Ben McKenzie, Virginia

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Ben McKenzie currently stars as James Gordon in "Gotham." McKenzie, whose given name is Ben McKenzie Schenkkan, attended Virginia from 1997 to 2001 where his father and grandfather also attended. McKenzie has also starred in "The O.C.," "Southland" and "Junebug."

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Scott Pelley, Texas Tech

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Pelley is a longtime journalist for CBS and was the anchor of "CBS Evening News" from 2011 to 2017. He attended Texas Tech University and majored in journalism. He has covered the Gulf War, presidential campaigns, Bill Clinton's impeachment and is a correspondent for "60 Minutes."

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Sam Raimi, Michigan State

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Raimi left Michigan State to direct his first feature film, "The Evil Dead." He would go on to direct the two sequels, "For The Love Of The Game," and "Darkman" as well as the three Tobey Maguire "Spider-Man" movies.

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Tom Sizemore, Michigan State

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Born and raised in Detroit, Tom Sizemore has starred in many films, such as "Saving Private Ryan," "Pearl Harbor," "Natural Born Killers" and "True Romance." His battles with substance abuse were chronicled on "Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew."

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Bubba Smith, Michigan State

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OK, he is technically a sports legend at Michigan State, but Smith is known by many for his role in the "Police Academy" movies. In the role of Moses Hightower, he played on his large frame and strength for comedic effect. He also starred in Miller Lite commercials and did cameo appearances on television shows. 

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Octavia Spencer, Auburn

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Spencer won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in "The Help." She also received nominations for "Hidden Figures" and "The Shape Of Water." She has also starred in "Bad Santa," "Dinner For Schmucks" and "Fruitvale Station." She graduated from Auburn in 1994 after majoring in English and minoring in theater. 

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Toni Tennille, Auburn

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Toni Tennille was part of the 1970s musical group Captain & Tennille, popular for the songs "Love Will Keep Us Together," "Muskrat Love" and "Do That To Me One More Time." She studied piano while at Auburn and sang with the school's band.

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Robert Urich, Michigan State

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Urich was a television actor who starred in series like "S.W.A.T.," "Vega$," "Spencer For Hire" and "The Lazarus Man" and the movies "Magnum Force," "Turk 182" and "The Ice Pirates." He earned a master's degree in broadcast research and management.

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Jimmy Wales, Auburn

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Jimmy Wales earned his bachelor's degree in finance from Auburn in 1986. (He was 16 years old when he began his education there.) He is best known for co-founding Wikipedia and, according to his entry, he "disputed the "co-" designation, declaring himself the sole founder."

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Katherine Webb, Auburn

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Webb is best known for Brent Musburger fawning over her as cameras stayed on her during the 2013 BCS championship game between Alabama, where her then-boyfriend AJ McCarron was the quarterback, and Notre Dame. Though her now-husband McCarron went to Alabama, Webb graduated from Auburn in 2011 with a Bachelors of Science degree in business management and administration. She was Miss Alabama in 2012 and is now a professional model.

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Stan Winston, Virginia

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Stan Winston, who graduated from Virginia in 1968, was one of the most famous makeup and special effects creator in Hollywood. He worked on films like "Predator," "The Terminator," "Edward Scissorhands," "Batman Returns," "Iron Man" and "Jurassic Park." He has won four Academy Awards. 

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