NCAA History - Find Stats, Scores, and Players from March Madness of Years Past

Since the expansion to 64 teams in 1985, there has never been a case where all four #1 seeds made it to the Final Four.

* The closest outcome happened in 1993, when three #1 seeds (Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina) and a #2 seed (Kansas) made it to the Final Four.
* In 2007, two #1 seeds (Florida, Ohio State) and two #2 seeds (Georgetown, UCLA) made it to the Final Four.
* On two other occasions, three #1 seeds made it to the Final Four accompanied by a #4 seed:
o 1997 (#1 seeds: Kentucky, Minnesota, North Carolina; #4 seed: Arizona)
o 1999 (#1 seeds: Connecticut, Duke, Michigan State; #4 seed: Ohio State)

The only team to beat three #1 seeds in a single tournament was #4 seed Arizona in 1997 (it's impossible to beat all four #1 seeds in a single tournament).

Low seeds

A #1 seed has never lost in the first round to a #16 seed.

Lowest seeds to reach each round since expansion to 64 teams in 1985:

* Second Round: #15 seed (4 times; see First-round games)
* Sweet Sixteen: #14 seed:
o Cleveland State in 1986
o Chattanooga in 1997
* Elite Eight: #12 seed:
o Missouri in 2002
* Final Four: #11 seed:
o LSU in 1986
o George Mason in 2006
* Championship Game: #8 seed:
o UCLA in 1980
o Villanova in 1985 - won championship

While lower seeds have made the Final Four in the 64-team era (as shown above), the University of Pennsylvania's 1979 appearance is notable as they made it as a #9 seed—out of 10 teams in their region. In fact, they defeated the #10 seed, St. John's University in the regional final, following three upsets by each team.

First-round games

No #16 seed has ever defeated a #1 seed since the field was expanded to 64 teams, though some have come close. Eleven #16 seeds have come within 10 points of a #1 seed, with five of them coming within 5 points. Two have come within one point. Only one #16/#1 game has gone to overtime (Murray State vs. Michigan State in 1990). The five #16 seeds that have come within 5 points of a #1 seed are:

* Fairleigh Dickinson lost to Michigan in 1985 (4 points, 59-55)
* Princeton lost to Georgetown in 1989 (1 point, 50-49)
* East Tennessee State lost to Oklahoma in 1989 (1 point, 72-71)
* Murray State lost to Michigan State in 1990 (4 points, 75-71 in OT)
* Western Carolina lost to Purdue in 1996 (2 points, 73-71)

Only four #15 seeds have ever defeated #2 seeds:

* Richmond over Syracuse 73-69 in 1991
* Santa Clara over Arizona 64-61 in 1993
* Coppin State over South Carolina 78-65 in 1997
* Hampton over Iowa State 58-57 in 2001

Since the inception of the 64-team tournament in 1985 each seed # has played a total of 92 first-round games.

1. The #1 seed has beaten the #16 seed all 92 times (100%).
2. The #2 seed has beaten the #15 seed 88 times (96%).
3. The #3 seed has beaten the #14 seed 77 times (84%).
4. The #4 seed has beaten the #13 seed 74 times (80%).
5. The #5 seed has beaten the #12 seed 63 times (68%).
6. The #6 seed has beaten the #11 seed 63 times (68%).
7. The #7 seed has beaten the #10 seed 57 times (62%).
8. The #8 seed has beaten the #9 seed 42 times (46%).

Teams entering the tournament undefeated

* The UCLA Bruins have entered the tournament undefeated and gone on to win the title 4 times: 1964, 1967, 1972 and 1973. They were led during all these years by legendary coach John Wooden and featured future NBA stars like Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), Gail Goodrich, and Bill Walton.

* The 1976 Indiana Hoosiers are the most recent team to go undefeated in both the regular season and the tournament, winning the 1976 title. The 1976 Final Four was also the last to feature two unbeaten teams: eventual champion Indiana and Rutgers. Rutgers went 31-0 before losing in both the semifinals (to Michigan) and the third-place game (to UCLA).

* In the 1979 tournament, Indiana State entered the national championship game undefeated (33-0) but lost to Michigan State. The game was the first meeting of Larry Bird for Indiana State and Magic Johnson for Michigan State.

* In 1991, UNLV entered the tournament at 34-0 but lost in the national semifinal to Duke.

[edit] Teams entering the tournament with 1 loss

* Texas Western College in 1966 entered the tournament with a 23-1 record en route to winning the championship and finishing 28-1.

* North Carolina State entered the 1974 tournament 26-1, losing only to UCLA. North Carolina State defeated UCLA in the national semifinals, en route to a NCAA Championship over Marquette, finishing 30-1, and compiling a record of 57-1 from 1972-1974.

* Lasalle entered the 1990 tournament sporting a 29-1 record. Lasalle defeated Southern Mississippi in the first round before blowing a 19 point lead and falling to Clemson by a score of 79-75 in the second round.

* Duke (in 1999) and Illinois (in 2005) entered their national championship games with 37-1 records, only to lose in the final game.

* Massachusetts (35-1) in 1996 (later vacated) lost in the national semifinal.

* Kansas entered the 1997 NCAA Tournament with a record of 32-1, but was beaten in the Sweet Sixteen by the eventual champion, Arizona.

* In 2004, Saint Joseph's finished the regular season undefeated but lost in their conference tournament. They entered the tournament with a 27-1 record, but lost in the East Regional Final to Oklahoma State.

Courts and travel

* All team, official, and committee travel for the tournament (and for the NCAA as a whole year-round) is handled by a single travel agency: Short's Travel Management in Waterloo, Iowa.[13]
* The winning team is traditionally given the floor from the championship venue to keep. What the school does with it varies: some schools sell pieces of it to fans, others simply put it in storage, and still others use it in their venues, such as Florida did in 2006, re-painting the RCA Dome hardwood and placing it in the O'Connell Center. The only exception to this was in 1978: for that year's Final Four, the NCAA had to truck in Indiana's court from Assembly Hall to the Checkerdome in St. Louis, as the basketball floor at that hockey arena had been warped as a result of water damage.[citation needed]
* The NCAA has banned the Bi-Lo Center and Colonial Center in South Carolina from hosting tournament games, despite their sizes (16,000 and 18,000 seats, respectively) because of an NAACP protest at the Bi-Lo Center during the 2002 first and second round tournament games over that state's refusal to take down the Confederate Battle Flag from their state capitol. Following requests by the NAACP and Black Coaches Association, the Bi-Lo Center, and the newly built Colonial Center, which was built for purposes of hosting the tournament, were banned from hosting any future tournament events.[citation needed]

[edit] Region names

* Prior to 2004, each region of the tournament bracket was identified geographically, e.g. West, Midwest, South, East. With the 2004 tournament, the regionals were identified by the city in which the regional finals were held, e.g. Phoenix, St. Louis, Atlanta, East Rutherford in 2004; Albuquerque, Chicago, Austin, Syracuse in 2005, etc. The official reason for this was that the regional identifications had begun to confuse fans now that first and second round sites were no longer tied to a particular region; for example, even though in 2002 the Indiana Hoosiers played in the South regional finals held in Lexington, KY, it began the tournament playing in Sacramento, until then a city considered part of the West region. Another possible reason for the shift in identification is that not infrequently the regional final sites did not fit easily into geographical boundaries. For example, in the 1979 tournament, the Mideast regional site was Indianapolis, while the Midwest site was Cincinnati, which is 90 miles to the southeast of Indianapolis. In 1987, the Midwest regionals site was again Cincinnati, and the Southeast site was in Louisville, 90 miles to the southwest. In 1994, the Southeast regional finals site, Knoxville, TN, was actually the northernmost of the four sites (West: Los Angeles; Midwest: Dallas; East: Miami). The geographic confusion was not limited to regional finals sites; in 1990, Atlanta hosted first- and second-round games in the East regional, while Richmond, VA, 530 miles to the northeast of Atlanta, hosted first- and second-round games in the Southeast regional. However, regional sites reverted to being identified geographically in 2007.[14]

Championship margins

* Greatest margin of victory in a championship game: 30 points (UNLV 103–Duke 73, 1990).
* Smallest margin of victory in a championship game: 1 point
o Indiana 69–Kansas 68, 1953
o North Carolina 54–Kansas 53 [3OT], 1957
o California 71–West Virginia 70, 1959
o North Carolina 63–Georgetown 62, 1982
o Indiana 74–Syracuse 73, 1987
o Michigan 80–Seton Hall 79 [OT], 1989

Tourney History - NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship

History's Top-ranked teams

First-round games

Teams entering the tournament undefeated

Courts and travel

Championship margins