Low seeded teams NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament

1 low seeded teams

1.1 successful low seeds
1.2 best performances no. 16 seeds
1.3 additional low-seed stats
1.4 notable point spread upsets

low seeded teams

most successful low seeds

best outcomes low seeds since expansion 64 teams in 1985:

best performances no. 16 seeds

no team no. 16 seed has ever defeated no. 1 seed since field expanded 64 or more teams, though on 5 occasions, no. 16 seed has come within 4 or fewer points of winning:

while murray state lost michigan state 4 points (75–71) in 1990, no. 16 team ever take game overtime.
east tennessee state lost oklahoma in 1989 (1 point, 72–71)
princeton lost georgetown in 1989 (1 point, 50–49)
western carolina lost purdue in 1996 (2 points, 73–71)
fairleigh dickinson lost michigan in 1985 (4 points, 59–55)

additional low-seed stats

villanova in 1985, no. 8 seed, lowest seeded team win tournament.
the lowest-seeded combination ever in national championship game 2014 pairing of no. 7 seed connecticut , no. 8 seed kentucky. connecticut won, become second-lowest-seeded team win tournament.
the pairing of no. 8 seed butler , no. 11 seed vcu in 2011 national semifinals game had lowest seeded combination (no. 8 v. no. 11) ever play in national semifinals game.
penn s 1979 final 4 appearance notable made no. 9 seed—out of 10 teams in region—making them lowest seed make final 4 in pre-64-team era.
butler team make consecutive final fours (let alone championship games) while not being no. 1 or no. 2 seed either time (no. 5 in 2010, no. 8 in 2011).
1991, 2013, , 2016 years @ least 1 team of every seed (other winless no. 16s) advanced round of 32.
richmond team win first-round games ranked no. 15, no. 14, no. 13, , no. 12 seed.
2012 tournament feature 2 upsets no. 15 seeds on no. 2 seeds in round of 64 (there have been 8 all-time).
1986, 1995, , 2015 tournaments feature 2 upsets no. 14 seeds on no. 3 seeds in round of 64.
2014 produced highest total seed differential in ncaa tournament, 111 across rounds of play. is, aggregate seed difference among 22 games won lower-seeded teams (e.g., no. 14 mercer on no. 3 duke, no. 8 kentucky on no. 1 wichita state) 111.
2013 tournament have 3 teams seeded no. 12 or lower in sweet sixteen: no. 12 oregon, no. 13 la salle, , no. 15 florida gulf coast.
2017, south carolina entering 7th seed in region, beat duke no. 2 seed, baylor, no. 3 seed , florida, no. 4 seed reach final four.
georgetown team ever lose in 5 consecutive tournament appearances against team seeded @ least 5 spots lower:

2008 (round of 32): no. 10 davidson 74, no. 2 georgetown 70.
2010 (round of 64): no. 14 ohio 97, no. 3 georgetown 83.
2011 (round of 64): no. 11 vcu 74, no. 6 georgetown 56.
2012 (round of 32): no. 11 nc state 66, no. 3 georgetown 63.
2013 (round of 64): no. 15 florida gulf coast 78, no. 2 georgetown 68.



notable point spread upsets

as noted above, despite numerous instances of early-round tournament upsets, no no. 1 seed has ever lost in first round no. 16 seed. however, while seeding 1 way of measuring impact of upset, prior implementation of seeding, point spread better determinant of upset, , loss highly favored team remains many definition of upset .

biggest point-spread upsets since expansion 64 teams in 1985:


norfolk state +21.5 on missouri 86–84 in 2012
santa clara +19.5 on arizona 64–61 in 1993
coppin state +18.5 on south carolina 78–65 in 1997
hampton +17.5 on iowa state 58–57 in 2001
middle tennessee +16.5 on michigan state 90–81 in 2016


biggest point-spread upsets in ncaa championship game history:


connecticut +9.5 on duke, 77–74, in 1999
villanova +9 on georgetown, 66–64, in 1985
kansas +8 on oklahoma, 83–79, in 1988
north carolina state +7.5 on houston, 54–52 in 1983
texas western +6.5 on kentucky, 72–65 in 1966




^ ncaa final 4 tournament seeds . retrieved 30 march 2011. 
^ gold sheet college basketball log .