Lowest seeds to win March Madness, make Final Four, Elite Eight and Sweet 16 (2024)

FAQs

What is the lowest seed to make the Final Four NCAA tournament? ›

NC State is now tied for the lowest ever seed to make the Final Four. That title is shared by five other schools that made a Cinderella run to the Final Four as an 11-seed. It was first done by LSU in 1986 followed by George Mason in 2006, VCU in 2011, Loyola Chicago in 2018 and UCLA in 2021.

15 is the lowest seed to make the men's Elite Eight (Saint Peter's 2022) 15 is the lowest seed to make the men's Sweet 16 (Princeton 2023; Saint Peter's 2022; Oral Roberts 2021; Florida Golf Coast 2013)

The lowest seed to win the NCAA Championship is Villanova. In the 1985 NCAA Tournament, Villanova was a No. 8 seed and defeated the one-seeded Georgetown Hoyas 66-64.

Top seeds own a 154-2 all-time record against 16 seeds. FDU vs. Purdue in 2023 was only the second time the upset has happened. That means 16 seeds have a 1.28 winning percentage against 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament.

11 seeds have advanced to the Elite Eight: LSU (1986), Loyola Marymount (1990), Temple (2001), George Mason (2006), Virginia Commonwealth (2011), Dayton (2014), Xavier (2017), Loyola Chicago (2018), UCLA (2021), and North Carolina State (2024).

Notably, the 2023 NCAA Tournament marked the first instance where no number 1 seed teams advanced to the Elite 8. This unprecedented occurrence has sparked discussions about the tournament's unpredictability and the shifting landscape of college basketball.

7 seed or lower have made it to the Final Four. Of those teams, five ended up making it to the national championship. The aforementioned Wildcats and 2014 UConn (a No. 7 seed) are the only teams to win a title.

Princeton became the 11th No. 15 seed to defeat a No. 2 seed when it shocked Arizona, 59-55, in the first round of the 2023 NCAA tournament. It marked the third year in a row a 15 downed a 2, as Saint Peter's took down Kentucky in 2022 and Oral Roberts upset Ohio State in 2021.

Twenty years before UMBC made men's history by upsetting Virginia in the first 16-over-1 upset, the Harvard women shocked Stanford. The Crimson remain the only 16 seed to win a first round game in the women's tournament.

Point spread upsets

Despite numerous instances of early-round tournament upsets, only two No. 1 seeds have lost in the first round to a No. 16 seed.

Has a number 11 seed ever won the NCAA tournament? ›

11 – Impressively, five No. 11 seeds have made it all the way to the Final Four, though none won there: UCLA (2021), Loyola-Chicago (2018), VCU (2011), George Mason (2006) and LSU (1986).

8 seeds have eliminated No. 1 seeds since the playoffs expanded to their current 16-team size in 1984? The answer is five, and that includes the following teams.

15 seed has beaten a No. 2 seed in each of the last three years: Oral Roberts over Ohio State in 2021, Saint Peter's over Kentucky in 2022 and Princeton over Arizona in 2023.

Thirty-two 13 seeds have upset 4 seeds since the NCAA tournament field expanded in 1985, giving them a 32-120 record all-time. That equates to a 21.05 winning percentage. Here are all of the times a 13 seed has upset a 4.

Since the NCAA Tournament began seeding teams in 1979, four Final Fours haven't included a No. 1 seed: 1980, 2006, 2011, and 2023. The 2023 tournament was the first in which all four No. 1 seeds failed to reach the Elite Eight.

6 seeds are 1-1 in the national championship game since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, with the Kansas Jayhawks winning in 1988.

In 2006, the Pittsburgh Steelers became the first sixth-seeded team — the lowest possible seed in the NFL playoffs — to not only make it to, but win the Super Bowl. The Green Bay Packers accomplished the same feat in 2011, three years after the New York Giants won the Lombardi Trophy as a number five seed.