8-Seeds

The poor 8-seeds.  First they play against a team (the 9-seed in their region) that should be a fairly even match.  Then if they win, they have to face the 1-seed in the very next round.  Only the 13-16 seeds have reached the Sweet 16 less often than the 8- and 9-seeds.  Overall, the 8-vs-9 games are split almost evenly, 74-78. In an evenly matched series, though, you’d expect streaks and trends to go back and forth a little.

Overall Performance

• 74 (of 152) advanced to the Second Round
• 16 went on to the Sweet 16
• 9 reached the Elite 8
• 5 reached the Final 4
• 4 made the championship game
• 1 was crowned champion

Performance Over the Last 10 Tournaments

• 20 (of 40) advanced to the Second Round
• 6 went on to the Sweet 16
• 2 advanced all the way to the Championship Game where they both lost

Record in the Second Round

• vs 1-seeds:  16-58

Feats of Strength

• The only four 8-seeds to make a run all the way to the Championship Game:
  • 2022:  North Carolina
  • 2014:  Kentucky
  • 2011:  Butler
  • 1985:  Villanova went on to win the Championship in the first year the NCAA Tournament field expanded to 64 teams.
• An 8-seed advanced to the Sweet 16 every other year from 1996-2004.
• All four 8-seeds advanced to the Second Round twice – in 2002, one year after none of them advanced.  And again in 2015.
• The 2000 Final Four had two 8-seeds
  • North Carolina lost to 5-seed Florida 59-71
  • Wisconsin lost to 1-seed (and eventual champion) 1-seed Michigan State