As you’d expect, the 14-seed has had more success than the 15’s. At least one 14-seed has advanced to the Second Round in 4 of the last 7, but only 5 of the last 10 tourneys and not since 2016. There’s an unexpected trend, actually, in the frequency of 14-seed success.
14-seeds had an amazing run with 7 consecutive years of at least one of them advancing in the first round (1986-1992). Since then, 14-seeds have been winning less and less often. There is a large difference in First Round performance between the first 15 years of the tournament and the last 20. Check out the average number of 14-seeds advancing to the Second Round:
- 1985-1999: 0.87
- 2000-2019: 0.40
Overall Performance
- 21 (of 140) advanced to the Second Round
- 2 went on to the Sweet 16
- None reached the Elite 8
Performance Over the Last 10 Years
- 6 (of 40) advanced to the Second Round
- None reached the Sweet 16
Most Recent 14-Seed Uprisings
- 2016: Stephen F. Austin over West Virginia
- 2015: Georgia State over Baylor & UAB over Iowa State
- 2014: Mercer over Duke
- 2013: Harvard over New Mexico
- 2010: Ohio over Georgetown
- 2006: Northwestern State over Iowa
- 2005: Bucknell over Kansas
