You’d think that 10-seeds have performed the best among all the double-digit seeds.  Not so fast, my friend!  Up to the Sweet 16, their historical performance is virtually equal to that of the 11- and 12-seeds.  Like the them, at least one 10-seed usually advances to the Second Round.

Overall Performance

• 52 (of 136) advanced to the Second Round
• 23 went on to the Sweet 16
• 8 reached the Elite 8
• 1 reached the Final 4

Performance Over the Last 10 Years

• 16 (of 40) advanced to the Second Round
• 5 went on to the Sweet 16
• 1 reached the Elite 8
• 1 reached the Final 4

Bracket Performance History and Advice

• First Round:  38% win their First Round game = 85% chance of at least one upset.  In the last two decades, only once has a 10-seed failed to advance.
• Second Round:  Only 17% of 10-seeds advance past the Second Round.
• Sweet 16:  Of the 23 teams to reach this round, eight of them continued to the next.  Five out of the last 10 Sweet 16’s included a 10-seed.
• Elite 8:  Only 6% make it this far.
• Final 4:  It’s happened once, ever.
• Final:  Never reached the final.

Record in the Second Round (by seed matchup)

• vs 2-seeds:  18-29
• vs 15-seeds:  5-0

Interesting that 10-seed’s winning percentage vs 7-seeds (0.382) is about the same as vs 2-seeds (0.383).

Feats of Strength

• In 2016, Syracuse became the first 10-seed to advance to the Final Four.
• In 1999 all four 10-seeds advanced to the second round.  Three of them went on to the Sweet 16.
• Besides Syracuse in 2016, Davidson is the only 10-seed to advance to the Elite 8 in the last 15 years.  Led by Steph Curry, Davidson lost by 2 points to eventual champion Kansas.
• 10-seeds reached the Elite 8 a total of 8 times:  ’87, ’90, ’91, ’97, ’99, ’02, ’08, and ‘16.