The 4-seeds might be the trickiest to pick. It’s likely that one will lose in the first round, but 3 of the last 9 Final 4’s included a 4-seed. The only thing you can be fairly certain of is that we won’t see one in the championship game, since it’s only happened three times.
Overall Performance
- 111 (of 140) 4-seeds advanced to the Second Round
- 66 went on to the Sweet 16
- 21 reached the Elite 8
- 13 reached the Final 4
- 3 made the championship game
- 1 won the tournament
Performance Over the Last 10 Years
- 32 (of 40) advanced to the Second Round
- 23 went on to the Sweet 16
- 7 reached the Elite 8
- 4 reached the Final 4
- 1 made it to the championship game and lost
Bracket Performance History and Advice
- First Round: More than likely, one of the 4-seeds will lose in the First Round. It’s not a foregone conclusion, however – all four 4-seeds have advanced to the Second Round ten times (in 35 tournaments).
- Second Round: There’s a 65% chance only 1 or 2 4-seeds will win in this round.
- Sweet 16: There’s about a 50-50 chance of no 4-seed making it past the Sweet 16.
- Elite 8: Of the 21 4-seeds to make it this far, 13 advanced.
- Final 4: About 32% chance of having a 4-seed in the Final Four.
- Final: Only three 4-seeds have reached the final game, and one of them won.
Record in the Second Round
- vs 5-seeds: 41-33
- vs 12-seeds: 26-12
Feats of Strength
- 2014’s tournament was the first to see all four 4-seeds reach the Sweet 16. They were UCLA, San Diego St, Michigan St, and Louisville.
- Twice, the Final 4 had two 4-seeds in it
- 1990 – Arkansas and Georgia Tech (both teams lost)
- 2013 – Syracuse and Michigan faced off against each other
- Arizona became the only team to win the tournament as a 4-seed in 1997.
