The poor 9-seeds.  First they play against a team (the 8-seed in their region) that should be a fairly even match.  Not an easy win and there’s no fanfare if they do win.  Then, if they win, they have to face the 1-seed in the very next round.  Only the 13-16 seeds reach the Sweet 16 less frequently than the 8- and 9-seeds.  In fact, 9-seeds only have two more Sweet 16 appearances than 13-seeds.  Overall, 9-seeds have had a slight upper hand in their series against the 8-seeds.  In the last decade, however, the trend has reversed and the 8-seeds have been a little bit more successful.  In an evenly matched series, though, you’d expect streaks and trends to go back and forth a little.

Overall Performance

• 77 (of 148) advanced to the Second Round
• 8 went on to the Sweet 16
• 5 reached the Elite 8
• 2 reached the Final 4

Performance Over the Last 10 Tournaments

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

Bracket Performance History and Advice

• First Round:  Flip a coin.
• Second Round:  52% of 9’s reach this round.
• Sweet 16:  5% of 9’s reach this round.  Of the 8 teams to reach this round, five of them continued to the next.
• Elite 8:  Only five teams have made it this far.
• Final 4:  It’s happened two times, ever.
• Final:  Never reached the final.

Record in the Second Round

• vs 1-seeds:  7-69
• vs 16-seeds:  1-0

Feats of Strength

• The only two 9-seeds to make a Final 4 run are:
  • 2013:  Wichita State
  • 2000:  Wisconsin
• All four 9-seeds have advanced to the Second Round five times (’89, ’94, ’99, ’01, and ’19)
• Only twice did none of the 9-seeds advance (’02 and ‘15)