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)