21 Bracket Busting Trends

[Gerk]

For those who do not have ESPN Insider

Some interesting info


21 BRACKET-BUSTIN' TRENDS




(1) In 11 of the past 12 years, at least one team seeded seventh or worse has reached the Elite Eight. And in the 24 years of the 64/65-team field, at least one team seeded sixth or worse has reached the Elite Eight in 20 of those years.


(2) In the past three years, exactly half of the 12 second-round games between the 8/9 winner and the No. 1 seed have been decided by seven points or fewer (or in OT). In the past 20 tournaments (80 games), the 8/9 winner has either beaten the No. 1 seed or lost by seven points or fewer (or in OT) 36 times. So, expect some close games in the second round.
(3) 10 of the last 11 national champions won their 1st and 2nd round game by double figures (Florida in 2007 won their 2nd round game by 7)
(4) No eventual champion has ever faced the highest possible seed in each round (including the national championship game).
(5) Since seeding began in 1979, only twice has there been a Final Four without a No. 1 seed (1980, 2006).
(6) Last year marked the first time that all four No. 1 seeds reached the Final Four. Prior to 2008, the highest number of No. 1 seeds to get that far in a tournament was three, which occurred three times (1993, 1997, 1999).
(7) Only four times since 1985 have the top four seeds in each region survived the first round (1994, 2000, 2004, 2007).
(8) Only four times since seeding began in 1979 have all four No. 2 seeds reached the Sweet 16 (1982, 1989, 1995, 1996).
(9) A No. 5 seed has never won the national championship.
(10) A No. 7 seed has never reached the championship game, and the only one to reach the Final Four was Virginia in 1984.
(11) The lowest seed to win the national title was No. 8 Villanova in 1985.
(12) The lowest seed to reach the Final Four is a No. 11 (LSU in 1986 and George Mason in 2006). In fact, they are the only seeds lower than eighth to do so.
(13) A No. 12 seed has won at least one game in 18 of the past 20 years (no wins in 2000, 2007), and at least two games in 8 of the past 10 years.
(14) A No. 13 seed has won at least one game in 8 of the last 11 years (no wins in 2000, 2004, 2007).
(15) Although Belmont came close to knocking off Duke last year, No. 15 seeds have gone winless in the past seven years (0-28). That's the longest drought for No. 15s since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985. The only 15-seed to win in the past 11 tournaments is Hampton in 2001, when they took out Iowa State in Boise.
(16) No. 1 seeds have met in the championship game three of the past four years, which may not sound all the interesting. But when you consider that it happened just three times in the first 26 years of seeding (1982, 1993, 1999), you realize just how rare it's been until recently.
(17) Don't count on a No. 16 upset over a No. 1. It has never happened before (0-96), and games haven't been close at all the past couple years, either. All eight games have been decided by at least 21 points, with an average margin of victory of 31.6 for the top seeds.
(18) For the most part, chalk usually wins out. Since seeding began in 1979, 22 of the 30 national champions have been No. 1 or No. 2 seeds. The last national champ to be seeded worse than third was Arizona in 1997.
(19) Since 1985, in only three years have No. 12 seeds failed to win a game (1988, 2000, 2007). While 12-seeds have actually reached the regional semifinals more than 8th and 9th seeds combined by a comfortable margin (16 to 12) since 1985, they usually flame out. Of those 16 No. 12 seeds, only Missouri in 2002 has gone any further.

(20) Most Consecutive First-Round Wins (Active Streaks):

• Purdue -- 10
• Maryland -- 8
• Auburn -- 7
• North Carolina -- 7
• Tulsa -- 5

(21) Most NCAA Tournament Appearances Without Reaching the Final Four, All-Time:

• BYU -- 23
• Missouri -- 21
• Alabama -- 19
• Xavier -- 19
• Utah State -- 17
• Boston College -- 17
• Miami (OH) -- 17
• Creighton -- 16
  *Does not include 2009 Appearances

[smet9772]

Thanks for the info

[Will]

Thanks Gerk

[Dr. Jack]

Good stuff Gerk

[IloveBaseball]

Great info! Thanks for posting!

[duckster]

Never in the history of the tourney has a team that DID NOT make it to their Semi-Final game in their Conference ever win a Nat Champ. Interesting stat, cause if that holds true, it knocks our Pitt, UConn, Kansas, OU, maybe 1 or 2 others.

Since the BCS inception with the Big 6 conferences, how many teams outside of those 6 Conferences have won a NC? 0 That doesn't help Memphis.

[MidTennWiley]

stats are for losers. they can be manipulated and cherry picked to the core. I'm not saying what he posted from ESPN isn't legit, but those numbers really don't mean anything.