First Two Rounds By Seed

I hope your brackets are going well. Here are the records of the first two rounds by seed since the NCAA tournament expanded to 64 teams 21 years ago.
First Round…..Second Round
#1 84-0………….72-12
#2 80-4………….53-27
#3 70-14………..39-31
#4 67-17………..37-30
#5 57-27………..30-27
#6 59-25………..33-26
#7 51-33………..14-37
#8 38-46………..9-29
#9 46-38………..3-43
#10 33-51………17-16
#11 25-59………10-15
#12 27-57………14-13
#13 17-67………3-14
#14 14-70………2-12
#15 4-80………..0-4
#16 0-84………..0-0
In the first round, the #9’s have a winning record over the #8’s, and the #6’s have done better than the #5’s.
It ain’t easy for the Cinderellas. Only two of the #14’s and three of the #13’s made it to the Sweet 16. All five got knocked out in the third round.
Fourteen #12’s have gone on to the Sweet 16. What’s remarkable is that the #12’s actually have a winning record in the second round. They’re 10-12 against the #4’s and 4-1 against the #13’s. The third round isn’t so nice as they usually have to face the #1. They’re 1-13 in the third round. The only #12 to make it to the Final 8 was Missouri four years ago, but they had to beat a #8, not a #1. (The table doesn’t include yesterday games as the #12’s went to 2-1.)
The #11’s have had worse luck than the #12’s in making it to the Sweet 16, but three have gone on to the Final Eight and one made it all the way to the Final Four (LSU in 1986).
Only six #10’s have made it to the Final 8, and none has made it to the Final 4.
Number 9 is a deceptively good seed. Even though they have a winning record against the #8’s, they always have to face a #1 next. Of the three times that #9 has made it to the Sweet 16, only one made it to the Final 8 and that team lost (BC in 1994).
Never have all four #1’s made it to the Final 4, but they’ve never been shut out either.
Here’s the total number of wins by seed:
#1: 281
#2: 202
#3: 148
#4: 128
#5: 98
#6: 110
#7: 71
#8: 57
#9: 50
#10: 56
#11: 39
#12: 42
#13: 17
#14: 16
#15: 4
#16: 0
So if you’re brackets give you the number of points per seed, this is the total value of each seed (in descending order):
#6: 660
#10: 560
#4: 512
#12: 504
#7: 497
#5: 490
#8: 456
#9: 450
#3: 444
#11: 429
#2: 404
#1: 281
#14: 224
#13: 221
#15: 60
#16: 0
So if your brackets give you points by seed, then you want to choose 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 in the first round. Then 4, 6, 8 and 10 in the second round. Four and 6 in the third round, and 6 in the fourth round.
After that, you’re on your own.
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Posted by on March 17th, 2006 at 9:27 am


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