How often have the No.1 and No.8 seeds met for the national championship? The 2022 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament concluded on Monday, April 4, with the championship game. The top-ranked Kansas Jayhawks will play the eighth-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels.
The 2022 NCAA Men’s Championship game will be broadcast on TBS at 9:20 p.m. ET from the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The No.1 seed is projected to play in the title game, although the No.8 seed is unlikely to do so. North Carolina is only the fourth eighth-seed to compete in the national championship game.
In fact, the No.8 seed is the lowest seed to have ever made a finals appearance.8-seeds are 1-1 in finals games thus far. In 1985, No.8 Villanova defeated No.1 Georgetown to earn the sole 8-seed triumph. In 2011, No.8 Butler fell to No.3 Connecticut, and in 2014, No.8 Kentucky fell to No.7 Connecticut.
How many 8 seeds have won the NCAA championship?
In 1985, the Villanova Wildcats stunned the collegiate basketball world by defeating Georgetown 69-64 in the national championship game. In addition to winning the first NCAA tournament after the field expanded to 64 teams, Villanova remains the lowest-seeded team to ever win a national title more than three decades later.
- The Wildcats nearly survived No.9 seed Dayton with a 51-49 victory in the first round of that season’s tournament.
- Sometimes, the opening round may be as difficult as any other round of the tournament for No.8 seeds.
- The No.8 seeds have the toughest matchups among teams rated higher than their opponents in the first round, since they are often evenly matched with No.9 seeds.
Since the NCAA tournament expanded to 64 teams, teams seeded eighth have won 71 of 144 first-round contests, or just under 50 percent of the time. Another No.8 seeded Wildcats squad nearly did not get it out of the first round before reaching to the national championship game.
The 2014 Kentucky Wildcats almost escaped the ninth-seeded Kansas State Wildcats, but ultimately progressed to the national championship game against the seventh-seeded Connecticut Huskies. Kentucky and BYU are tied for the most appearances as a No.8 seed, although Kentucky has a better record (3-1) than BYU (0-4).
Approximately sixty percent of 8-versus-9 games have been decided by a single-digit margin. Additionally, it is uncommon for all four No.8 seeds to sweep the No.9 seeds. Since 1985, this has only occurred three times, including the 2015 NCAA Tournament, due to N.C.
State, Cincinnati, Oregon, and San Diego State. A almost flawless season for No.8 seeds in 2017 came to an end when Michigan State defeated Miami (FL) by 20 points. During the same season, No.8 seed Northwestern won their first NCAA tournament game by defeating No.9 seed Vanderbilt by only two points.2018 was a disappointing year for No.8 seeds, as only Seton Hall advanced through the first round.
The eighth-seeded Pirates were eliminated in the round of 32, cutting their tournament experience brief. VCU, Syracuse, Utah State, and Ole Miss all fell in the first round of the 2019 tournament by an average of 16 points. In the first round of the 2021 tournament, No.8 seeds went 3-1, with Loyola Chicago advancing to the Sweet 16 by defeating No.1 seed Illinois 71-58.
Has a No.8 seed ever reached the finals?
Has a No.8 seed in the NBA playoffs ever defeated a No.1 seed? – In Round 1 of the playoffs, four No.8 seeds have defeated No.1 seeds, beginning with the No.8 Nuggets’ triumph over the No.1 SuperSonics during the 1994 season. When they overcame the No.1 Heat in the 1999 playoffs, the No.8 Knicks also provided an unexpected challenge.
In 2007, the No.8 Warriors defeated the No.1 Mavericks, and in 2011, the No.8 Grizzlies defeated the No.1 Spurs, continuing the trend. During the 1997-98 season, the Knicks again enjoyed an entertaining run, although they did not defeat a No.1 seed in Round 1 this time. The Knicks effortlessly reached the NBA Finals.
After defeating No.1 Miami in Round 1 and No.4 Atlanta in Round 2, the Knicks advanced to the conference finals, where they defeated No.2 Indiana and advanced to the championship game against No.3 San Antonio. Despite losing in five games, the Knicks were the first No.8 seed to ever reach the NBA Finals.
