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.
Has a team with the eighth seed ever won a championship?
Lowest-seeded teams reaching and winning the NBA Finals – During the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season, the Knicks reached the NBA Finals as the No.8 seed, making them the first No.8 seed to ever win a conference championship. They lost the 1999 NBA Finals against the Spurs in five games.
| Seed | Team | Opponent | Year | Result |
| No.8 | Knicks | Spurs | 1999 | L, 4-1 |
| No.6 | Rockets | Magic | 1995 | W, 4-0 |
| No.6 | Rockets | Celtics | 1981 | L, 4-2 |
| No.5 | Heat | Lakers | 2020 | L, 4-2 |
| No.4 | Cavaliers | Warriors | 2018 | L, 4-0 |
| No.4 | Celtics | Lakers | 2010 | L, 4-3 |
| No.4 | Mavericks | Heat | 2006 | L, 4-2 |
| No.4 | SuperSonics | Bullets | 1978 | L, 4-3 |
| No.4 | Celtics | Lakers | 1969 | W, 4-3 |
When was the last time an eighth-seeded player reached the finals?
ORLANDO – The Orlando Magic will enter the playoffs as the No.8 seed for the third time in team history this season. Prior occurrences occurred in 2003 and 2007. Both times, the Magic fell in the opening round against the Detroit Pistons. You may be wondering how No.8 seeds have performed historically versus No.1 seeds in the NBA playoffs.
- Since the league extended the playoffs to 16 clubs in 1983-84, the East and West No.1 seeds have won 67 of 72 first round series versus No.8 seeds.
- The first time a No.8 seed defeated a No.1 seed occurred in 1994, when the Denver Nuggets defeated the Seattle Supersonics in a best-of-five series after trailing 2-0.
In the pivotal Game 5, Robert Pack scored 23 points off the bench, Bison Dele had 17 points and 19 rebounds, and Dikembe Mutombo grabbed 15 rebounds. The New York Knicks defeated the top-seeded Miami Heat in five games in 1999. In the series finale, Allan Houston hit the game-winning single with 0.8 seconds remaining.
Later, the Knicks became the first and only No.8 seed to reach the NBA Finals, when they were defeated by the San Antonio Spurs. In 2003, the NBA agreed to lengthen the first round of the playoffs to seven games. In that season, the Magic held a 3-1 series lead over the Pistons, which would have advanced them to the next round in previous seasons.
Instead, beginning with Game 5, Detroit seized control of the series and ultimately triumphed in seven games. The first time a No.8 seed upset a No.1 seed in a best-of-seven series occurred in 2007, when the Golden State Warriors eliminated the Dallas Mavericks, who were the title favorites before the tournament.
In the six-game series, Baron Davis averaged 25.0 points, Stephen Jackson averaged 22.8 points, and Jason Richardson, who would eventually play for the Magic, scored 19.5 points per game. In 2011, the Memphis Grizzlies, who had never made the playoffs in the previous five seasons, defeated the San Antonio Spurs in six games.
Throughout the series, Zach Randolph dominated Tim Duncan, averaging 21.5 points and 9.0 rebounds. These two clubs would eventually face again in the Western Conference Finals two years later. This series was swept by the Spurs against the Grizzlies. Due to the efforts of Jrue Holiday, Andre Iguodala, and Lou Williams, the Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Chicago Bulls in 2012 in six games.
- In Game 1 of the series, league MVP from the previous season Derrick Rose tore the ACL in his left knee.
- On several occasions, No.8s have pushed No.1s to their limits.
- As previously indicated, Detroit needed all seven games to overcome Orlando in 2003 as an example.
- In 2008, Atlanta pushed Boston, who ultimately won the championship, to seven games.
In 2014, the Hawks did the same versus Indiana. In the same season, the eventual champion Spurs avoided elimination in the first round against the Mavs. In Game 3 of that extended series, Dallas’s Vince Carter hit a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer to win the game.
When the first round was a best-of-five, Miami pushed Atlanta to five games in 1994, Milwaukee did the same against Indiana in 2000, and Indiana did the same against New Jersey in 2002, which ultimately proceeded to the Finals. In the Western Conference, Seattle forced Game 5 against Portland in 1991, the Lakers did the same against Phoenix in 1993, Houston fell in five games to Utah in 1998, and Sacramento lost to the eventual champion Lakers in 2000.
This year, the Magic will face a formidable opponent in the Bucks, headed by reigning league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. In the playoffs, these two teams will face for the second time. In 2001, Milwaukee defeated Orlando in four games in the opening round of a best-of-five series.
