NCAA Tournament Champs By Seeds
History hasn’t been kind to lower seeds in the Final Four in terms of winning national championships. No surprise here, but No. 1 seeds are the dominant force this time of year, winning 19 titles since the Tournament field expanded to 64 teams back in 1985. This bodes well for Florida, who of course is the lone remaining top seed and prohibitive favorite to cut down the nets on Monday night. Here’s a look at how the other three teams stack up by comparison.
(2) Wisconsin – It’s kinda hard to believe, but No. 2 seeds have won only six championships. The last to do so was Connecticut in 2004. The Badgers last trip to the Final Four resulted in an ugly 53-41 loss to Michigan State in 2000. The good news is Wisconsin did win it all in 1941! Uh, okay. More sour news: The Big Ten hasn’t won it all since 2000. Frank Kaminsky is a great player and Bo Ryan is a savvy coach, but the odds of the Badgers knocking off Kentucky and the Florida/UConn winner are slim at best.
(7) Connecticut – Let’s get the bad news out of the way first: Zero No. 7 seeds have seized the national championship. Prior to this season, the 1984 Virginia Cavaliers were the only seven-seed to advance to the Final Four, losing to Houston 49-47. The better news for the Huskies is they’ve been very successful over the last 15 years, winning three titles and advancing to five Final Fours since 1999. All three of those titles belong to ex-coach Jim Calhoun, but current coach Kevin Ollie did play under Calhoun and has the luxury of scoring-machine Shabazz Napier being on his roster. Winning two games against a pair of potent opponents won’t be easy. That said, UConn has that look.
(8) Kentucky – The mighty 1985 Villanova Wildcats are the sole No. 8 seed to cut down the March Madness nets. However, Kentucky’s 8 championships are second only to UCLA’s 11. Plus, this year’s Wildcats’ squad is shades of the 2012 freshman-heavy team that John Calipari guided to a championship. Butler was the last No. 8 seed to make it to the title game, a defeat to Connecticut in 2011. A victory over Wisconsin on Saturday could mean a fourth meeting against the Gators, who won the previous three matchups. That could be a best case scenario for the ‘Cats; they know the Gators better than anyone and nearly beat them in the SEC Finals. Bottom line: Kentucky is young, but none of the Final Four teams have more natural talent.
