What are seeds in Basketball?

The NCAA Division I includes men's and women’s collegiate basketball games under its list of sports. The men’s basketball games are generally held under different conferences. Each conference has a certain number of men’s collegiate basketball teams that compete to become the conference winner. After winning the conference, they advance to the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament.

Once the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament starts, these conference-winning teams then start competing with each other. Popularly known as “March Madness,” these teams finally make their way to the quarterfinals, semifinals, and eventually the finals. The last two remaining teams then battle it out and the team that wins the game is declared the NCAA men’s basketball championship winner for the season.

In 2025, the same format will be followed. The men’s collegiate basketball teams are all competing to reach the 2024 NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament, where only one team will become the winner for 2025 at Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas on April 7.

Seeds in Basketball

Collegiate athletics, especially basketball in the United States, use the concept of “seed” under NCAA Division I. These seeds are actually different teams that are provided with a preliminary ranking for the tournament. These teams are placed into brackets so that the most important teams of all the conferences compete against each other only in the later stages of the tournament.

In the case of men’s collegiate basketball games, seedings are generally done from #1 to any number in a bracket based on the records created by the teams in the regular season. They then compete against each other in elimination games throughout the first round, quarterfinals, semifinals, and ultimately, the finals, where the champion is determined.

Read more: March Madness Year on Year Winner List

Highest and lowest seeded teams in the finals of NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament

Men’s collegiate basketball teams, according to Seeds, have managed to perform differently in the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament. Notably, as per the NCAA's official website, the Villanova Wildcats in 1985 was the only lowest-seeded team at #8 to become the NCAA champions.

NCAA also states that No. 8 is also the highest seed to reach the championship games in the NCAA. These include the Villanova Wildcats in 1985, the Butler Bulldogs in 2011, the Kentucky Wildcats in 2014, and the North Carolina Tar Heels in 2022. However, only the Villanova Wildcats out of these four has become the NCAA champions, according to ESPN.

What is the lowest seed to play in the Final Four of the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament?

The lowest seed, as per NCAA to play in the Final Fours of the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament is No. 11, as of March 2025. They are the LSU Tigers in 1986, George Mason Patriots in 2006, VCU Rams in 2011, Loyola Ramblers in 2018, and UCLA Bruins in 2021.

Discover: What is March Madness?