Get ready for the ultimate basketball showdown! The 2024 March Madness is hitting Glendale's State Farm Stadium from March 19 to April 8. Sixty-eight teams are about to battle it out in a thrilling single-elimination tournament!
Flashback to 1939, where eight teams took the court and Oregon emerged as the first-ever NCAA tournament champion. Fast forward through history: 1951 with 16 teams, 1975 with 32, 1985 with 64, and the excitement skyrocketed in 2001 with 65 teams. The epic 68-team showdown since 2011 is adding a dash of madness to the First Four!
Meet the originator of the term "March Madness": Henry V. Porter, an Illinois high school official. However, March Madness and the NCAA did not really get together until Brent Musberger lit up the 1982 tournament.
Has a 9-seed team reached the March Madness championship game?
As per sources online, no 9-seed has ever reached the championship game of March Madness. However, three 9-seeds made it to the Final Four, Penn did it first in 1979, followed by Wichita State in 2013, and Florida Atlantic in 2023.
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What seeds have won March Madness?
The NCAA Tournament has been won by all but one of the 1–8 seeds, while the Villanova Wildcats of 1985 are the lowest seed to ever win the March Madness. The other seeds are given below:
Seed No. 1: No. 1 seeds have won 26 times since official seeding started in 1979; Kansas was the latest to do so in 2022.
Seed No. 2. Although the second-seeded teams have made it to the national championship game 17 times, just seven of them have been victorious. Villanova was the last No. 2 seed to win the championship in 2016.
Seed No. 3: Despite having a 5-6 overall record, teams seeded third have advanced to the national championship game 11 times. The final team to triumph in 2011 as No. 3 was UConn.
Seed No. 4: Only four fourth-seeded teams have advanced to the NCAA Tournament final, with only the 1997 Arizona Wildcats and the 2023 UConn Huskies winning.
Seed No. 5: Only four teams seeded fifth have ever advanced to the national championship game; the San Diego State Aztecs were the last to do it in 2023. The No. 5 seed is the only team in the top eight to have never won a championship.
Seed No. 6: Only three teams seeded sixth have advanced to the national championship game; however, two of those teams—the 1988 Kansas Jayhawks and Jim Valvano's 1983 NC State Wolfpack—have taken home the trophy.
Seed No. 7: Only one No. 7 team has competed in the NCAA Championship, and that team, the UConn Huskies of 2014, defeated Kentucky, the eighth-seeded team, to win the championship.
Seed No. 8: The Villanova Wildcats of 1985, who continue to hold the record for the lowest seed ever to win the NCAA Tournament, were the only No. 8 seed to win a championship out of the five teams that advanced to the national final, including the Kentucky Wildcats of 2014. The most recent No. 8 team to make it to the championship game in 2022 was North Carolina's Tar Heels.
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FAQ's on Has a 9 seed ever made it to the March Madness championship?
A. The 2024 March Madness runs from March 19 to April 8 at Glendale's State Farm Stadium.
A. Sixty-eight teams compete in a single-elimination tournament, with history dating back to 1939.
A. Henry V. Porter, an Illinois high school official, coined the term in 1939, gaining prominence during the 1982 tournament.
A. No, a 9-seed has never reached the championship game, but Penn in 1979, Wichita State in 2013, and Florida Atlantic in 2023 made the Final Four.
A. Seeds 1–8 have won, with Villanova (No. 8) as the lowest seed having won the March Madness.
