|
|
 |
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Video Plus Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities 
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
Two and done for No. 1s Second-round exits aren't so rare for NCAA top seeds
Updated: Sunday March 18, 2001 8:26 PM
By Ryan Hunt, CNNSI.com For 16 years, No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament have managed to avoid the first-7ound upset -- a No. 16 seed has never beaten a top seed. But the upset bug frequently has lurked right around the corner. And although the No. 1s escaped early exits in 2001, at least one No. 1 seed has been knocked out in the second round in eight of the 17 tournaments since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985. Last year, both Arizona and Stanford were ousted in the second round by No. 8 seeds Wisconsin and North Carolina, respectively. Both the Badgers and Tar Heels went on to the Final Four. Strangely, though, the phenomenon seems to be an even-year trend. Only once since the tournament's expansion (1988) has all four top seeds made it to the Sweet 16 in an even year. In odd years, there has only been one occasion in which all four No. 1s did not make it to the third round (1985).
That trend continued in 2001 -- all four top seeds survived to the Sweet 16. And three of the four historically have had success as a No. 1 seed. Michigan State has made the Final Four as a top seed in each of the past two years. Illinois advanced to the Final Four in its only prior appearance as a No. 1 (1989). And Duke has done it in three of its five times since 1986. Stanford's only previous time as a No. 1 was last year. And if they all survive the second round, there is impending doom for at least one top seed likely waiting in the Sweet 16. Since '85, all four No. 1 seeds have advanced as far as the Elite Eight only twice (1987, 1993). Four No. 1 seeds have never made it to the Final Four. Kansas has been the most familiar with early exits as a No. 1 seed. Of the four times the Jayhawks were top seeds in the '90s, they were knocked out in the second round twice and in the Sweet 16 twice. North Carolina, on the other hand, has been on both sides of the spectrum -- upsetting No. 1 seeds in 2000 (Stanford) and 1990 (Oklahoma), while losing to Boston College in 1994.
No. 1 seeds now are 68-0 in first-round play since 1985 and 59-9 in Round Two.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
