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And then there were No. 1 seeds.
With wins by the University of Houston and Auburn University on Sunday, next weekend’s Final Four will have all four No. 1 seeds for just the second time in NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament history.
The only other time since seeding began in 1979 was in 2008, when Kansas, Memphis, UCLA and North Carolina went to the Final Four—in San Antonio, no less.
This year also marks the first time higher seeds went 12-0 in the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight.
Houston, which barely squeaked by Purdue University on Friday night, gave Tennessee a lesson in defensive dominance at Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday afternoon in the Midwest Regional, shutting down the Vols for a 69-50 win to reach the Final Four for the seventh time. The Cougars held Tennessee to 15 first-half points and 29% shooting overall, including 5 of 29 from 3.
Auburn survived an injury scare to star forward Johni Broome and Michigan State’s gritty style to pull out a 70-64 win in the South Region final. Broome left the court with a right elbow injury and returned a few minutes later to finish with 25 points and 14 rebounds. Coach Bruce Pearl’s Tigers are in the Final Four for the second time, having gotten there in 2019.
Florida was the first team to reach the Final Four with an 84-79 win over Texas Tech in the West Region final on Saturday. Duke followed by shutting down high-flying Alabama for an 85-65 win in the East Region final.
That sets up an all-Southeastern Conference national semifinal between Florida and Auburn, with Houston facing Duke in the other.
Duke is the favorite to win the title at minus-110, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. Florida is next at plus-300, Houston is plus-400 and Auburn plus-500.
The Final Four is in San Antonio on Saturday with the championship game on Monday, April 7.
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Get used to it…. with the NIL ridiculousness we’ll start seeing the same 4 to 12 schools in the Final Four every year… bought and paid for.
Jay, this isn’t that, and it’s really nothing new.
Since 1995, the same 12 teams have been made it more than half of all Final Four spots, and 3/4ths of those Final Four teams went twice. The top 5 conferences made up over 80% of spots, and the 1-Seeds make it nearly half of the time. Four 1-seeds would be expected to happen every 35-years or so, but twice in the 46-years they’ve had seeds isn’t anything crazy.
So – this year’s outcome isn’t that unexpected, and doesn’t mean anything different is happening in the sport than usual.