West Region Tournament Facts

Here are some tournament facts about tonight's West Region Semifinalists:

Ohio State is in the Elite Eight for the 2nd consecutive year.  It is their 15th Elite Eight appearance.

Ohio State has won their last 3 Elite Eight appearances.  They are 11-3 overall in the Elite Eight.

Thad Matta is in his 4th Elite Eight and his 3rd with Ohio State.

Wichita State is in the Elite Eight for the first time since 1981.  It is their 4th Elite Eight appearance.

Gregg Marshall will be coaching in his first Elite Eight.

This is the first Elite Eight appearance for the Missouri Valley since Wichita State's appearance in 1981.  Missouri Valley teams are 16-8 in the Elite Eight.

Ohio State is now 10-3 as a #2 seed.

Ohio State is 4-1 when playing in the State of California.  Their only loss was to North Carolina 80-66 in the 1968 National Semifinals.

Ohio State now has 11 wins since 2010.  That is the second most (tied with Kansas and Butler) behind Kentucky.

Gregg Marshall is now tied with Gene Smithson for the most tournament wins in Wichita State history with 3.

Wichita State is now 4-1 in the Sweet Sixteen.  Their only loss was in 2006 to George Mason.

La Salle loses their first Sweet Sixteen game.  They are now 2-1.

Before winning their last 2 tournament games by 3 points, Ohio State was 1-4 in games decided by exactly 3 points.

Arizona is 1-4 in games decided by exactly 3 points.  Their only win was vs. Kansas in 1997 Sweet Sixteen.

Arizona is now 12-14 vs. teams ranked in Top 10 in the AP.  They are 9-10 vs. #1 or #2 seeds.

La Salle's 58 points is their 2nd fewest points scored in 25 tournament games.  La Salle is 0-2 when scoring fewer than 60 points.

West Regional Sweet Sixteen Matchups

Wichita State vs. La Salle
Have never played in the tournament

Wichita State vs.

• Atlantic Ten: 0-0
• State of Pennsylvania: 1-0
• Location-California: 0-0
• Seed - #9: 2-0
• Opp. Seed - #13: 0-0

La Salle vs.

• Missouri Valley: 0-0
• State of Kansas: 1-1
• Location-California: 0-0
• Seed - #13: 3-2
• Opp. Seed - #9: 0-1

Ohio State vs. Arizona
Have never played in the tournament

 

Ohio State vs. 

• Pacific Twelve: 3-2
• State of Arizona: 1-0
• Location-California: 3-1
• Seed - #2: 9-3
• Opp. Seed - #6: 2-3

Arizona vs. 

• Big Ten: 5-3
• State of Ohio: 1-1
• Location-California: 13-7
• Seed - #6: 2-0
• Opp. Seed - #2: 2-3

Sweet Sixteen Tournament Facts

Longest Current Streak of Sweet Sixteen Appearances
1. Ohio State 4
2. Florida 3
    Kansas 3
    Marquette 3
5. Indiana 2
    Louisville 2
    Michigan State 2
    Syracuse 2

Longest Droughts Snapped
1. La Salle (1955)
2. Michigan (1994)
3. Miami, Fla (2000)
4. Wichita State (2006)
5. Oregon (2007)
6. Duke (2011)
    Arizona (2011)

First Appearance
Florida Gulf Coast

Appearances by Conference
1. Big Ten 4
2. Big East 3
3. Atlantic Coast 2
    Pacific Twelve 2
5. Atlantic Sun 1
    Atlantic Ten 1
    Big Twelve 1
    Missouri Valley 1
    Southeastern 1

Consecutive Years with Multiple Sweet Sixteens by Conference
1. Big East 12
2. Big Ten 6
3. Atlantic Coast 3

Big Ten has 4 teams in the Sweet Sixteen for the second consecutive year.  It is the first time in conference history that they have achieved that feat. 

Conferences that have had consecutive years with 4 Sweet Sixteen teams:

• ACC (1984 to 1986, 1989 to 1990, 1992 to 1993)
• Big Ten (2012 to 2013)
• Pacific Twelve (1997 to 1998)

Appearances by State
1. Florida 3
2. Kansas 2 
    Michigan 2 
4. Arizona 1
    Indiana 1
    Kentucky 1
    New York 1
    North Carolina 1
    Ohio 1
    Oregon 1
    Pennsylvania 1
    Wisconsin 1

Consecutive Years with a Sweet Sixteen Bid by State
1. North Carolina 34
2. Kansas 8
3. Ohio 7
4. Kentucky 6
5. Indiana 5
6. Florida 3
    Wisconsin 3
8. Michigan 2
    New York 2

Mississippi - La Salle Tournament Facts

Here are some NCAA Tournament facts about Mississippi and La Salle:

Post-Game:
La Salle is in the Sweet Sixteen for the 3rd time.  Their last appearance was in 1955.

The Atlantic Ten is 10-8 vs. the SEC.  This is the 3rd consecutive win for the A-10 over the SEC.

This is the 4th consecutive year that at least 3 double digit seeds are in the Sweet Sixteen.

This is the 1st time that there are three teams seeded #12 or lower in the Sweet Sixteen.

This is the 2nd consecutive year a #13 seed is in the Sweet Sixteen.  Ohio advanced to the Sweet Sixteen last year.  It is the second time in history that a #13 seed was in Sweet Sixteen in back-to-back years.  That feat was accomplished in 1998 and 1999 also.

This is the first time that there are two teams seeded #13 or lower in the Sweet Sixteen.

The Atlantic Ten wins their 7th tournament game in 2013 which ties their all-time high set in 1993.

Mississippi's 74 points is the most that they have scored in 11 tournament games.  They had previously scored 72 points twice.

La Salle is 4-1 in games decided by 3 or fewer points.

Pre-Game:
Mississippi is in the Round of 32 for the 3rd time and the first time since 2001.  They are 1-1 in the Round of 32.


Mississippi is 0-1 vs. the Atlantic Ten.  They were defeated by Temple 62-40 in the 1997 Round of 64.

Mississippi is 3-1 when playing in the state of Missouri.  They are 1-5 when playing elsewhere.

La Salle is in the Round of 32 for the 7th time and the first time since 1990.  They are 2-4 in the Round of 32.

La Salle is 4-1 when playing in the state of Missouri.  They won the 1954 National Championship in Kansas City and lost the 1955 Championship Game also in Kansas City.

Kansas State - La Salle Tournament Facts

Here are some NCAA Tournament facts about Kansas State and La Salle:

Post-Game:
With La Salle winning, the Atlantic Ten is now 6-0.  The 6 wins is one shy of the Atlantic Ten record which is 7 set in 1993.

La Salle wins two games in a tournament since 1955 when they lost in the National Championship game to San Francisco.

The Atlantic Ten is 7-11 against the Big Twelve.

La Salle is 3-1 in games decided by 3 or fewer points.  Kansas State is 7-4 in those such games.

Kansas State is now 7-2 when ranked vs. an unranked opponent.  Their other loss was in the 1988 Elite Eight vs. Kansas.

 Kansas State now has a tournament worst 0-4 record on March 22.

Pre-Game:
Kansas State and La Salle have played each other once before in the tournament.  Kansas State defeated La Salle 66-53 in the 1988 Round of 64.

Kansas State has won their first tournament game in the each of their last 4 tournament appearances and has been in the Round of 32 the last 3 years.

Bruce Weber is the 9th coach to coach for Kansas State in the tournament which is tied for second most with UCLA behind Western Kentucky which has had 12 coaches.

Kansas State has faced one Atlantic Ten team in past tournaments.  They defeated Xavier 101-96 in the 2010 Sweet Sixteen in 2 OT.

Kansas State has been a #4 once before.  In 1988, they advanced to the Elite Eight before losing to Kansas.

Kansas State is 4-4 and La Salle is 3-1 when playing in the state of Missouri. 

Kansas State is 0-3 on March 22 which is tied for the worst record on this date.

La Salle - Boise St Tournament Facts

Here are some NCAA Tournament facts about La Salle and Boise State:

This is the third time that teams from the Atlantic Ten and Mountain West have faced each other.  They split the other two games.

• Xavier defeated Brigham Young in 2007 Round of 64
• San Diego State defeated Temple in 2011Round of 32

La Salle
La Salle is 11-10 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.

This is La Salle's first tournament appearance as a member of the Atlantic Ten.  They had previous appearances as an Independent and as a member of the ECAC Metro and Metro Atlantic.

La Salle appeared in the Opening Round in 1983

La Salle is 0-2 as a #13 seed.

This is La Salle's first ever at-large bid.

Boise State
Boise State is 0-5 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.

This is Boise State's first appearance as a member of the Mountain West.  They had previous appearances as a member of the Big Sky and Western Athletic.

Boise State was a #14 seed in each of their 4 previous appearances.

This is Boise State's first ever at-large bid.

Tournament Droughts

2013 Tournament teams with the longest tournament droughts (with last appearance):

1. Middle Tennessee State (1989)
2. La Salle (1992)
3. James Madison (1994)
4. North Carolina A&T (1995)
5. Mississippi (2002)
6. Liberty (2005)
    Valparaiso (2005)
8. Northwestern State (2006)
    Pacific (2006)
    Southern (2006)

Florida Gulf Coast is also making their first tournament appearance.

Opening Round History

Tonight the tournament begins.  This round is know by many names:  "Play-in Game", "Opening Round", "First Four", "First Round".  Whatever it is called, it is the round before the round of 64.  Many people believe that it started in 2001 when the field expanded to 65.  However, there were actually opening round games in 1983 and 1984 before the field expanded to 64.

In 1983, the field expanded to 52 games, but they #4 seed to have a bye, so they created the extra round with two #12 teams in each regional for a total of 4 opening round games.  In 1984, the field was expanded to 53 games and their were 5 opening round games with one of them being between #11 seeds.

With the field expanded to 64, there was no need for an extra round until 2001 when the Mountain West Conference began.  The NCAA did not want to reduce the number of at-large teams, so they expanded the field to 65.  This created the need for an extra game between #16 seeds.  In 2011, the field once again expanded to 68 and the First Four was born.

Alcorn State has played in the most opening round games having played in 3.  North Carolina A&T will tie them with their third opening round game this year.  Here is the history of opening round games for this year's participants:

North Carolina A&T
1983 - Lost to Princeton 53-41
1984 - Lost to Morehead State 70-69

Liberty - Never played an Opening Round game

St. Mary's - Never played an Opening Round game

Middle Tennessee State - Never played an Opening Round game

Long Island-Brooklyn
1984 - Lost to Northeastern 90-87

James Madison - Never played an Opening Round game

La Salle
1983 - Defeated Boston 70-58

Boise State - Never played an Opening Round game

Tournament Appearances by State

Most appearances by State

• California 5 (California, Pacific, St. Mary's, San Diego State, UCLA)
• North Carolina 5 (Davidson, Duke, North Carolina, North Carolina A&T, North Carolina State)
• Pennsylvania 5 (Bucknell, La Salle, Pittsburgh, Temple, Villanova)
• Indiana 4 (Butler, Indiana, Notre Dame, Valparaiso)
• New York 4 (Albany, Iona, Long Island-Brooklyn, Syracuse)

Consecutive years with at least one school in the tournament
1. California 64
2. Kentucky 50
3. New York 41
4. North Carolina 40
5. Pennsylvania 37
6. Ohio 32
7. Kansas 30
8. Florida 16
    Michigan 16
    Washington 16

Texas has no teams in the tournament for the first time since 1977 ending a string of 35 consecutive appearances.  Utah has no teams for the first time since 1994 ending a string of 18 consecutive appearances.

Consecutive years with at least two schools in the tournament
1. North Carolina 37
2. California 27
3. Kentucky 22
4. Ohio 17
5. New York 16
6. Pennsylvania 15
7. Wisconsin 9
8. Tennessee 8
9. Indiana 7
10. Michigan 5
      Virginia 5

Texas had at least two teams for the last 11 tournaments before having no teams this year.

Consecutive years with at least three schools in the tournament
1. California 9
2. Tennessee 8
3. New York 5
    Ohio 5
5. Indiana 4
6. North Carolina 3
    Virginia 3

Texas had at least three teams for the last 6 tournaments before having no teams this year.  Kentucky also had at least three teams for the last 6 tournaments before having two teams this year.

California has at least 4 schools in the tournament for the 9th consecutive year.

North Carolina has 5 schools in the tournament for the 2nd consecutive year.