Both 1 and 2 seed missing Sweet Sixteen in Same Regional

Both #1 Villanova and #2 Virginia were defeated in the Round of 32 in the East Regional.  This marks the 6th time since the field expanded to 64 that both the #1 and #2 seeds failed to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.

• 1990 Midwest - #1 Oklahoma, #2 Purdue
• 1992 Midwest - #1 Kansas, #2 Southern California
• 2000 South - #1 Stanford, #2 Cincinnati
• 2000 West - #1 Arizona, #2 St. John's
• 2004 Midwest - #1 Kentucky, #2 Gonzaga
• 2015 East - #1 Villanova, #2 Virginia

Saturday Round of 32 Rematches

Louisville

• Kentucky defeated Cincinnati 69-60 in the 2005 Round of 32
• UCLA defeated UAB 68-56 in the 1990 Round of 64

Portland

• Ohio State defeated Arizona 73-70 in the 2013 Sweet Sixteen

Jacksonville

• North Carolina is 2-2 vs. Arkansas
• Arkansas defeated North Carolina 96-73 in the 1990 Sweet Sixteen
• North Carolina defeated Arkansas 80-74 in the 1993 Sweet Sixteen
• Arkansas defeated North Carolina 75-68 in the 1995 National Semifinals
• North Carolina defeated Arkansas 108-77 in the 2008 Round of 32

Pittsburgh

• North Carolina State defeated Villanova 67-62 in the 1951 Sweet Sixteen

Creighton - Cincinnati Tournament Facts

Here are some NCAA Tournament facts about Creighton and Cincinnati:

Post-Game:
Creighton wins in back-to-back tournaments for the first time in school history.

Creighton is now 4-3 when ranked and 3-1 when ranked vs. unranked opponents.

Missouri Valley teams are now 4-8 vs. Big East opponents.

Cincinnati ends a 4 game Round of 64 winning streak.

Pre-Game:
Creighton and Cincinnati have met once previously in the tournament.  Cincinnati defeated Creighton 66-46 in the 1962 Sweet Sixteen.

Creighton has faced two Big East opponents in past tournaments losing to both of them: 

• Lost to Seton Hall 81-69 in 1991 Round of 32
• Lost to West Virginia 63-61 in 2005 Round of 64

7 of Creighton's 10 tournament wins came in the Midwest Regional.

Cincinnati has played in the tournament as a member of 5 different conferences - more than any other school.  The conferences are Missouri Valley, Metro, Great Midwest, Conference USA and Big East.  Since they will not be in the Big East next year, but a yet to be named conference, they will probably add to that total.

Cincinnati has faced one Missouri Valley opponent in past tournaments:

• Lost to Louisville 78-63 in 1975 Sweet Sixteen

Cincinnati is 14-2 in the Round of 64.  Their two losses were to Wisconsin in 1994 and Gonzaga in 2003.

The #10 seed by Cincinnati is their lowest ever seed.

 

RPI Facts - NCAA Tournament

Southern Mississippi has the highest RPI of any team that missed this year's tournament at #30.

California has the lowest RPI of any at-large team that made this year's tournament at #53.  The record is #74 held by New Mexico in 1999.

Duke is the 6th team to finish #1 in the RPI (since it began in 1994) and not receive a #1 seed.  The other #1 RPI teams to not get a #1 seed and their results are:

• 1995 North Carolina - #2 Seed - Lost in National Semifinals to Arkansas 
• 2000 Cincinnati - #2 Seed - Lost in Round of 32 to Tulsa
• 2005 Kansas - #3 Seed - Lost in Round of 64 to Bucknell
• 2008 Tennessee - #2 Seed - Lost in Sweet Sixteen to Louisville
• 2009 Duke - #2 Seed - Lost in Sweet Sixteen to Villanova

The top 2 teams in the RPI (Duke and New Mexico) did not receive a #1 seed.  It is the first time that neither of the top 2 teams in the RPI were a #1 seed.

This is the 6th time that Duke has finished #1 in the RPI.  Kansas has finished #1 5 times.  The only other teams to finish #1 multiple times are Kentucky and North Carolina with 2.

Duke has finished in the Top 10 of the RPI 6 consecutive years and 15 of the last 17.  Miami and Indiana finish in the Top 10 of the RPI for the first time since it began in 1994.

The RPI's of the #1 Seeds are:

• #3 Louisville
• #5 Kansas
• #6 Gonzaga
• #7 Indiana

The sum of their RPI's is 21.  That is the second highest RPI sum of the #1 seeds since 1994.  The highest was 27 in 2000 when the #1 Seeds and their RPI's were:

• #2 Duke
• #3 Arizona
• #9 Stanford
• #13 Michigan State

Only 2 teams that finished #1 in the RPI have won the National Championship in the 19 years of the RPI.  They were Kentucky in 1996 and Duke in 2001.  Both of them were #1 seeds also.

The most common RPI to win the Championship is #3 which has 5 Championships.  No other RPI has more than 2.  Louisville is #3 in the RPI this year.  Those 5 are:

• Kentucky - 1998
• Connecticut - 1999
• Maryland - 2002
• North Carolina - 2009
• Duke - 2010

Out of those 5, only Kentucky was not a #1 seed.

Biggest Win over #1 Ranked Team

With Miami's 27-point win over #1 Duke last night, I wondered what the largest defeats by #1 teams in the tournament have been.

The following are the largest margin of defeat for teams that were ranked #1 in the AP Poll entering the tournament:

• #2 UCLA defeated #1 Houston 101-69 (32 points) in 1968 National Semifinals
• #4 Kansas defeated #1 North Carolina 84-66 (18 points) in 2008 National Semifinals
• #9 Marquette defeated #1 Kentucky 83-69 (14 points) in 2003 Elite Eight
• #2 Cincinnati defeated #1 Ohio State 71-59 (12 points) in 1962 National Championship
• #8 Michigan State defeated #1 Louisville 64-52 (12 points) in 2009 Elite Eight
• #3 Michigan State defeated #1 Indiana State 75-64 (11 points) in 1979 National Championship
• #2 UCLA defeated #1 Michigan 91-80 (11 points) in 1965 National Championship
• #5 Duke defeated #1 Temple 63-53 (10 points) in 1988 Elite Eight
• #5 Cincinnati defeated #1 Kansas State 85-75 (10 points) in 1959 Elite Eight

The largest margin of defeat for a #1 team in the Sweet Sixteen is #13 Florida over #1 Duke 87-78 in 2000.

The largest margin of defeat for a #1 team in the Round of 32 is UCLA over #1 DePaul 77-71 in 1980.  That game is also the largest margin of defeat for an unranked team over a #1 team.

Between 2006 and 2009, the #1 team was defeated by 8 or more points each year.  Only one other time in tournament history had there even been consecutive years in which the #1 team lost by 8 or more points (1959 and 1960).