Louisville - North Carolina A&T Tournament Facts

Here are some NCAA Tournament facts about Louisville and North Carolina A&T:

Post-Game
Louisville's 31-point victory over North Carolina A&T is their second largest in 65 tournament wins. Their biggest win was over Arizona 103-64 (39 points) in the 2009 Sweet Sixteen.

Louisville is now 6-2 when they are Top Ten in the RPI.  They are #3 this year.

Louisville is 5-4 vs. teams from the state of North Carolina.

The 31-point loss for North Carolina A&T is also their second largest defeat.  Their largest is 32 against Wake Forest in 1995 Round of 64.

Pre-Game
Louisville is 4-5 when playing in their home state of Kentucky.

Louisville is 6-2 as a #1 seed.  The other two times that they were #1 seeds, they advanced to the National Semifinals (1983) and Elite Eight (2009).

Rick Pitino is 13-3 in the Round of 64.  All 3 losses were with Louisville.

With North Carolina A&T winning on Tuesday, they broke a tie with Holy Cross and Penn for the longest current tournament losing streak at 9.  Murray State holds the record with 11. 

First Four Tuesday Night Postgame Tidbits

North Carolina A&T wins their first tournament game in school history.  With their victory, Eastern Kentucky and Louisiana-Monroe now have the most tournament games without a victory with 7.

North Carolina A&T's victory is the 5th all-time for the MEAC.  It is also the first time that the MEAC has won a tournament game in consecutive years.  Norfolk State defeated Missouri in the Round of 64 last year.

Since 2001, at least one school has recorded their first tournament win each year except 2009.  North Carolina A&T is the 25th school in that time frame to capture their first tournament win.

Liberty's 72 points is their most in 3 tournament games.

Middle Tennessee State's 54 points is the fewest that St. Mary's has allowed in 10 tournament games.  The previous low was 66 vs. California in the 1959 Elite Eight.

With Middle Tennessee State losing,  Western Kentucky remains the only Sun Belt team to win a tournament game since 1993.  They have won 7 tournament games over that time frame while no other conference team has won a game.

The Sun Belt is now 1-6 as a #11 Seed.  The West Coast is 6-5 as #11 Seed.

The West Coast has now won at least one tournament game in each of the last 6 tournaments.  The longest streak in conference history is 10 from 1967 to 1976.

North Carolina A&T - Liberty Tournament Facts

Here are some NCAA Tournament facts about North Carolina A&T and Liberty:

Neither team has a tournament victory.  The last time that two teams met when neither has won a tournament game was the 2011 Round of 64 when San Diego State defeated Northern Colorado.

North Carolina A&T
North Carolina A&T is 0-9 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.  They hold the record for the most losses in the tournament without winning a game.

North Carolina A&T is 0-2 in Opening Round ("Play-In") Games.  They tie Alcorn State playing in their 3rd Opening Round game.

This is the 5th time that North Carolina A&T has been a #16 seed.  They are 0-4 as a #16 seed.

North Carolina A&T is 0-1 when playing in the State of Ohio.

North Carolina A&T is 0-2 on Tuesdays.

Liberty
Liberty is 0-2 all time in the NCAA Tournament.

This is the first time Liberty has played in an Opening Round game.

Liberty is #287 in the RPI which is the worst RPI ranking in the history of the tournament.  The previous worst was #284 by Hampton in 2006.

Liberty ties a tournament records with 20 regular season losses.  Coppin State in 2008 also had 20 regular season losses.

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