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

Missing Sweet 16 in consecutive years as 1 or 2 seed.

With Villanova and Kansas losing, they miss the Sweet 16 for the second consecutive year as a 1 or 2 seed.  They become the 5th and 6th teams to accomplish that feat and the first since 2000.

DePaul:

• 1980 #1 DePaul lost to #8 UCLA in Round of 32
• 1981 #1 DePaul lost to #9 St. Joseph's in Round of 32
• 1982 #1 DePaul lost to #8 Boston College in Round of 32

Oregon State

• 1980 #2 Oregon State lost to #10 Lamar in Round of 32
• 1981 #1 Oregon State lost to #8 Kansas State in Round of 32

Michigan

• 1985 #1 Michigan lost to #8 Villanova in Round of 32
• 1986 #2 Michigan lost to #7 Iowa State in Round of 32

Stanford

• 1999 #2 Stanford lost to #10 Gonzaga in Round of 32
• 2000 #1 Stanford lost to #8 North Carolina in Round of 32 

Villanova

• 2014 #2 Villanova lost to #7 Connecticut in Round of 32
• 2015 #1 Villanova lost to #8 North Carolina State in Round of 32 

 Kansas

• 2014 #2 Kansas lost to #10 Stanford in Round of 32
• 2015 #2 Kansas lost to #7 Wichita State in Round of 32

 

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

2015 Number One Seeds

None of this year's #1 seeds were a #1 last year.  It is the 4th consecutive year with no repeat #1 seeds.

Kentucky is a #1 seed for the 12th time in school history.  The last time they were a #1 seed was 2012 when they won the National Championship over Kansas 67-59.  They also won the 1996 Championship as a #1 seed.  They are 38-9 as a #1 seed.  It is the 4th time in 6 years that a team from the SEC is a #1 seed.

Villanova is a #1 seed for the 2nd time in school history.  Their only other #1 seed was 2006 when they lost to Florida 75-62 in the Elite Eight.  They are 3-1 as a #1 seed.  It is the 5th time in 6 years that a team from the Big East is a #1 seed.

Duke is a #1 seed for the 13th time in school history.  Only North Carolina has been a #1 seed more with 14.  The last time they were a #1 seed was 2011 when they lost to Arizona 93-77 in the Sweet Sixteen.  They won the National Championship as a #1 seed in 1992, 2001 and 2010.  Their 3 National Championships as a #1 seed is second to North Carolina who has 4.  They are 45-9 as a #1 seed.  It is the 5th time in 6 years that a team from the ACC is a #1 seed.

Wisconsin is a #1 seed for the first time in school history.  Their previous highest seed was #2 in 2007 and 2014.  It is the 4th time in 5 years that a team from the Big Ten is a #1 seed.

National Champions Previous Result

The last two national champions (Louisville and Kentucky) lost in the national semifinals the previous year.  If the streak were to continue, then either Syracuse or Wichita State will win the tournament.  Considering that both are the only remaining unbeaten teams this year, it would not be a shock for one of them to win. 

Here are the past 5 national champions and their previous year's result:

2013: Louisville - lost to Kentucky 69-61 in 2012 in national semifinals
2012: Kentucky - lost to Connecticut 56-55 in 2011 in national semifinals
2011: Connecticut - did not make the tournament in 2010 (but did lose in national semifinals in 2009)
2010: Duke - lost to Villanova 77-54 in 2009 in Sweet Sixteen
2009: North Carolina - lost to Kansas 84-66 in 2008 in national semifinals

North Carolina - Villanova Tournament Facts

Here are some NCAA Tournament facts about North Carolina and Villanova:

Post-Game:
The ACC is now 34-30 vs. the Big East in the tournament.

North Carolina is 7-2 when unranked.  They have been a #8 seed each time they were unranked. 

North Carolina wins their 11th consecutive Round of 64 game (over 14 tournaments).

Villlanova is 25-17 when unranked, but has lost their last 3.

Villanova is now 2-5 as a #9 seed.

Pre-Game:
The is the 6th time that North Carolina and Villanova have faced each other in the tournament.

• 1982 - North Carolina 70-60  Elite Eight
• 1985 - Villanova 56-44 Elite Eight
• 1991 - North Carolina 85-69 Round of 32
• 2005 - North Carolina 67-66 Sweet Sixteen
• 2009 - North Carolina 83-69 National Semifinals

In every year except 1991, the winner of this game has won the National Championship.

North Carolina is 24-1 in the Round of 64.  Their only loss was to Weber State 76-74 in 1999.

Roy Williams is 22-0 in the Round of 64.  The first 14 were with Kansas and the last 8 are with North Carolina.

North Carolina has been to the Elite Eight in their last 5 tournament appearances.  

North Carolina has been a #8 seed two previous times.  They went to the Sweet Sixteen in 1990 and Final Four in 2000.  In 1990, the played (Southwest) Missouri State in the Round of 64.  In 2000, they played Missouri in the Round of 64.  This time, they play in the state of Missouri.

North Carolina is 5-1 when playing in the state of Missouri.  Their only loss was to Kansas 80-67 in last year's Elite Eight.

North Carolina is 9-4 vs. the Big East.

North Carolina is 30-3 on Fridays.  The 30 wins is tied with Kansas for the most all-time on Fridays.


Villanova is 6-9 vs. the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Villanova is 1-1 when playing in Missouri.





 

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.

The Big East is Dead, Long Live the Big East

The Big East is Dead:

Syracuse, Louisville put the Big East to bed

Long Live the Big East:

Sources: Big East at 10 for 2013-2014

The question that everyone is asking (ok, maybe only me) is will the new Big East keep the history of the old Big East or will it be considered a completely new conference?  (Will this be like the Baltimore Ravens-Cleveland Browns situation?)

Records vs. Top 5 Winningest NCAA Tournament Teams

Before Kansas came back to defeat Texas today, someone on Twitter commented that Texas could possibly defeat both North Carolina and Texas and not make the tournament.  Although they still will play Kansas again this year, the chances of that happening are probably slim.

However, it made me wonder how teams have done against the top all-time tournament teams in a single year and all-time.

There are five schools that have won more than 90 tournament games all-time.

• Kentucky 113
• North Carolina 108
• UCLA 100
• Duke 96
• Kansas 93

14 schools have at least 5 wins all-time vs. the "Top 5" schools led by Indiana

• Indiana 9
• Marquette, UCLA 8
• Duke, Kentucky 7
• Kansas, Ohio State 6
• Arizona, Florida, Louisville, Michigan State, North Carolina, Syracuse, Villanova 5

The schools that has the most victories vs. the "Top 5" without a defeat is Texas El-Paso (formerly Texas Western) with 3.

• Defeated Kansas 81-80 in 1966 Elite Eight
• Defeated Kentucky 72-65 in 1966 National Championship
• Defeated Kansas 66-60 in 1992 Round of 32

Arizona is the only team to ever defeat 3 of the "Top 5" in a single tournament in 1997.

• Defeated Kansas 85-82 in Sweet Sixteen
• Defeated North Carolina 66-58 in National Semifinals
• Defeated Kentucky 84-79 (OT) in National Championship

11 other teams have defeated 2 of the "Top 5" twice in a single tournament. Teams in Bold won National Championship

• Texas El-Paso - 1966 (Kansas, Kentucky)
• Houston - 1967 (Kansas, North Carolina)
• Western Kentucky - 1971 (Kentucky, Kansas)
• Florida State - 1972 (Kentucky, North Carolina)
• Louisville - 1986 (North Carolina, Duke)
• Michigan - 1993 (UCLA, Kentucky)
• Kentucky - 1998 (UCLA, Duke)
• Florida - 2000 (Duke, North Carolina)
• Maryland - 2002 (Kentucky, Kansas)
• Michigan State - 2005 (Duke, Kentucky)
• Villanova - 2009 (UCLA, Duke)

Five of the above teams ended up losing to one of the "Top 5" also.  They were Houston, 1967; Florida State, 1971; Michigan, 1993; Michigan State, 2005 and Villanova, 2009.

The combination of schools that have never been beaten in a single tournament among the "Top 5" are:

• UCLA and North Carolina
• UCLA and Kansas
• Duke and Kansas

Here are the times where a school defeated one team, but lost when they had the opportunity to defeat the other:

• UCLA and North Carolina - 1967 Dayton, 1969 Purdue, 1972 Florida State, 1993 Michigan, 1995 Arkansas, 2009 Villanova
• UCLA and Kansas - 1952 Santa Clara, 1967 Houston, 2008 Memphis
• Duke and Kansas - 1990 UCLA, 1993 California, 1994 Purdue

 27 schools have at least 7 losses all-time vs. the "Top 5" led by Kansas

• Kansas 12
• Louisville 11
• Michigan, Michigan State, Villanova  10
• Utah 9
• Illinois, Indiana 8
• Iowa State, Marquette, Notre Dame, Purdue  7
• Arkansas, Duke, Kentucky, New Mexico St, Ohio State, San Francisco, Syracuse, Temple  6
• Arizona St, Connecticut, Houston, Miami (OH), North Carolina, Princeton, Xavier 5

Louisville in 1972 was the only team to ever lose to two "Top 5" teams in a single tournament when they lost to UCLA in the National Semifinals and North Carolina in the National Third Place game.  Of course with today's format, no team can lose more than one game in a single tournament.

The most wins and losses all-time vs. each of the "Top 5" are:

• Kentucky - Marquette - 6 wins; Utah - 6 losses
• North Carolina - Kansas - 3 wins; Michigan State - 5 losses
• UCLA - Florida - 3 wins; San Francisco and Kansas - 5 losses
• Duke - Kentucky - 3 wins; Connecticut, Kansas, Michigan and St. Joseph's - 3 losses
• Kansas - UCLA - 5 wins; North Carolina - 3 losses