Saint Louis - Oregon Tournament Facts

Here are some NCAA Tournament facts about Saint Louis and Oregon:

Post-Game:
Oregon is in the Sweet Sixteen for the 4th time.  It is their first appearance since 2007.  They have never lost a game in the Sweet Sixteen.

Oregon's 17-point victory is their 3rd largest and the 3rd largest defeat for Saint Louis.

The Pacific Twelve is 8-4 vs. the Atlantic Ten, but have won the last 7.

Saint Louis is 0-4 on Saturdays.  Only VCU at 0-5 and Ohio at 0-7 are worse.

Pre-Game:
Saint Louis is in the Round of 32 for the 4th time.  It is their 2nd consecutive trip.  They are 0-3 in the Round of 32.


Saint Louis is 5-2 when the opponents RPI is #11 or worse.  Oregon's RPI is #47.

Saint Louis is 0-3 on Saturdays.

Oregon is in the Round of 32 for the 5th time.  It is their first trip since 2007.  The are 3-1 in the Round of 32.

Oregon has been in the Elite Eight every year that they have won a game in the tournament.

Arizona - Harvard Tournament Facts

Here are some NCAA Tournament facts about Arizona and Harvard:

Post-Game:
Arizona is the Sweet Sixteen for the 16th time.  It is their 3rd appearance in 5 years.

Arizona has advanced to the Sweet Sixteen in each of their last 3 tournament appearances.

The 51 points that Harvard scored is the fewest that Arizona has allowed since 2000 and the 5th fewest overall. 

The Pacific Twelve is 6-2 vs. the Ivy League.  The last loss was UCLA vs. Princeton in 1996.

Pre-Game:
Arizona is in the Round of 32 for the 19th time.  It is their 3rd appearance in 5 years.  They are 14-4 in the Round of 32.


Arizona is 12-5 when their RPI is between #11 and #20.  They finished #15 in the RPI.

The only time that Arizona has played an Ivy League opponent was in the 1988 Round of 64 when they defeated Cornell 90-50.

Harvard is in the Round of 32 for the 1st time.

Louisville - Colorado State Tournament Facts

Here are some NCAA Tournament facts about Louisville and Colorado State:

Post-Game:
Louisville is in the Sweet Sixteen for the 26th time.  It is their second consecutive trip.

Louisville won their first two games by 31 and 26 points.  They are their 2nd and 5th largest wins in tournament history.

The 26-point defeat was the largest for Colorado State in their history in the tournament.  Their previous high was 23 vs. Santa Clara in the 1954 Sweet Sixteen.

The Big East is now 7-0 vs. the Mountain West.

Pre-Game:
Louisville is in the Round of 32 for the 28th time.  It is their second consecutive trip.  They are 20-7 in the Round of 32.

Louisville is 9-3 when ranked #2 in the AP Poll.  They were ranked #2 when they won the National Championship in 1980.

Louisville is 6-2 when they are top 10 in the RPI.  They finished #3 in the RPI this year.  Their two losses were to teams also in the top 10 in the RPI.  Colorado State is #18 in the RPI.

Colorado State is in the Round of 32 for the 6th time.  It is their first time since 1989.  They are 1-4 in the Round of 32.

Colorado State has never played a #1 seed.

Michigan State - Memphis Tournament Facts

Here are some NCAA Tournament facts about Michigan State and Memphis:

Post-Game:
Michigan State is in the Sweet Sixteen for the 17th time.  It is their second consecutive trip and 6th in 7 years.

Michigan State is 7-0 when allowing fewer than 50 points.  Only Villanova has a better record when allowing fewer than 50 points.

Michigan State is 9-0 in games decided by 20 or more points.  Only Kansas and Ohio State have better records in games decided by 20 or more points.

The 22-point victory for Michigan State is their 2nd largest in the Round of 32.  It is the 3rd largest loss that Memphis has had in the tournament.

Michigan State is 5-1 in Michigan and 4-0 in Auburn Hills.

Memphis is 0-3 when scoring fewer than 50 points.

This is the first time in tournament history that both Michigan and Michigan State are in the Sweet Sixteen in the same year.

The Big Ten is now 6-2 vs. Conference USA.

Pre-Game:
Memphis defeated Michigan State 92-74 in 2008 Sweet Sixteen.

Michigan State is in the Round of 32 for the 19th time.  It is their 6th time in 7 years.  They are 14-4 in the Round of 32.

Michigan State is 16-4 when they are top 10 in the RPI.  They finished #8 in the RPI this year.  Of their four losses, the worst RPI they have lost to was #14.  Memphis has an RPI of #12.  Memphis is 2-6 vs. teams that are top 10 in the RPI.

Memphis is in the Round of 32 for the 18th time.  It is their first time since 2009.  They are 10-7 in the Round of 32.

Memphis is 3-2 vs. the Big Ten:

• 1984 - Defeated Purdue 66-48 in Round of 32
• 1988 - Lost to Purdue 100-73 in Round of 32
• 1995 - Defeated Purdue 75-73 in Round of 32
• 2007 - Lost to Ohio State 92-76 in Elite Eight
• 2008 - Defeated Michigan State 92-74 in Sweet Sixteen

  

Michigan - VCU Tournament Facts

Here are some NCAA Tournament facts about Michigan and VCU:

Post-Game:
Michigan is in the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 1994.  The 19 years is their longest span between successive Sweet Sixteen appearances.

It is Michigan's 12th Sweet Sixteen appearance.

John Beilein is coaching in his 3rd Sweet Sixteen.  His previous two were as coach of West Virginia.

The 25-point victory for Michigan is their 5th largest in tournament history.  It is also their largest in the Round of 32.  Their previous high in this round was 23 vs. Florida in 1988.

It is VCU's biggest loss in 24 tournament games.  Their previous high was 15 vs. Syracuse in the 1984 Round of 32.

VCU's 53 points is the third fewest that Michigan has allowed in the tournament and the second fewest that VCU has scored.

VCU winning by 46 and then losing by 25 is a 71-point turnaround from Round of 64 to Round of 32.  That is a tournament record from Round of 64 to Round of 32.  The previous was Kansas in 1998 which had a 63-point turnaround.

VCU is now 0-5 on Saturdays.  Only Ohio is worse at 0-7.

Pre-Game:
Michigan is in the Round of 32 for the 16th time.  It is their third time since 2009.  They are 7-8 in the Round of 32.

Michigan is 3-0 vs. the Atlantic Ten:

• 1992 - Defeated Temple 73-66 in Round of 64
• 1993 - Defeated George Washington 72-64 in Sweet Sixteen
• 1993 - Defeated Temple 77-72 in Elite Eight

Michigan is 9-1 when ranked #10 in the AP.  They were  ranked #10 in 1989 when they won the National Championship.

VCU is in the Round of 32 for the 8th time.  It is their third consecutive trip.  They are 1-6 in the Round of 32.

VCU is 1-2 vs. the Big Ten

• 1980 - Lost to Iowa 86-72 in Round of 64
• 2011 - Defeated Purdue 94-76 in Round of 32
• 2012 - Lost to Indiana 63-61 in Round of 32

Record Low Scoring in Round of 64

Last night I wrote a blog about the scoring on Thursday's game and how it was historically low.  The scoring was up tonight, but not enough for this to be the lowest scoring Round of 64 in the shot-clock era.

The average score for the 64 teams was 64.55 points.  That is 1.83 points lower than the previous record which was set in 1999 and tied last year.

The median score was 64 points and the mode was also 64.  This is not a formal test of normality, but it appears to be normal.  The 95% confidence interval for the scores is (40.8, 88.3).  One score is below that (34 by Montana) and one score is above that (95 by Ohio State) which is to be expected (2/64 =3%).  So a small number of scores did not distort the average.  The low scoring appears to be a true trend.

I will continue to track this throughout the tournament to see if it is the case for the remaining teams.  In general, the scores tend to increase from Round to Round until the Final Four:

Avg Score by Round - Since 1986

Round	Average Score
64	70.64
32	72.75
16	72.76
8	74.58
4	72.68
2	72.93

Note:  I excluded 2013 from this table.

Round of 32 Tournament Facts

Longest Current Streak
 1. Kansas 7
2. Gonzaga 5
    Syracuse 5
4. Ohio State 4
5. Florida 3
    Marquette 3
    North Carolina 3
    VCU 3
9. Creighton 2
    Indiana 2
    Iowa State 2
    Louisville 2
    Michigan State 2
    Saint Louis 2

Longest Streaks Snapped
1. Purdue 6
    Wisconsin 6
3. Kansas State 3
    Kentucky 3
5. Cincinnati 2
    Florida State 2

Longest Droughts Snapped (Last time in Round of 32)
1. Colorado State 1989
2. La Salle 1990
3. Minnesota 1997
4. Mississippi 2001
5. Wichita State 2006
6. Oregon 2007
7. Miami, Fla. 2008
8. Memphis 2009
9. California 2010

Teams making first appearance in Round of 32
Harvard and Florida Gulf Coast
 
Most Teams by Conference
1. Big Ten 6 (Most all-time; tied with 1994)
2. Atlantic Ten 5 (Most all-time)
3. Atlantic Coast 3
    Big East 3
    Pacific Twelve 3
5. Big Twelve 2 (Fewest all-time; tied with 1998, 2001 and 2006)
    Missouri Valley 2 (Most all-time; tied with 1975, 1984, 1999, 2002 and 2006)
    Mountain West 2 (Most all-time; tied with 2010 and 2011)
    Southeastern 2
9. Atlantic Sun 1 (First since 2001)
    Conference USA 1 (First since 2009)
    Ivy League 1 (First since 2010)
    West Coast 1

Tournament Rematches
Memphis defeated Michigan State 92-74 in 2008 Sweet Sixteen

Ohio State defeated Iowa State 75-64 in 1985 Round of 64

Kansas is 3-2 vs. North Carolina

• North Carolina defeated Kansas 54-53 (3OT) in 1957 National Championship
• Kansas defeated North Carolina 79-73 in 1991 National Semifinals
• North Carolina defeated Kansas 78-68 in 1993 National Semifinals
• Kansas defeated North Carolina 84-66 in 2008 National Semifinals
• Kansas defeated North Carolina 80-67 in 2012 Elite Eight

Indiana defeated Temple 67-58 in 1994 Round of 32