Illinois Trivia

You’re probably busy filling out NCAA brackets (for entertainment purposes only, of course) before the start of March Madness on Thursday. With that in mind, here are a few trivial facts that might help you decide which 12 seed to pick in the first round.

Don’t count on #1

Since the field expanded to 64 in 1985, only 5 teams (1992 – Duke, 1995 – UCLA, 2000 – Michigan State, 2001 – Duke, and 2007 – Florida) have gone into the tournament ranked #1 in the nation and gone on to win the title.  Not great news for Louisville.

While we’re on #1’s…only ONCE have all four #1 seeds made it to the final four.  This happened just last year when Kansas, Memhis, UCLA, and North Carolina met in San Antonio.  Go ahead and pick Louisville, UCONN, UNC, and Pitt if you think this was the start of a trend, but it’s probably not a wise move.  Twice, in fact NO #1 seeds made the Final Four (1980 and 2006).

Don’t aim low either

Conversely, exactly zero 16 seeds have made it to the 2nd round.  Go ahead and pencil in the #1 seeds for the field of 32.  While you’re at it, the 2 seeds are probably safe too.  The 15 seeds have only pulled off four upsets since the fields were expanded to 16 team regionals – most recently in 2001 when Hampton knocked off a waaaay overrated Iowa State team.  In the first round, 3 seeds have won 84% of their matchups, 4 seeds – 82%, and then the fun starts.  5 seeds (LIKE YOUR FIGHTING ILLINI) only win 67% of the time – meaning chances are, at least one will lose every year.  Strangely, the 6 seed actually has a better winning percentage at 69%.  7 seeds are at 62% and the 8 seed could actually be considered an underdog since 54% of the time, they lose to the 9 seed.

The real secret…

Pick all of your games based on the tougher mascot and you’re sure to win every time, just like that person in your office pool who’s never seen a single college basketball game.  With that strategy in mind, I’d like to congratulate our new national champion – the Cleveland State Vikings! *