Is a #1 seed really more preferable than a 2 seed?
With so many impactful games going on this weekend in college hoops, it got me wondering about the race for the #1 seed, and how matchup wise it compares to other seeds in the NCAA tournament. Considering the current lay of the land after today's results, Michigan is likely the top 2 seed. Here are some interesting facts about the last 10 NCAA tournaments:
Traditional path of the 2 seed:
3 seeds advance to the sweet sixteen 55% of the time
7 seeds advance to the second round 60% of the time
Average seed of sweet sixteen opponent: 5.725
Traditional path of the 1 seed:
4 or 5 seeds advance to the sweet sixteen 85% of the time
Second Round matchups must include either an 8 or 9 seed
Average seed of sweet sixteen opponent: 5.525
Since top seeds are most advantageous for matchups from rounds 1-3, do you think it's more advantageous to be a 1 seed or 2 seed? The best argument for the 2 seed seems to be that 3 seeds only make the sweet sixteen 55% of the time.
February 23rd, 2019 at 11:38 PM ^
February 24th, 2019 at 12:27 AM ^
The most important reason to get a 1 this year is to stay as far as possible away from Duke.
And yeah seeding isn't everything it's about who you actually end up playing, as we saw last year.
February 24th, 2019 at 12:39 AM ^
Doesn't matter
February 24th, 2019 at 5:17 AM ^
Absolutely.
February 24th, 2019 at 7:21 AM ^
Going into the Tourney playing at your best is what matters to me, I could care less about my seeding. We didn’t get to the National Championship game last year because of our seeding.
February 24th, 2019 at 7:32 AM ^
Ask Virginia last year. Have a bad game and you're done. Rather be a one seed though.
February 24th, 2019 at 11:14 AM ^
I mean, we kind of did. We got the region with the worst 1 seed (Xavier) and were helped out by UNC going down in round 2 as well. We didn't play a team higher than a 6 seed until Villanova.
February 24th, 2019 at 8:54 AM ^
February 24th, 2019 at 9:18 AM ^
Seeding is secondary to being healthy and playing well at the time the tournament begins. If we are both, then I will be happy with whatever we get.
That said, I look at this every year when filling out brackets and being a lower number seed is nearly always preferable (except 8 or 9) to being a higher number. the exceptions don't change this, nor do the cases where the committee obviously mis-seeded a team (ask Wichita St how they felt about gettin KY in round 2 (3 if you count play-in round) the one year).
As an aside seed multiplier brackets are the best for those of us who like to identify upsets.
February 24th, 2019 at 10:23 AM ^
Moreso,gaudy of an ranking to be talked about but beating sparty all that matters...