March Madness

With the 2008 Brackets out in full circulation, Vegas can finally breathe a sigh of relief after ending the Super Bowl with a major upset. Now is the time when the house wins, or does it???

Here is a few quick facts to consider when completing you brackets:
1. Since the beginning of the seeding process, only 9 teams have entered the tournament ranked #1 in at least 1 poll and gone on to win the tournament (only 6 more are added to that total before the seeding system in place today).

2. A #1 seed has never lost in the first round to a #16 seed, yet two #8 seeds have reached the championship game, one of which one (Villanova-85).

3. In 1993 Arizona was seeded #2 and was one of only four seeds ever to be beaten by a #15 seed (Santa Clara), but not to be plagued by that label they came back and in 1997 as a #4 seed and beat three #1 seeds (Kentucky, Minnesota, North Carolina) to win the overall title!

Generally speaking though, since the current seeding system began in 1985 the percentages are that the higher the rank the better the odds;
#1 seed has beaten the #16 seed 100% of the time
#2 seed has beaten the #15 seed 96% of the time
#3 seed has beaten the #14 seed 84% of the time
#4 seed has beaten the #13 seed 80% of the time
#5 seed has beaten the #12 seed 68% of the time
#6 seed has beaten the #11 seed 68% of the time
#7 seed has beaten the #10 seed 62% of the time
#8 seed has beaten the #9 seed 46% of the time (this being the exception)

Good Luck, have fun and drink lots!!!