Mercer Me: Shock Treatment Prevalent Amid Bottom of Bracket Racket

In the first six years of the NCAA Tournament seeding process from 1979 through 1984 when the playoff field ranged from 40 to 53 teams, a total of 13 No. 1 and 2 seeds lost their openers. The NCAA tourney hasn't been saturated with authentic upsets since the playoff field expanded to at least 64 teams in 1985, but there has been only four years without a first-round shocker from the bottom of the bracket (1994, 2000, 2004 and 2007).

Teams seeded 13th or worse defeated teams seeded among the top four in a regional a total of 49 times in the last 30 years after #14 Mercer upset #3 Duke. It was really ugly a couple of times for SEC members when Navy overwhelmed LSU by 23 points in 1985 and Siena smothered Vanderbilt by 21 in 2008.

Thirty-six of the first 49 poignant surprises were decided by fewer than seven points or in overtime. Arizona's stunning defeat against Santa Clara in 1993 materialized despite the Wildcats reeling off 25 unanswered points in a stretch bridging the last five minutes of the first half and the first five minutes of the second half.

A #16 seed never has defeated a #1. But following is a rundown of the first 49 first-round knockouts by the bottom of the bracket (#13, #14 and #15 seeds) since the NCAA field expanded to at least 64 teams in 1985:

#15 seed (7 victories)

#14 seed (17 victories)

#13 seed (25 victories)