Shock Treatment: No Bottom of Bracket Racket For First Time Since 2017

In the first six years of the NCAA tourney seeding process from 1979 through 1984 when the playoff field ranged from 40 to 53 teams, the bottom of the bracket racket included a total of 13 No. 1 and 2 seeds losing their openers. Notwithstanding the misleading media's spin, the NCAA tourney hasn't been saturated with authentic upsets since the playoff field expanded to at least 64 teams in 1985. On the other hand, this year marked only the sixth time in that span failing to provide a first-round shocker from the bottom of the bracket (1994, 2000, 2004, 2007, 2017 and 2025).

Teams seeded 13th or worse defeated teams seeded among the top four in a regional a total of 68 times in the last 40 tourneys. At least Kentucky's stunning reversals against Saint Peter's and Oakland weren't as ugly as a couple of sorry SEC setbacks when Navy overwhelmed LSU by 23 points in 1985 and Siena smothered Vanderbilt by 21 in 2008.

Arizona's similar shocking 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. Gary Waters is the only coach to win two opening-round games in this category while in charge of two different schools (Kent State in 2001 and Cleveland State in 2009).

Until Virginia's 1 vs. 16 debacle seven years ago, Michigan State was the only #2 seed to lose its playoff opener after spending a portion of the regular season atop the AP national poll. Following is a rundown of the first 67 first-round knockouts by the bottom of the bracket (#13 through #16 seeds) since the NCAA field expanded to at least 64 teams in 1985:

#16 seed (2 victories)

#15 seed (11 victories)

#14 seed (22 victories)

#13 seed (33 victories)