Historical Odds Against Any #1 Seed Going Unranked in AP's Preseason Poll

NCAA playoff history would have been against Iowa State if the Cyclones (not among 44 schools receiving votes in AP's preseason poll) had been accorded a #1 seed. Last year, odds were against opening-round-and-out Purdue reaching the Final Four, let alone capturing the national title. No school has won an NCAA crown upon earning a #1 regional seed after going unranked among Top 25 in AP's national preseason poll (Top 20 until 1989-90). The Boilermakers became the 14th straight team in this category failing to reach the Final Four. The only top-seeded squad unranked in PS to advance to the national semifinals was Larry Bird-led Indiana State in 1979 when seeding was first introduced.

Year	#1 Seed Unranked in PS Top 25 Poll	Coach	Regional/NCAA Tourney Mark
1979	Indiana State	Bill Hodges	Midwest/4-1 (lost to Michigan State)
1985	Michigan	Bill Frieder	Southeast/1-1 (Villanova)
1986	St. John's	Lou Carnesecca	West/1-1 (Auburn)
1990	Connecticut	Jim Calhoun	East/3-1 (Duke)
1990	Michigan State	Jud Heathcote	Southeast/2-1 (Georgia Tech)
1994	Missouri	Norm Stewart	West/3-1 (Arizona)
1999	Auburn	Cliff Ellis	South/2-1 (Ohio State)
2002	Cincinnati	Bob Huggins	West/1-1 (UCLA)
2010	Syracuse	Jim Boeheim	West/2-1 (Butler)
2012	Michigan State	Tom Izzo	West/2-1 (Louisville)
2016	Oregon	Dana Altman	West/3-1 (Oklahoma)
2018	Virginia	Tony Bennett	South/0-1 (Maryland-Baltimore County)
2021	Michigan	Juwan Howard	East/3-1 (UCLA)
2022	Arizona	Tommy Lloyd	South/2-1 (Houston)
2023	Purdue	Matt Painter	East/0-1 (Fairleigh Dickinson)

NOTE: Preseason polls were Top 20 through 1988-89.